Um Qais

The Golan Heights

The desert climate has finally started to hit us!  This weekend was when the heat first started, and today it was almost 90 degrees!  It is certainly nicer than the cold and rain, though the little wind and intense sun makes it feel warmer that it is. Luckily the houses are made of limestone, so they stay relatively cool in the evenings--which is a definitely plus!



Relaxing in the Grass



Friday a group of us went to Um Qais.  It is in the northern most part of Jordan, and it right near the Syrian border and the Golan Heights!  It was absolutely beautiful.  There were so many trees and grass, as well as some ruins from ancient times.  It was a gorgeous day and we walked around, lounged in the grass and enjoyed the sun--it was a much needed break!  It took quite a bit to get there; we had to take three buses, to different stations and it took a little more than two hours.  On the way back, the buses had stopped running at a certain part, so we had to walk (which is always fun without sidewalks) until a different type of van would pick us up and take us to the next station.  It was quite an experience!!



Ruins



I just hung out at Abbi’s that evening and we spent the next day doing work in a café and relaxing.  It was a good pace--we weren’t too overwhelmed, but we didn’t waste the weekend either.  I also sucessfully communicated with several cab drivers (in Arabic) this week.  Granted, it was the usual questions ("Where are you from? how do you like Jordan?  Which is better, America or Jordan?")  Regardless I was able to answer for the most part and understand what was being said which made me very happy.  It is rare that I can understand the whole conversation, but sometimes I can pick out enough to get the gist of what it going on--it's rare but it does happen once in a while!!  We are planning on going to Lebanon for Easter weekend, so that should be a lot of fun!