Aqaba

We had a three day weekend so a group of us decided to ride a bus for 5 hours to the resort town of Aqaba. Aqaba is the only place Jordan touches the ocean.

It was very relaxing but I don't have very many pictures. We just sat around the beaches. Here are what I have.

The water wasn't warm but we snorkled and looked at the coral. In the background is Israel.

Sunset from my hotel balcony. Don't let it fool you, it was not a nice hotel but the price was right.

More things. You can see part of a big barge. It's a bustling seaport as its Jordan's only access to the highseas.

The second day we paid to go to a hotel's private beach. This hotel happened to be about 5 miles out from the city so we took a taxi. Its also 5 km from the Saudi border and next to a Jordanian Naval base. We had to go through a military checkpoint to get there. After a day at the beach we needed a ride back to the city. The cab ride would cost the outrageous sum of 17 J.D. or 25ish USD. Defiantly, we decided we'd walk until we could hail our own ride. On the way out we again had to pass through the military checkpoint. The 2 guards were very confused at first but we explained we were going back to our hotel. "Ma fii siiara?" (not in a car?) No, we said. Both of them just cracked up and we walked on. After about a mile a bus stopped for us and charged us 1 J.D. each to ride back to town. It worked out great.

For the first time since I left I wish I was back in Wisconsin because of the protests against Scott Walker's bill. I'm following the story here in Jordan and it is even making it in the news over here. That's impressive considering Libya and Bahrain are experiencing massive unrest and violence.

Some have you have already seen this but I thought it was worth posting.

A related picture from Egypt again. I really like it.

Who Said Jordan Was Boring?

We went to Ajloun, a fort constructed during the crusades, and Jaresh yesterday. Jaresh is touted as the Rome away from Rome. As this is a blog, not a lecture, I won't go into much history but it was a day well spent.

Ajloun Castle

At the top of a hill, the castle controls the surrounding area.

At some points it was kind of like spelunking

After lunch (which was delicious, probably ate an entire lamb) we went to Rome

Or maybe it was Scotland

Yup, definitely Scotland

The gladiator prepares for battle

The long road home

Some other random things:
I saw a dead dog sticking halfway out of a dumpster and when I asked about it I was told that people just shoot stray dogs on sight. This obviously doesn't apply to cats though since I see them everywhere.

My international relations professor met with Saddam Hussein and Saddam gave him a gold plated AK-47 as a gift. My professor didn't want it so sold it to some one for 5000 J.D. cash. He now realizes it was worth hundreds of thousands.

Iran, Yemen, Jordan, and Baharain are all experiencing unrest to some extent. I would bet serious money that Jordan won't be revolting any time soon. Yemen on the other hand might. I'll be curious to see how this effects the region.

Amman a Boat

It seems that the URL for my blog will be very misleading for the rest of the semester. I'm now studying in Amman and have been here for a week. Its very different from Cairo. Its chillier (50 degrees usually), the buildings and clothing styles are more western, and the people have all been directly impacted by Israel and US foreign policy.


A typical view of Amman. Its hilly here.

Jordan is still a developing country although its ahead of many other countries. (Yes, that's a KFC vehicle)

My grocery store. Inside it looks like any American store except there's no ham.

I really like my new bedroom and apartment.



The Ancient City of Athens

Spent a day in Athens, Greece wandering around. I didn't learn any Greek whatsoever but it was still a pretty cool place and I wouldn't have minded spending a couple more days there.

A view of the city while climbing the Acropolis

Some well preserved theater

The Parthenon

The Things I've Seen

Sorry I haven't posted for a while (nods to Max) but I've had poor access to internet and as of now I'm in a coffee shop in Jordan. In the last week and a half I've been on 3 continents but before I talk about that I want to share my experiences of the Egyptian revolution. So here it is.

January 25
The national holiday of Police Day in Egypt began as many thought it would. The Egyptian riot police flooded the street and as protestors began to voice their opinions the police showed uncharacteristic restraint (they only hurt some people).



Despite being told not to I explored a bit and got a few pictures including this one of the infamous riot police

 As the night progressed the protestors gathered in unanticipated numbers striking a fear into the Mubarak regime. State television announced that tomorrow protestors wouldn't be delt with so leniently. Defiant protestors gathered in Tahrir square and many spent the night.

My roomate's picture taken as we neared Tahrir square.

Twitter was blocked at some point this day. Interestingly Tahrir mean liberation so the square that has become the center for the movement is called Liberation Square.

January 26
Protests continue nonstop from yesterday. Images of riot police using brutal tactics can now be seen on the TV but the Egyptians seem undetered. Facebook is blocked today because it and Twitter were used extensively to organize the protests. Classes are cancelled for the day but no one is thinking that this is the begining of a revolution.

January 27
Very few protestors turn out and at about noon Mubarak blocks the internet and mobile phone service. Such a move is completely unprecedented in the entire world and it is seen as a desprate act by a teetering regime. In the evening I went to one of my Egyptian friends home for dinner with his family and had a great time. On the drive there I saw big police trucks parked along the side of the road. They were clearly preparing for something. The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest though illegal opposition party, announced they would support protests tomorrow. Prior to this they had been silent.

January 28
I got home from my friend's house at 1 in the morning and went to bed. In the morning I woke up to the Friday noon prayer, the most important prayer for muslims and when they usually go to mosques. As soon as the prayer was over I could here chanting and shouting from my balcony. This would be my vantage point from the revolution for the next 3 days. Roughly a quarter mile away was the University of Cairo were protests were begining and the police were having none of it.

Teargas was lobbed through the air for about an hour and caught on the wind, I could feel it in my nose and eyes

Elbaradei was praying at a mosque and as soon as the worshippers began to exit the police fired teargas trapping many inside. In other places christians tried to protect the mosques from the police to repay muslims for there protection during coptic christmas.

I have a video of this you can hear their chanting on but I wasn't able to upload it

Protestors marched past my square a few times on their way to Tahrir square. I apologize for the wandering frame but I didn't want to be looking through my camera the whole time.
By 4PM we heard that Suez and Alexandria had completely overwhelmed the police in both cities. At 5:30PM curfew is announced for 6:00PM. It goes largely ignored and at 6:30PM Mubarak orders the army into Cairo. At first they are welcomed by the protestors but their role quickly becomes unclear. A half hour later the NDP party headquarters in Cairo is set on fire and the police disappear from the streets. Gunshots can be heard from my apartment and the occasional explosion means I'm not sleeping anytime soon. At midnight Mubarak makes his first appearence since it began and announces he is disolving his government but it is too little for the people of Egypt and they don't stop protesting and burning police stations. By now at least 200 people are injured and 10 are dead. It will get much worse soon.

January 29
Protests continue on a massive scale and the police are nowhere to be seen. The people are very friendly to the army and they seem to just be there as peacekeepers. The phone network is also reactivated but internet remains off. Curfew is announced for 4PM but again no one pays it any mind. Shortly after curfew Omar Suleiman is sworn in as Mubarak's vice president. This is the first time in his 30 year reign he's had a vice president. Smoke and gunshots spread around the city and looting becomes a major problem with the police absent.

Smoke rises above Cairo as the sunsets



Looters stole an ambulance and exchanged gun fire with our apartment building’s doorman shown here in my roomate's picture.

The people of Egypt set up roadblocks in their neighborhoods and armed themselves with whatever they could find including knives, hunting rifles, sticks, hatchets, swords, and dogs.

January 30

At midnight Armored Personel Carriers rolled through our neighborhood to the cheers of the men manning roadblocks.

It rained in the early morning and a red flare was shot into the sky. I have no idea why but at this point we didn't know anything about anything. I finally fell asleep despite gunshots around 4AM and at 7AM our program director woke us all up and told us to pack in case we were evacutated. The news reports thousands escaping from prison to reek havoc on the city. By noon the protestors have woken up and regrouped. At 2PM we finally find out that we are going to be evacuated to Greece and classes will be continued in either Jordan or Morroco. At 4PM curfew is again imposed and ignored. In an attempt to frighten the protestors fighter jets buzz the city and shake the windows of my apartment. Its rumored that Mubarak gave the army the order to fire live ammunition at the protestors but the army ignored it. My neighborhood refortifies for the night and gunshots are heard less than a block away at about 9PM.

Military helicopters also flew around most of the day

My neighbors set up a road block

January 31
We are woken up at 7AM again and after an unbearable wait for our escort to the airport we leave. At 11AM we finally arrive at the airport.

Tanks are everywhere on the streets on the way to the airport

After uncertainty if we would actually be able to take off we leave Egypt at 7PM, 12 hours after we woke up.

In subsequent posts I'll tell you about Athens and Jordan but I'm done for today. Thousands are injured and hundreds are dead but end may be in sight for the Egyptian people.