Biblical Jordan and Tea with the Bedouins

This weekend a group of about ten of us apartment kids ventured out to Madaba to see the biblical sites, and visit the hot springs. We left Amman around 5 on Thursday evening and, due to the ridiculous traffic and multiple random stops, we arrived in Madaba around 6:45. We arrived to a mostly quiet city that apparently closes down around dark. Regardless, we found a cute hotel and a wonderful restaurant downtown. If there was one thing I'd miss most about Jordan its the delicious family style meals with endless buckets of cheese, bread, hummus, and kebabs. Naturally, we went in search of some hubbly bubbly afterwards, and found a tiny shisha place with a very sweet owner. We called it quits early because the nightlife in Madaba is non-existant and we had to prepare for our long day ahead.

On Friday my roomies and I woke up around 8, grabbed a free breakfast, and headed out to see the famous Greek Orthodox church in Madaba where the oldest map (yet to be found) is located. The church was filled with a mixture of Canadian, Chinese, French, and German tourists. But, despite this tourist bubble, I absolutely loved this little gem in the middle of a small town. Next on the agenda was Mount Nebo at 2680 feet above sea level where Moses allegedly traveled to gain a view of the promised land that God had granted to the Israelites. God asked Moses to stay and this mountain until his death and so is rumored to be the burial site of Moses. We were fortunate enough to go up on a clear day because we were able to see for miles. The West Bank, Jericho, and the Dead Sea were all in clear view from the top point.

After Mount Nebo we traveled another 30 minutes to the Mai'n hot springs. The beauty of this natural phenomenon is overwhelming. Unfortunately the site was slightly tainted in my eyes because of the obvious gender discrimination. I decided that I won't wear a bathing suit again in public in Jordan unless I'm on a private resort. I understand that when traveling to a different culture, especially one so separate as Jordan, you must accept the differences in what's considered rude or inappropriate, but the staring is something I have trouble getting used to. Being the annoying feminist that I am, I couldn't stand the obvious discrimination. All the men were shirtless and in shorts, but if the women weren't completely covered (We didn't see any women over the age of 18 without a hijab) you got ogled or tisked at. But we all powered through it and enjoyed the healing waters anyway and walked away feeling refreshed.

On the ride back to Madaba the van we rented for the day overheated in the middle of a Bedouin farmland. When this happened I groaned and prepped myself to sit around until we got it fixed, but I was very pleasantly surprised when a nearby Bedouin farmer came over and offered us his home. We sat around on cushions on the floor in a room designated specifically for entertaining in a very small home. The man brought us tea and we all attempted to converse with him in our clumsy Arabic. In the end, I was very glad our car broke down just for this little piece of rural culture. It was the kind of hospitality that you would rarely find in the states, and it was a refreshing thing to see after leaving the hot springs.