In February of 2007 the State Department had an Entry Level Officer conference in Amman. Basically, they got Junior Officers from posts around the Middle East, sent us to Amman, and stuck us in a conference room for a few days while we got to listen to people talk about how awsome the Foreign Service is, how important the work we're doing is, and how significant of a challenge Iraq poses to the Service as a whole. Fun stuff.
However, there was one part of the conference that dwarfs all others both in terms of interest and significance. About half of us in attendance had the opportunity to have an audience with King Abdullah. Now, I know that a lot of people don't approve of his reign, and he ceratinly has more than his fair share of challenges, triumphs, and mistakes, but I was honored to have the opportunity to shake his hand and hear him speak, at lenght, on his take on the situation in the Middle East. It was a priceless opportunity, and one for which I am grateful.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Amman 2004
We actually stayed in Amman in two different stretches in 2004. At the beginning of the "Final Trip" that capped off our semester Study Abroad, we spent a few nights in Amman. Amman was also the city we were flying out of, so we spent a few more days there at the end of our study abroad.
Much like Aqaba, Amman stood in stark contrast in our minds with Egypt in general, and Alexandria in particular. While Alex grew to feel like a claustrophobic port city, Amman was a sprawling, relaxed mountain town, the hills covered with limestone-faced houses. It was particularly pretty at sunset.
My starkest memory from these trips to Amman is from when we were on top of the mountain where the old city of Ammon was during biblical times. The tour guide pointed out that the long valley to the west, which is where the modern city mostly sits, was the beginning of the ancient road that connected Ammon to Jerusalem. It's also the best route for an army invading from Israel to take.
It's entirely possible, then, that that was were the Israelite army was attacking when Uriah was sent to the front lines. It was kind of eerie, thinking about the history that had occured in the vicinity of where I was standing. Indeed, I had that feeling many times throughout Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.
Much like Aqaba, Amman stood in stark contrast in our minds with Egypt in general, and Alexandria in particular. While Alex grew to feel like a claustrophobic port city, Amman was a sprawling, relaxed mountain town, the hills covered with limestone-faced houses. It was particularly pretty at sunset.
My starkest memory from these trips to Amman is from when we were on top of the mountain where the old city of Ammon was during biblical times. The tour guide pointed out that the long valley to the west, which is where the modern city mostly sits, was the beginning of the ancient road that connected Ammon to Jerusalem. It's also the best route for an army invading from Israel to take.
It's entirely possible, then, that that was were the Israelite army was attacking when Uriah was sent to the front lines. It was kind of eerie, thinking about the history that had occured in the vicinity of where I was standing. Indeed, I had that feeling many times throughout Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.
Sharm al Sheikh 2004
Sharm al Sheikh is an incredible place. I have this theory that there are three Egypts: Tourist Egypt, mostly in Cairo and at various other touristy places along the Nile; real Egypt, where the Egyptians actually live and work; and the Sinai, where rich Europeans and Arabs go to sunbathe and scuba dive. For a few days, we got to pretend we were rich Europeans or Arabs. Well, not really, but we did get to snorkel. My goodness, I've never seen anything so amazingly cool in my life. The reefs were set up as though they were a forest of miniature plateaus, maybe 30 or 40 feet in diameter with canyons about 20 feet deep and 10 feet or so wide in between them. The reefs themselves were 15 feet or so below the surface, so the bottom was 35 feet or so (give or take - I'm horrible judging distances in the best of times, and underwater without my glasses on are not the best of times.)
The fish swimming around in the reefs were painted with every color of the rainbow. They were every size and shape. I spent most of the time holding my breath as long as I could so I could swim down in the canyons. It felt like another world. I wish we had a camera we could take under water. The pictures would have been marvelous.
The fish swimming around in the reefs were painted with every color of the rainbow. They were every size and shape. I spent most of the time holding my breath as long as I could so I could swim down in the canyons. It felt like another world. I wish we had a camera we could take under water. The pictures would have been marvelous.
Mt. Sinai 2004
We had the opportunity to go to Mt. Sinai while we were in Egypt for our study abroad. We spent pretty much the whole first day on the bus driving from Alexandria to a hotel near the mountain. Then, after just a few hours of sleep, we drove to St. Catherine's monastary at the base of the Mount, in time to start hiking up the mountain at about 2:30 am. We had to leave that early so that we would get to the top of the mountain in time to watch the sunrise.
About two thirds of the hike up the mountain the path is wide and level. It goes through several long, lazy switchbacks as it crawls it way up the mountain side. However, the last third of the hike is much more rugged. there is a series of stairs that a monk in the middle ages carved into the rock to allow for an easier climb to the top. However, being hand carved hundreds of years ago, these stairs are very steep, uneven, and crumbly. It was a bit of a challenge, but nothing insurmountable.
Then I started to notice what some of the other tourists were wearing. (There were several dozen other people on the mountian - ours was but one of many different groups making the pilgrimage to the top that morning.) Most of the other tourists seemed to be from Russia, and I noticed that a significant number of the ladies in the other groups were wearing high-heeled sandals. I was flabergasted. I mean, sure, the hike wasn't that bad, but why make things harder for you than you need to? Many of them struggled to get to the top in time for the sunrise. There's a lesson for life in there, I think.
Once on top, we only had to wait half an hour or so for the sun to rise. It was beautiful. The land is remarkable for how rugged and lifeless it appears. There is no green - only brown. There are no smooth curves - only rough, jagged rocks. I gained a greater appreciation for the travails of the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness.
After the sunrise we had a testimony meeting. I'm sure we weren't the first group to do that, and I'm sure we won't be the last, but it felt like something special, to bear testimony and sing hymns on top of Mount Sinai.
Once we got to the bottom of the mountain again, we toured St. Catherine's Monastery
. Highlights of the tour included the burning bush (they claim that it is in fact the burning bush that the Lord used to speak with Moses), a room full of bones (I think they exhume the remains of monks from previous generations when they run out of space in order to have room to bury the newly dead), and a shelf with the remains of the monk who carved out all the stairs to the top of the mountain back in the Middle Ages. Fun stuff.
About two thirds of the hike up the mountain the path is wide and level. It goes through several long, lazy switchbacks as it crawls it way up the mountain side. However, the last third of the hike is much more rugged. there is a series of stairs that a monk in the middle ages carved into the rock to allow for an easier climb to the top. However, being hand carved hundreds of years ago, these stairs are very steep, uneven, and crumbly. It was a bit of a challenge, but nothing insurmountable.
Then I started to notice what some of the other tourists were wearing. (There were several dozen other people on the mountian - ours was but one of many different groups making the pilgrimage to the top that morning.) Most of the other tourists seemed to be from Russia, and I noticed that a significant number of the ladies in the other groups were wearing high-heeled sandals. I was flabergasted. I mean, sure, the hike wasn't that bad, but why make things harder for you than you need to? Many of them struggled to get to the top in time for the sunrise. There's a lesson for life in there, I think.
Once on top, we only had to wait half an hour or so for the sun to rise. It was beautiful. The land is remarkable for how rugged and lifeless it appears. There is no green - only brown. There are no smooth curves - only rough, jagged rocks. I gained a greater appreciation for the travails of the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness.
After the sunrise we had a testimony meeting. I'm sure we weren't the first group to do that, and I'm sure we won't be the last, but it felt like something special, to bear testimony and sing hymns on top of Mount Sinai.
Once we got to the bottom of the mountain again, we toured St. Catherine's Monastery
. Highlights of the tour included the burning bush (they claim that it is in fact the burning bush that the Lord used to speak with Moses), a room full of bones (I think they exhume the remains of monks from previous generations when they run out of space in order to have room to bury the newly dead), and a shelf with the remains of the monk who carved out all the stairs to the top of the mountain back in the Middle Ages. Fun stuff.
Las Vegas 2005
Katie's little sister, Emma, came down to visit us in Utah for the month of July in the summer of 2005. We did all sorts of fun stuff while she was visiting. One of the highlights was Vegas.
My buddy Russ Bennett was from Vegas. He and his wife, Mindy, were pretty much Katie and my best friends in Provo. They were headed down to Vegas for the weekend and invited us to come along. We got to stay at his parent's house and they showed us around town. It was a very enjoyable (and affordable!) way to see the city.
We spent some time in most of the major hotel/casinos. The Venetian looked like a Disney-ified version of Venice (it was way to clean) and the Bellagio's garden was astounding. Their water and light show at night was pretty cool too. Katie and Emma even got their picture in front of the famous Little White Chapel.
By far the coolest part of the weekend was when we got to go to see the Blue Man Group. Russ' dad is a dentist; one of his customers managed one of the casinos off the strip; that casino happened to be part of the same group that owned the Luxor hotel/casino, which is where the Blue Man Group was performing; he was able to get Brother Bennett a number of complimentary tickets; so, we got to go to an incredible $115 show for free! Talk aobut hook-ups!
My buddy Russ Bennett was from Vegas. He and his wife, Mindy, were pretty much Katie and my best friends in Provo. They were headed down to Vegas for the weekend and invited us to come along. We got to stay at his parent's house and they showed us around town. It was a very enjoyable (and affordable!) way to see the city.
We spent some time in most of the major hotel/casinos. The Venetian looked like a Disney-ified version of Venice (it was way to clean) and the Bellagio's garden was astounding. Their water and light show at night was pretty cool too. Katie and Emma even got their picture in front of the famous Little White Chapel.
By far the coolest part of the weekend was when we got to go to see the Blue Man Group. Russ' dad is a dentist; one of his customers managed one of the casinos off the strip; that casino happened to be part of the same group that owned the Luxor hotel/casino, which is where the Blue Man Group was performing; he was able to get Brother Bennett a number of complimentary tickets; so, we got to go to an incredible $115 show for free! Talk aobut hook-ups!
Aqaba 2004
After several months of living in Egypt, Aqaba seemed to be almost a fairy tale land of calm cleanliness. It took a long day's drive in the bus and on the ferry to get there, but we sure felt like it was worth it.
Looking back, it's almost comical at how relaxed Katie and I felt when we walked down the streets of Aqaba. Until then, we hadn't even realized the tension we'd been carrying with us in Egypt. Now, don't get me wrong - I loved my time in Egypt. However, there's something about being around so many people in such a chaotic environment that, over time, creates a fair amount of tenstion. Aqaba is where that tension started to drift away.
Looking back, it's almost comical at how relaxed Katie and I felt when we walked down the streets of Aqaba. Until then, we hadn't even realized the tension we'd been carrying with us in Egypt. Now, don't get me wrong - I loved my time in Egypt. However, there's something about being around so many people in such a chaotic environment that, over time, creates a fair amount of tenstion. Aqaba is where that tension started to drift away.
Al Alamein 2004
During our study abroad in Alexandria, the whole group went out to Al Alamein for a day. Alamein is the site of the decisive battle in the North African theatre during World War II. It was the first battle that the Germans lost, and set in motion the events that, in the end, resulted in the Axis powers being driven out of North Africa. There is a very peaceful and respectful military graveyard there, and a neat little museum. There's even a separate grave/monument/mausoleum sort of a thing for the German soldiers.
I was very touched by the rows of grave markers, standing guard over a stretch of land that really isn't all that much to look at - mostly dust and dirt and rocks, with the occasional scrub bush. The men who gave their lives in Alamein weren't anywhere near their homes. They weren't even anywhere that look remotely similar to their homes. But they fought and died nonetheless; the fought for what they believed in.
I was very touched by the rows of grave markers, standing guard over a stretch of land that really isn't all that much to look at - mostly dust and dirt and rocks, with the occasional scrub bush. The men who gave their lives in Alamein weren't anywhere near their homes. They weren't even anywhere that look remotely similar to their homes. But they fought and died nonetheless; the fought for what they believed in.
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