My mom was Petra-fied!

(And she thought up that title herself! I think this proves conclusively that "corny sense of humor" is a genetic trait.)

After a wonderful but tiring day in Petra, Hanna, Samantha and I stumbled back to our hostel and went to bed to wake up early for our next day...in Wadi Rum! Wadi Rum is a gorgeous desert area, especially famous because that is where Lawrence of Arabia was filmed. We rented a taxi for the day to take us there and then to Aqaba to cross back into Israel. I did some pretty fancy-shmancy bargaining to get our taxi. It was about a 2 hour process. But worth it!

We woke up at 6:30 but only arrived at Wadi Rum at about 8:30 in the morning. Our taxi driver and his uncle joined us, and together we rented a Bedouin jeep to take us around the desert. Of course, there were no roads, and I loved our bumpy little ride in the sand. The mountains, some rose-coloured and others tinted almost orange, towered above us.

I am a Canadian girl to the core, and I really miss playing in the snow...but sand proved to be an able substitute. With the help of the Bedouins, I totally buried myself in the sand. I also climbed to the top of a dune, and then rolled down (being very careful to close my eyes and mouth, something I don't have to worry about when it's snow!). Wonderful at the time, but for days afterwards, I was still finding sand in different parts of my body and clothing. I'd say it was worth it, though. I really love the desert. As a Biology student, I'm fascinated by the types of life that can survive in such harsh environmental conditions. Besides the lack of water, and temperature varying from extreme heat to extreme cold...how do they live without television?!

After our fun little outing, we realized it was time to leave Jordan. Unfortunately, two full days was all we could spare before we had to come back to our classes in Jerusalem. I had serious issues getting back into Israel, because my Visa was slightly expired (but not my fault!), and I had the Mayor of Bitchville as my customs officer. After almost 15 minutes, a threat to be sent back to Jordan, and me uncharacteristically shutting up, I was allowed back in.

As we were waiting for our bus to Jerusalem, I called my mother. When I told her that I was going to Jordan, she was not happy, but I just chalked that up to her being an overprotective and neurotic Jewish mother. When I talked with her, I found out about something that happened that did not calm her nerves at all. Basically, at 2 am the night before, she got a call and she wasn't sure what to make of it. A man with a very strong accent told her "I have your daughter's panties." She was terrified for me, especially in the wake of the kidnappings of foreigners in Arab countries. So she asked "Which daughter?" to which he replied "You know which daughter!" When she couldn't get any more information out of him, she sort of realized that it was a crank call, but still spent half the night awake and praying for me. Hehehe. Good times. Now, she tells me that when she comes to Israel in January, she might want to go visit Petra herself. I guess I was a good human guinea pig, and showed that Jordan is safe. Which it is. And I would strongly urge all of you reading this to go there yourselves one day, because I loved my trip, and found it to be one of the most beautiful places in the world.