Date Line Jordan - Wednesday, April 7

Its 9 PM in Amman, and you're tired pilgrims have finished their dinner.  It seems that all others have retired to their rooms to recover from our long journey, while I have retired to one of the two hotel bars, seeking a glass of wine and an electric outlet (outlets aren't nearly as frequent as I am accustomed to) , all that I need to begin to recount our trip thus far. 

By way of introductions, we are 13 on this trip, 10 of us from St. Mary's in Sparta, NJ.  All but one of us has travelled together on Orion's pilgrimages before - all of us eager to see and share the new and the old of sites that formed our faith, and that still are influential today.  We met in JFK to fly together the almost 12 hours to Amman on Royal Jordanian Airlines, and began comparing which travel accessories each may have added since a previous trip.  All were glad to see that I have abandoned the woebegone suitcase of my last excursion in favor of a more sturdy case!  Seasoned travelers sport their backpacks and their passport cases on neckstraps, wheeled carry-ons, ipods, world phones, noise cancelling earphones, sudukos, and e-readers - we are not a particularly light travelling bunch - and I for one will probably leave a carbon footprint in Jordan, given my electronic collection requiring daily nourishment.  

From what I could see on our flight, it seemed that most of the passengers were Jordanian - many, but certainly not all, of the women wore attire that fully covered them.  I noticed one young woman, young given her stance and movement, young given her fellow travelers - a handsome man of perhaps 30 and a small boy - young given her beautiful intense eyes which were in fact all that showed of her - even her hands were covered by delicate gloves.  Throughout the flight, posted on the various TV screens you would occasionally see a map showing the plan's progress on its way to Amman, then you would see a schematic of the plane with a directional arrow pointing toward a small box.  At times the arrow would point off from the right wing of the plane, vaguely at 3:00, at other times it would point almost straight ahead, as at noon.  With scrutiny, I realized that this was where the plane is in relationship to Mecca - here is where one is to face to pray.

So after almost 12 hours in flight we landed in Amman.  The trip was certainly long, but greatly aided by a departure time of almost 11:00 PM - we were all tired and most of us got some sleep.  It should be of no surprise to any who have travelled with Orion that we walked out of the airport and into 65F weather, clear, and with a delightful breeze.  Our guide said we were lucky, and so we are, but this is a finely tuned travel experience, with cooler spring weather as an objective.  While pilgrimages require one to move outside one's comfort zone, it would be a shame for the memories of a trip to be of oppressive heat and not of awe-inspiring encounters with different cultures.   

The drive to our hotel reminded me of San Diego - as I said, it is spring here and things are wonderfully green.  We drove through agricultural country, with roadside stands selling vegetables - carrots and beans I could recognize as we streamed past.  The countryside is quite hilly, some hills quite steep.  Construction is everywhere - Amman is 1/3 of the country's 6 million population, and roads, housing and hotels are all sprouting up.  Camels, sheep, goats and horses are on the hillsides, as are the occasional migrant tents.  We passed Burger Kings, Pizza Huts, KFC, even Popeye's Fried Chicken, but my personal favorite was Biggily Wiggily!

So we are ensconced safely and more than comfortably in Amman for the next 3 nights - tomorrow we begin our foot travels - first to Jerash then to Pella.  Tomorrow night I will once again repair to the bar in search of an electric outlet so as to share the day's adventures with you.  For now I will head to bed myself.

May the peace of the Lord be always with you.

Ross