Crossing the Jordan

Day 5

Today was a bit if a slower day because we traveled from Israel into Jordan, and a good chunk of the morning consisted of crossing the border and driving to our first destination. Jordan is much different from Israel. It is a more economically depressed country, and it saddened me to see all the poverty around us, especially as we are the rich tourists. I have never liked being that person. But you can tell the people of Jordan take pride in their nationality.

Another difference I noticed between the two countries was that the area of Israel we have traveled in so far had had a sort of California landscape feel to it. Dry, but with vegetation and lots if farming. Jordan (at least initially) made me think of Nevada. Brown, rocky, and barren...which I loved. I thought the landscape was gorgeous and intriguing, and I tried to see as much as possible as we drove. Our new Jordanian tour guide (Uri can only guide in Israel) explained that the region we were going through was the land that the Gadites, Reubenites, and half of the tribe of Manasseh chose to settle in rather than crossing over the Jordan into the Promised Land (Numbers 32). We were driving right through Biblical history once again.

Our main stop today was ancient city of Jerash, which was part of the Decapolis and is just unbelievably massive in size. 

Whereas the other archeological sites we visited have been smaller sections uncovered here and there, Jerash covers 8.6 miles, and a large part of it has been uncovered and restored. Archeologists have been reconstructing it since the 1920's when it was first discovered, and it truly looks like a city. 

Greek roadway

There have been multiple layers of cities found on the site, so the reconstruction includes Roman buildings from the 1st century along with Greek buildings from earlier. The place was just absolutely massive, with columns everywhere, roads (with chariot ruts in them), sewage systems, and temples for Zeus and Athena. 

It was a gorgeous day and thoroughly enjoyable. Until it started raining on us. But, I really didn't mind because it cleared out the majority if the tourists. Perfect!

We left Jaresh and stopped at an overlook of River Jabbok. It was along this river that Jacob wrestled with an angel before meeting Esau again after many years (Genesis 32;22-32). There is so much Old Testament history in this region! Val gave a short devotional while we were there, which was my favorite so far. I know I'm biased, though.

Val sharing at the overlook of the river

Val is one of my very favorite people. She is the international director of Campus Ambassadors, and is an absolutely brilliant woman. I could listen to her talk for hours. She is also just so humble, and she has an absolute trust in her staff that makes you feel like you can do anything when she encourages you. She also knows how to have fun and is constantly making jokes or picking on you (which I appreciate). She is energetic and loves running around doing ridiculous things. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with Val on this trip, from racing through castles, being the brunt of her jokes, making ridiculous comments about pretty much anything, getting called troublemakers by our tour guide (with Elizabeth of course!), and having really good conversations/receiving life advice. I feel looked after and taken care of when I'm around her. I respect her, adore her, admire her, and love her.

Oops.