I am kind of uncomfortable talking about all the places that I have traveled to in the past few days. In fact, I find nothing more distasteful than people who like to pass off extraordinary experiences as mundane occurrences for them (à la: “When I was in Bhutan, the Mexican food was
really bad!”). I don’t care if you don’t even know that Bhutan is a country- no one’s personal story makes them superior to anyone else. Me, I still haven’t learned to match my socks properly after 33 years of half-hearted attempts, so I certainly don’t see myself as some great sojourner who must rhapsodize about her latest B-rated epiphanies
ad nauseam.
But you, dear reader, will let me know for sure if this is taking place. At least I hope you will. Esotericism in almost any discipline makes my eyes glaze, and as such I’ll always take hanging out by the green 1979 Ford F250 SuperCab over a convocation of academics.
So that’s my way of telling you that I find nothing normal about the things that I have been able to accomplish thus far in my life. Indeed, I am still kind of waiting for that load of bricks to fall on top of my head, just so the playing field is evened out a bit. That may or may not happen, but if it time does, I’ll feel like I still got away with a whole bunch more than other people on this earth. As the Chinese proverb goes: enjoy life, it’s later than you think.
Now that I have apologized for my trip to the Dead Sea, here is some coverage of how Megan and her plucky travel companions journeyed 1,385 feet below sea level:
Halfway there (or down) to the البَحْر المَيّت // יָם הַמֶּלַח / Dead Sea / Sea of Salt
In Amman, we were gonna spend our only full day in the city exploring the Citadel and other worthwhile sites. Literally, as we are about to head out the door, the question comes up, “Wanna go to the Dead Sea instead? It’s less than an hour away.”
This took exactly zero seconds to reconsider.
Why yes, I would love to go to the Dead Sea and soak away some of my cynicism
You know how the best days of your life are usually the ones you don’t see coming, the ones that are never planned to be fantastic? Today was one of those days. I can’t adequately explain to you how cool an experience it is to bob in a body of water that is nine times more salty than the ocean. You’re just gonna have to go yourself.
The walk down to the water. Can’t really call it a beach…
I’ve been traveling with the Beijing Olmsted Scholar and his awesome wife. We first smeared ourselves with mud and baked in the sun before slipping into the water.
You can’t really call it swimming, but man, do you feel like a kid.
So after our arduous day down by the water (oh yes, it was a spa day) we headed back to Amman for local food. This took the form of falafel, hummus, foul, pita and tea. All for about 1 dinar each.
Plastic chairs, super cheap food served up in an alley. Now this is more my speed!
I will close this entry with a photo of the restaurant’s “Ramadan Christmas lights” (Yes, I know this is politically incorrect, but I think it’s cool how the city strings up lights for Ramadan, just like we do…kinda)
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| Another great trip! Thank you General Olmsted! |
