Back to Jordan

It is weird coming to such a foreign place and feeling at home.  As I walked up the stairs to the room I would be staying in, all these memories and feelings from last year’s field school rushed over me.  It seemed like nothing had changed except for maybe I knew a little bit more than last time and knew what to expect.  It doesn’t feel like America is halfway around the globe or that I spent a whole day just to travel here but here I am in Jordan again excavating.  I hope that there are many more times to come and that this isn’t the last one.

We are working outside of the same tomb as last year and just expanded the two by five-meter square we dug last field season.  We are finding some water channels that the Nabataeans used to probably drain the run-off water away from the façade into a nearby cistern.  It did rain the first full day we were here and there is currently plenty of water now pooled in the water channel, which hasn’t been used like that in a couple of thousand years.  We have found plenty of stone tools and pottery and even a painted piece of pottery which I happen to be doing my senior thesis on.  Some gold would be nice too while I’m thinking about it.

Dr. Johnson fearlessly traversing a shaky, weak mote at the crusader castle in Petra

Dr. Johnson is our fearless leader, same as last year, but we have far fewer students.  I’m the only undergraduate so I am kind of the runt of the group.  Ridge, who I roomed with last year, now a masters student at BYU, is back along with Marianna who just graduated from Oxford and is going to NYU for her Ph.D.  So, I  got plenty of people to learn from.  Dr. Johnson’s brother Leonard is tagging along with us as well to round out our little group.  We also have Fatima, a local Jordanian Jordanian representative from the Department of Antiquities, to keep us in line as well.

Last week we had the awesome opportunity to go to a local Bedouin wedding.  It was the first one that I had gone to in a while that didn’t have their reception at an LDS church gym.  They had this huge tent set up where all the men sat, probably about a hundred in total.  The women had a separate tent where they were celebrating.  It was the last night of the festivities, which usually last three or four days, and we were invited for the big meal since Dr. Johnson pretty much knows everyone because he has either worked alongside them or employed them in his forty-year long work in Jordan.

They brought out these huge platters of rice with goat meat, covered in peanuts and vegetables.  They placed them on little plastic tables they had laid out and five or so men gathered around each and started to eat the rice with their hands as we followed suit.  Young men came around and would pour this mainly liquid yogurt that looked more like milk over the rice and goat meat to add some flavor to it.  It was pretty good but also pretty messy and the yogurt was boiling hot it felt like.  After we had about half of the platter, they took the food over to the women's tent for them to eat.  Maybe at my wedding reception I’ll have to serve some goat meat.  It definitely would make it a memorable experience for all those in attendance!

 I've never looked more like a tourist

We've been able to go sight-seeing on our days off as last week we took Leonard down to sightsee. We had already seen the Kazneh and other places we were going to last year so it was fun to visit them again.  I finally broke down and paid some money to ride a camel.  Last year I was too cheap and didn’t do it.  Everyone asked me if I rode a camel when I went to Jordan and they were disappointed I hadn’t.  So, I fixed that and now have both visited the Middle East AND ridden a camel.  I could die happy now.  I got a cool picture in front of the Kazneh on the camel and other shots as well.

This Friday we went up to Ad-Deir where we excavated last year.  We got some more pictures and Dr. Johnson gave us the inside tour, taking us to places around the plateau that we hadn't seen yet.  We also hiked up to Al-Habis, a crusader castle which hasn't been preserved that well but there are still some walls and tunnels left intact.  It overlooks most of Petra and you can just see how many tombs and facades there are in the area.  And most of it hasn't even been excavated yet!  There is plenty of more work to be done for sure.

It has been interesting to come back to Jordan exactly a year after the last time.  I’ve been reflecting on how I’ve changed and how my life has changed in the one-year interval between my two visits to Jordan.  I remember sitting on the rooftop looking over the small hillside town of Umm Sayhun trying to grapple with where I wanted to go in life and who I wanted to become.  I think some of those questions are still left unanswered but I have been able to pursue a lot of those things I mused over on the rooftop last year, whether it be taking the time to date and get to know girls or put forth effort and dedication to my academic pursuits of becoming an archaeologist.

The valley of Petra from the top of the crusader castle, Al-Habis

I somehow feel closer to God when I’m in Jordan.  Maybe it is the elevation, the scores of faithful Muslims praying five times a day, or my lack of access to the internet and mobile devices.  I think more than that I’m more willing to learn.  Traveling allows me to step outside of my normal routine, slow down, and evaluate where I am going.  I generally am clueless to what path I’m headed down and the particulars of my future so I lean on God a lot in fine-tuning my life plan, desires, and actions.  He hasn’t steered me wrong so far so this time around, I’ve spent my fair share of time on our rooftop overlooking the city and deciding my future.  I guess we will just have to wait to see where this journey takes me!  I might be able to come back next year if I can scrape up the money which would be really awesome.  Leaving in the next couple of days won't be that easy as I've really enjoyed my time here again but I have a feeling that I'll probably be able to come back.  Until next time and Happy Mother's Day!