Guest post #1: Thomas "The Boyfriend" Dudley

Sarah and I decided to mix things up a bit this time. This is Thomas, Sarah's boyfriend, visiting Jordan for a little over three days. I'll be writing this time about some of the things we've been up to. Expect a similar post from each of her parents in a couple days.

Dry information about the trip here:

I had flights between RDU, Dulles, Heathrow, and Amman. All flights were on time or early and each layover was about three hours so, unlike Sarah's adventure, definitely no running in airports for me. I left Wednesday afternoon from Raleigh and got to Amman Thursday night Amman time. Honestly, it was all pretty uneventful. On the DC to London flight I sat next to an occasional contributor for the Huffington Post. He pointed out the Thames and Hyde Park as we arrived in an unusually sunny London.

Thursday Night:

Sarah, her host dad and sister (Rasha) picked me up at the airport and dropped me off at my hotel. A few days ago I thought they weren't going to be able to, so I was very grateful I didn't have to find a taxi to my hotel. Of course it was great to see Sarah for the first time in two months. Trip worth it already.

First Full Day:

On Friday we walked around the city some in the morning before reaching the top of a large hill overlooking the city (the place with the view of the flagpole from a previous post.) We were up there sitting and talking among the ancient ruins when the call to prayer started. The call to prayer happens five times a day and serves to remind Muslims it is time to pray. All mosques I've seen have what look like megaphones near the top of their towers and project out the lyrical prayer. Most places in the city you can hear one or maybe two at a time but on the hill overlooking the city we could hear many more. Hearing the prayer while looking out over the crowded streets, nestled homes; nothing could better reinforce my image of the Middle East.

After that we checked out a nearby DVD store and stocked up some cheap DVDs. I think in all we got 25 DVDs for about $40. The joke is we're trying to recoup airfare costs.

Next we ate a late lunch with her host family which was very nice. Initially we didn't think I would be allowed to be at their house as the culture dictates, but her host parents decided to make an exception. The food was very good and I enjoyed seeing where she lives.

Then I met Rasha's boyfriend Noor, and with Sarah's older host sister Alia we went to the Royal Automobile Museum. The most impressive car was the newest, the Bugatti Veyron, once the fastest production car in the world. (Top speed 253 mph.)

(Photograph courtesy of Sarah's other visit to the museum.)

Saturday:

We taxied three hours each way to Petra and saw the iconic treasury. That was definitely the coolest part and sadly we didn't have enough time to check out all the "off the path" sites. From what I've heard from multiple sources, Petra should be seen over two full days. With six hours of driving and me still not caught up on sleep Petra was about all we did Saturday.

Sunday:

Sunday morning Sarah showed me around her university. We walked to a couple of her classrooms, and I met some of her friends. Sunday is the first day of the school week in Jordan, so at 2:00 Sarah started class. I spent the next three hours in TAGKS, composing most of this entry. Also, I learned the video streaming site hulu.com doesn't work in Jordan, which was disappointing. After that we grabbed a pizza at an Italian place near campus which was surprisingly good. We next spent some time looking for a European style three-pin power adapter so I could charge my laptop but were unable to find one. Because my laptop ran out of charge we couldn't post this entry until now, when I'm back in the US.

Anyway, I had a great time, and I'm very glad I went.