A quick update from Southern Jordan

Hi everyone,

Sorry it's been a few days. The hotels we've been in have all been
charging for the use of their internt and I have just been skipping it.

Things have been great here. I feel like I've gone from seeing places
I've always wanted to see to seeing place that I never thought I would
see. The beautiful mountains around Sela (pictured below) or the ones
we saw in Wadi Ram are great examples. It really was just
breathtaking. Like being in an Omni movie.

Yesterday we saw Petra and that really was amazing. There were some
good pictures taken there, don't worry. I have to say honestly I've
been feeling a little out of it. Given, with all the hiking I'm
definitely in the best shape I've every been in. However when we came
south on Tuesday a few of us (4-5) caught a cold, and while I'm
definitely getting better o just don't have the fight in me that I had
before. Still, it's getting better. I'm drinking tons of water.

There is so much more to say but I'm going to skip to the formalities
and hope to talk to all of you lovely people in person when I get home.

Tomorrow is our last day in the field. Sunday we are back in Amman for
our exam. Monday we go backthrough customs to Israel and spend the
evening in Jerusalem. Tuesday we fly home. There is a rumor that we
have a five hour lay over in London and I am determined to break out
of the airport and walk around a little. Then it's home again home
again (jiggety jigg).

I can emphasize enough that I have had an amazing time. Still I'm
getting ready to get home. If at least to move at a slightly slower
pace and speak the same language as the people around me. I know I
will miss all this when it's time to leave though.

Please be patient with me while I'm adjusting. I know food and time
change will be something, but I think the pace of life will be the
biggest change. I basically haven't gotten a phone call or text
message in over a month. None of the people that I need to talk to
have been over three floors away from me in about a month. And of
course, I've been dressing a little scandelously if my knees were
showing. All these things will take a little time to transition, but I
will be very happy to have some long talks, so plan on that.

I hope all is well with you and yours.

Love,
Lauren

Big views on tops of Sela in Jordan

Some time to relax

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Mawe <Lauren.Mawe@gordon.edu>
Date: June 14, 2010 2:26:26 PM GMT+03:00
To: "lauren.mawe.adventuresaround@blogger.com" <lauren.mawe.adventuresaround@blogger.com>
Subject: Some time to relax

Hello everyone,

Only on week left! This all continues to be amazing and really out of  
this world. However, it is getting long and I am getting ready to head  
home. Yesterday should be a good example.

We had the day off to relax and study before our test\quiz we had  
today (Monday). We got to go to an awesome English speaking  
international church Saturday night. Sunday morning we did a little  
shoppig then relaxed for a while then studied. Then Ben, Josh, Debbie  
and I decided we wanted a break from hotel food and with the help of  
the Hotel Concierge we ordered two pizzas from Little Caesars. We  
couldn't order drinks but the Concierge told us about a super market  
that is under ten minutes away from the Ramada. We walked there  
together and then, for the first time in a month, I set foot in a  
supermarket. It was like Christmas. We bought all the junk food. Soda,  
chips, cookies and of course chocolate. There has been a lot of great  
food but the chocolate especially has been missing. The whole  
experience was so rejuvinating.

After that we had a power study session which was really pretty  
excellent then we went to bed.

Today we had the quiz which did go very well even though it was tough  
to ajust to a professor different from Dr. Phillips    . The rest of  
the day will be spent in lectures. Tomorrow we are going south for  
four days. It sounds like there is going to be some really cool stuff  
including seeing Petra!

I hope that everything is well state side and I will be back there  
soon. I am excited to catch up.

Love
Lauren

Some time to relax

Hello everyone,

Only on week left! This all continues to be amazing and really out of
this world. However, it is getting long and I am getting ready to head
home. Yesterday should be a good example.

We had the day off to relax and study before our test\quiz we had
today (Monday). We got to go to an awesome English speaking
international church Saturday night. Sunday morning we did a little
shoppig then relaxed for a while then studied. Then Ben, Josh, Debbie
and I decided we wanted a break from hotel food and with the help of
the Hotel Concierge we ordered two pizzas from Little Caesars. We
couldn't order drinks but the Concierge told us about a super market
that is under ten minutes away from the Ramada. We walked there
together and then, for the first time in a month, I set foot in a
supermarket. It was like Christmas. We bought all the junk food. Soda,
chips, cookies and of course chocolate. There has been a lot of great
food but the chocolate especially has been missing. The whole
experience was so rejuvinating.

After that we had a power study session which was really pretty
excellent then we went to bed.

Today we had the quiz which did go very well even though it was tough
to ajust to a professor different from Dr. Phillips . The rest of
the day will be spent in lectures. Tomorrow we are going south for
four days. It sounds like there is going to be some really cool stuff
including seeing Petra!

I hope that everything is well state side and I will be back there
soon. I am excited to catch up.

Love
Lauren

Theater in ruins!

Hi guys,

A few weeks ago I was geeking out about the London Theater trip around
Dr. Phillips. She asked me say the few things I (enthusiastically)
knew about Greek and Roman Theater when we were at Caesarae Phillipi
in Israel. That led to the two of us organizing a staging of Jesus
healig the two demoniacs in Matthew 8 at Gedara in Jordan today. The
enactment was complete with singing chorus. I nobly took a place among
the chorus of pigs however. We got to rehearse our little production
only once and at least for me, it was an honor to put on some sort of
show that was meaningful to our audiance in a place where so many
performances have taken place over thousands of years.

Later in the day we went to the brand new excavation of Capitolas
where only the theater has been excavated, but no reconstruction has
taken place like we see at most sights. With a little convincing from
Corey, I actually performed my Constance monologue from King John that
I learned for Voice and Scene studies. Certainly, it was not the best
performance of that monologue by a long shot. I got my lines a little
garbled in the beginning but I'm so glad that I did it, and that I had
a monologue I could used. The acoustics and staging area were great,
and just beautiful to look at. It definitely goes on my list of
"Things to do in life".

So things are great. I am starting to get ready to go home though. We
are just tripping over paottery shards these days. Tomorrow we are
only visiting one sight, Gerasa, then goig back tothe Ramada and
probably to church. Sunday is a free day and Monday is a quiz and
lectures. So we have a bit of a break which is great. There is so much
great stuff here. There are so many unexcavated sites. I want to be
fully excited about them. That is still happening most of the time.
The break will be good though.

I'm looking forward to catching up with you all in realy time in a
week and some change. I hope all is well, and thanks for reading! It's
great to get to share this craziness with people.

Love,
Lauren

The beautiful rugged tels of upper Gilead (Mahanaim?)

First days in Jordan

Hi everyone!

Yesterday was the first day adventuring aroung Jordan. Amazingly, it
was pretty cool out. I heard it was 27 degrees Celcius. The cooler
weather gave me extra energy.

We went to the ancient ruin of Rabbah which is in Ammon, the capital.
There was a small museum there that we spent some time in. That is
always excitng. We got to see a lot of the details we don't get in the
field. Plus art is always exciting.

After that we saw some of the ancient watchtowers around Ammon,
including one that seemed to have some Israelite housing with it. All
kinds of good stuff.

Today we are going south for a two day trip. It is sad to leave the
beautiful Ramada, but we hear that the small family hotel we are
staying in is very nice.

The pace here is just a little slower than in Israel, a d I think we
are all grateful for that. We are leaving at 8 instead of 7 and 7:30
on the morning and we get more time to climb around the ruins. I have
the thistle-pricks to prove it. It's a lot of fun.

Jordan does not get a lot of tourism (though that is changing) and
while it was nice to go from national park to national park in Israel,
I feel like we are really getting a taste of what Jordanian life must
be like.

Hope you all are well. I can't wait to catch up with you all.

Love,
Lauren