Down by the Banks of the River Jordan!

SO we got back from Jordan a week ago and after being sick, real sick and finals (just 1 left!) I am finally getting around to posting I think I will just explain through pictures.

Out first stop once we got through the tedious task of crossing the border was Mt. Nebo. This is where Moses saw the promised land and also where he and Elijah were translated. It had really great views of Jericho and the Judean wilderness. Unfortunately, the church there was under construction so we couldn't go in but we still got to see the mosaics. 

This is one of the tile mosaics on that were just under a tent while they completes the construction but just like all the other mosaics I have seen in this region it was mind blowing and beautiful I can only imagine how tedious a task it would be to make one of these. 

Everybody meet Macharus, and yes we walked up this. It really wasn't that bad it just happened to be burning up hot and I wore jeans that day thinking it would mainly be a sit on the bus sorta day, bad idea. This was one of Herod's palaces; the whole top was artificially flattened and the building stood on top. This place was connected to a lot of stuff biblically but most importantly it is where John the baptist was imprisoned and according to the the KJV where he was beheaded.

Yeah this is just... well special.

My last month resolution.... TAKE MORE JUMPING PICTURES!

The next stop was the church at Madaba. This church is a popular stop because there is a mosaic on the floor dating from  542 AD.  It is a map depicting all of what is modern day Israel and Jordan but a long time ago. It was really beautiful and the descriptions from our guide was really interesting and was making connections with a lot of what we have been talking about in our classes. 

That roundish thing in the middle is Jerusalem but even on Greek I could understand  some of the places on the map.

The church was beautiful! I am growing to really like the Catholic churches.

My roomie Jenny!

This is Jerash. One mistake was visiting this city the day after  visiting Petra... Talk about exhausted we didn't do too much walking in our free time but we did get some sweet videos and pics in our free time. 

Some very nice scrap pillars and such. 

Our class! In a fountain at Jerash.

Out on the town in Amman. Haboob.

This is literally the largest theatre I have ever been in, and I went to Ephesus. I couldn't even get it all in one pic. It is from the ancient city of Philadelphia. There are all these ruin just spread out amongst downtown Amman. 

Our trip to the Jordan River was quite eventful we got to see some people baptize themselves and we even wrote a song.

That's me in the river! Interestingly this is the border between Jordan and Israel so just on the  other side is a platform for Israeli visitors and there are military guards everywhere! Just a little swim across this tiny river and you could leave with some unexpected souvenirs... bullet holes.