Weekends are for touring Jordan - Jerash and Ajloun

My gracious host, Margie, has Fridays and Saturdays off (that's the weekend here, although I'm learning that some places, schools primarily, have split weekends - Friday and Sunday. I'm sure I would hate that) and so we were able to spend the past two days exploring areas outside of Amman.

Friday we drove north a ways to see the ancient Roman ruins at Jerash. Once an important city in the Decapolis, what remains of Gerasa (Jerash) is incredibly well preserved (especially considering the few restrictions they place on tourists wandering the site). For reference on the following map, Amman was once called Philadelphia.
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As a bit of a history nerd, I enjoyed learning about the various buildings and their uses from my friend, Lonely Planet (although I think my friends got a little bored with my information). Yet, the site is worth wandering even without a guidebook (gasp). This is the only season of the year in which Jordan is green, and the green hills with sheep and goats grazing amidst yellow and purple wildflowers make a beautiful backdrop for massive marble columns.





After wandering for several hours, we loaded back up and drove west another 45 minutes to Ajloun Castle, a 12th century castle built to protect the country against crusader attacks. Although the day was overcast and rainy so our view was obstructed, we're told on a clear day you can see Israel, Lebanon, and Syria from the top.




We decided to wrap up a long day of walking in the cold with homemade chai and brownies and an episode of Glee.

It is surreal to be in this part of the world after having studied/taught/read/heard about it for so long. This is the first time I've ventured outside of the western world. Yet, I've heard stories about the terrain and the people here my entire life. My identity was shaped by events that happened approximately 45 miles away from here (the distance between Amman and Jerusalem, although it takes almost a full day to get there because of the border crossing). This is one small world.