From Indiana to Jordan

As a young boy, I remember watching in awe as a heroic adventurer named Indiana Jones came upon the staggering site concealing the mythical Holy Grail. The sheer scale and beauty of the place in which he entered seemed so fantastical that I would have been shocked to learn that it was indeed a real location. While the film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade may have been a work of fiction, it succeeded in capturing the true sense of wonder evoked by the ruins of Petra, Jordan. Some places prove that seeing is indeed believing.

Finding the Way East (Part Two)

Losing yourself in the Old City of Damascus is a must for anyone who visits Syria. It's easy to envision some ancient tale of intrigue lurking behind the corner of every meandering alley. But perhaps the best part of getting lost here is suddenly finding yourself in the courtyard of the Great Mosque. It was in this beautiful and historic space of reverence and calm that I decided to extend my stay in Damascus. Beyond simply being a tourist, I wanted to get a taste of what it was like to live in the Middle East. My growing fascination with this city, and my desire to pick up some of the local language, led me to enroll for an introductory course in Arabic at the University of Damascus. Within four days, I jumped through all the necessary hoops: visiting the heavily fortified US embassy to get Uncle Sam's approval, waiting in a long line outside of a Syrian clinic for a blood test in order to be confirmed HIV negative (not kidding!), and successfully finding a place to live for the next month. Before I knew it, I was in a classroom, copying down Arabic script from a whiteboard, and struggling to correctly pronounce Arabic syllables. What? You mean to tell me that you have a letter that sounds like "aaaaaaAAAAHHHH"???

The Good Life in the Dead Sea

Alright, let's see what benevolent act the King has performed today... This is the good life, folks: floating effortlessly on calm waves, catching up with the latest news, and taking in a picturesque view of Israel. Throughout recorded history, the Dead Sea has been an object of fascination for its unique chemical and therapeutic properties...but mainly just because floating without trying is pretty damn cool. The shores of this ultra-saline body of water are just an hour's drive from the city of Amman, Jordan. My visit to the Dead Sea was a definite highlight of the three weeks which I spent in the bustling capital.  f you make it here, don't forget to bring along the day's paper for some relaxing reading...Now let's see, which page was I on again...