From Jordan to Israel

For our meal our last evening in Jordan we went to a local shawerma place down the street from our hotel. A shawerma is sort of like a gyro but with beef, served in a flat bread like a tortilla. It was delicious. And then we went across the street to get a "fruit salad" for dessert. If you've been getting Alyssa White's letters from Jordan you've heard her talk about fruit salads. This one here is a special, meaning a large size. And it was large. We needed a couple more people to help us eat it. There's chocolate ice cream and some candy bar pieces in the middle of all that fruit.



 

 

 The next day, our first stop was the Jordan River, the site of Jesus's baptism. It looks surprisingly like the Jordan River about 2 miles from our house. It was a very peaceful spot.

 

 

We then had to pass through the border between Jordan and Israel, which took some time. I even had to have my temperature taken because I'd recently been to Africa (Egypt). Then we went to Qumran, the ancient desert community where the dead sea scrolls were found. Ironically, we were greeted by a big rain storm in the desert. They've excavated the ruins of a sort of village there, much bigger than I expected.

This is a ritual bath. Because of the rain, there was even some water in it.

The little triangular cave on the left was where the first of the scrolls was found. A Bedouin boy threw a rock into it and heard pottery break. He climbed up there and found them.

 

Next stop, the Dead Sea. I was chicken and didn't swim, but Jeff did. Actually swim isn't the right word. Bob like a cork, is more of what you do. He said it was relaxing.

 

I had pictured something like the Great Salt Lake, with brine flies and a smell. I wasn't prepared for how beautiful it was.