UNDERDOG!!

Dead Sea

We ended the day with a trip to the Dead Sea to watch the sun set. All the pictures you've seen about people floating almost on top of the water are accurate. I didn't really believe it until I jumped in, but this was absolutely amazing.

Jesus' Baptism Site

After Mount Nebo, we moved on to the baptism site of Jesus. If you don't know this story you're probably going to Hell. Due to earthquakes in the region and time the Jordan River has shifted. The actual baptism is no long in the path of the Jordan River. The pictures show the actual baptism site and the river near the site.

Mount Nebo

Okay, I'm done apologizing for not posting in a while. It's been a while... so sue me - not really Twist, I don't have any money anyway.

Anyway, my next stop was Mount Nebo. This is were Moses looked out over Israel. It's also believed that this is where Moses is buried.

MADABA

I apologize for not posting the next leg of my journey until now. We were diving at the Rea Sea again for the past couple days. For those of you who are worried about what I had for breakfast this morning... I had fresh lobster on the beach (we caught 18 this weekend). With that said, let's move on to the 2nd leg of the journey.


Our next stop was Madaba, Jordan. At 60,000 residents, it's the 5th most populated town in Jordan. It's mentioned in the Bible in Numbers 21:30 and Joshua 13:9. The town is best known for its Byzantine and Umayyad mosaics which are found primarily in the north areas of the town. The sites we visited were the Church of the Virgin Mary and St. George's Cathedral.

At St. George's Cathedral is the home of the Map of Madaba. Dated to the 6th century AD, it was rediscovered in 1896. It is the oldest map of the Holy Land still in existence today. It is a detailed map of Jerusalem as it appeared at the height of the Byzantine period.

Petra - Royal Tombs

Petra - The Theater

Petra - Khaznat (The Treasury)

PETRA

Petra is located in the Wadi Musa (Valley of Moses). The word Petra literally means "Rock". This is a very fitting name being that the city is primarily carved out of sandstone.

It's known that around 1200BC the Edomites were in the area of Petra. However, it's not know if they actually inhabitied Petra itself. In the 6th century BC Petra was settled by the Nabataeans. The Nabataeans retain control of Petra until around 106AD. Not only did they establish themselves as traders in the region; they were expert hydralic engineers and designed dams, channels, and water conservations systems to supply the city with water. The Romans into the region in 63AD, but couldn't conquer the Nabataeans until 106AD. In 363AD Petra suffered a severe earthquake which destroyed about half the city. In 551AD another earthquake struck which drove the remaining inhabitants from the region.

In the pictures you can see:

** NOTE: These are just a few of the amazing sites at Petra. Pictures truely do not do these sites justice.

Khaznat (The Treasury) - Almost 40m (131 ft) tall. Seen in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, it is actually no more then a Nabataean tomb.

The Theater - It was carved out of the cliff side destroying many tombs in the process.

The Royal Tombs - Carved into a rock face known as the Kings Wall. It's not known if there are actually any kings buried in the tombs or if it's just a popular name given to the area.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra

http://www.go2petra.com/history.htm

http://www.raingod.com/angus/Gallery/Photos/MiddleEast/Jordan/Petra/index.html

http://almashriq.hiof.no/jordan/900/930/petra/jda/petra.html

http://almashriq.hiof.no/jordan/900/930/petra/myth/

http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Anthropology/Petra/excavations/history.html

ROAD TRIP !!!

We had a 3-day this weekend and decided to take the opportunity to check out the sites in Jordan. The only way that I can describe it is "AWESOME"! I'm not talking about the teenager "this is kinda cool" sense of the word; I'm talking about "stood in awesome silence before the ancient ruins" AWESOME. I'm going to break down each leg of the journey into its own post, but here's an overview of the weekend:

(Please make reference to the map above)

When we crossed the border into Jordan we drove about 30 km north to Aqaba where we stayed the night. Early the next morning we where on the road, en-route to Petra. After a full day in Petra (we only got about half way through Petra in a day) we got a room for the night. Again, early the next morning we were on the road - still moving north. Our next stop was Madaba where we saw the Church of the Virgin Mary and St. George's Cathedral. After a couple hours in Madaba we moved to the top of Mt. Nebo (where Moses looked into Israel). And then it was down the other side to Jesus' baptism site on the Jordan River. Too end the day we headed south to swim in the Dead Sea. After the sun set we drove back down to Aqaba for the night. The third and final day we drove east to Wadi Rum (made famous by Lawerence of Arabia). Again, we couldn't see everything there in just a couple hours, but the day was getting short and we had to start heading back to Saudi.

This was the most amazing weekend of my life... words and pictures cannot begin to explain the things I saw. I'll do my best in the following posts to tell you about each site.

More Photos from the Kingdom

Here are just a couple more photos. Feel free to add your own captions.

Some more Pictures from the Kingdom

Here are some more pictures that I've taken that I thought were kinda cool. I met some South Africans diving one weekend and they had this Hookah Pipe out anytime they weren't in the water. This is a natural bridge that I thought was pretty cool looking. Me and a couple buddies decided to pose for a couple pictures at the range. And this is a Conch Shell and it's owner.

New SCUBA diver in the Kingdom

Hello once again from the Kingdom. Yes it's true... the waters are no longer safe as I am now a certified Open Water Diver. This weekend I did four dives in the Rea Sea. I did my first Night Dive and went Lobster hunting. We only caught four last night but the night prior my buddy caught seven. Needless to say, we eat Lobster for dinner tonight. Here are some pictures of the weekend.

Apologies from the Kingdom

Sorry that I haven't been on in a while. I have sorta been busy. In the past month I have shaken hands with a princess (and I'm not talking about "the artist formally known as..."). I have been earning my SCUBA certification. I've made two dives in the Rea Sea (will be making 4 more this weekend). I've been teaching my students how to shoot (that has been an experience). We've spent a LOT of time on the range. I have a lot of good pictures that I need to get posted, but currently they are still on my camera. I'll try to get them posted after this weekend. And I've also been setting up a Myspace account.

Twist, I'm sorry. I know how you must have felt without me hovering over you every waking moment, but I think it's time. Spread your wings and fly.

I'll try to post again after this weekend.

Snorkeling in the Kingdom

Hey all. I just got back from a weekend snorkeling in the Red Sea. This was the first time that I've ever snorkeled and all I have to say is, "WOW!!" The reefs were amazing and I could easily about 50 feet to the sea floor. I can't even begin to describe all the different fish and sea life that I saw. Simply amazing. I'm planning to start scuba diving soon.

Just to prove to Twist that I am really not in Nevada I am include these pictures. As you can see there are camels and goats here - the goats seem to own the roads in places. The other two pictures are of the sun setting over the Red Sea and the sun rising over the mountains east of the dive site we were at.

Kell, I wish I had seen you warning about the sand in my under carriage before this weekend. Thanks anyway.

Touring the Kingdom

We have been venturing out a little more in the past week. We've been checking out some of the different training areas and you'll never guess what i fought.... Sand!! Lots and lots of Sand!! I know what you're thinking, "Sand?! Not in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia", but yes it's true.

It's the end of the week here in the Kingdom and I'm ready for a break. These hours (0900-1300) have been brutal. We have to sit and talk and drink tea. In all seriousness, we have just about gotten everything we need to start teaching - and, as usual, just in the knick of time.

We've been getting to know our Interpretors a little better. They bought us some local food for breakfast this morning. I can't remember the name of it, but it basically consisted of a pita type bread that we dipped in a sort of bean dip. It was pretty good.

As promised I'm also posting a couple of pictures. See if you can find the Truck in the picture of the desert. That's about all that's going on around the Kingdom right now.

Not much going on in the Kingdom

It's the weekend here in the Kingdom. The weekends here in Saudi Arabia are Thursdays and Fridays (Fridays being their equivalent of our Sunday). There hasn't been much to do around here in the last couple of weeks - I've done more PT here in the last 2 weeks than I did in the last 3 years at RTB.

We just found out that the classes we were supposed to have about 2 1/2 months to prep are now starting in less than 2 weeks. In the states that wouldn't be too much of a problem, but here things move a lot slower. You can't get anything acomplished until you sit down with your counterpart and talk, dring some tea or coffee, and get to know them. On top of that, we just found out that we don't even have classrooms or even offices to give these classes. The up side is that, even though we're WAY BEHIND the power curve, I know we'll get it done - I'm working with some pretty good guys and we seem to work well together.

Sorry that there are no pictures yet, but I have been off the camp that much yet. I'll try to get some up soon.

Reporting Live from the Kingdom

I'm in northwest Saudi Arabi. The high here has been averaging about 110 degrees in the shade. Although it has been hot (temperate-wise), it feels quite comfortable.

There's really not much to report yet, things are a lot slower paced here. This whole "war" between Israel and Lebanon has sort of screwed up the recreation time (Twist, call your contacts in Israel and tell them to call a cease fire for about a year), but we should still get some time to travel. I'll try to get some pictures up soon.

I'm Finally Here!!

Hey all. I'm Finally in country... I've actually been here for about two weeks, but who's counting. Anyway, as you can see, I have internet so I will be on now and again. Bad thing is it's slower than dial-up and I don't have my own line yet.

Later.

I'm still alive

... Yes, it's true. I'm still alive and kicking. Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but this vacation stuff is hard work. I haven't been around a computer much and playing golf in the sun all day really tires me out. My face hurts pretty bad too because I haven't smiled this much in years. I'm not sure when (or if) I'll be able to post more regularly, but I'll try to at least check-in on occassion.

The Nightmare is OVER!!

It has been confirmed. As of 4-hours ago, I no longer belong to 6th RTB or Ft. Benning... As a matter of fact, I don't really have a job at the moment. Woo Hoo!!

Yellow Roses on Memorial Day

These bloomed today... Perfect timing.

Child Labor

What I've been up to

I've been busy lately working on my house. Here's a few pictures of what I've done this weekend - or made my wife do while I drank beer. New carpet, transition pieces, and counter top. I'm working on the Master Bath too, but I don't have pictures of that yet. The wife is painting the entire house (interior) and working on the Kitchen cabinets.