21 May

The whole group took a day trip to the nearby city of Jerash, which is about an hour north of Amman and near both the Palestinian and Syrian borders. In Jerash we saw the ruins of the ancient city of Jerash in Greco-Roman times, as well as the 'Ajloun Castle.

Culture/Language notes:

• The Jordanian and Palestinian flags are very similar. The only difference is a star on the red chevron on the Jordanian flag. There's a lot of Palestinian flags flown here, sometimes with the Jordanian one and sometimes without.
• I bought a kuffiyeh today. It's actually quite nice to wear in the hot desert sun, as it keeps your head cool out of the sun. It takes a bit of know-how to wrap it around your head, and unfortunately I look like a complete foreigner in it.

The gate to the ruins of Jerash

The Oval Forum

The marketplace

A view of the ruins with the modern city of Jerash in the background

I don't actually remember what this was part of

Two members of our excursion singing in a Roman amphitheater. It doesn't show in this video but the acoustics are incredible in them

The Temple of Artemis

Apparently the kind of plant that lives in this desert ruins

A mosaic that was the floor of a Byzantine Church

A look around the Mediterranean landscape

There's more pictures, but I'm exhausted. I'll post them tomorrow or something.