LIVIN' THE LIFE AT THE U OF EARTH

       I just wanted to post some beautiful pictures my friend Brit took on a trip to Guatemala- one day I would love to visit Central and South America....too many places to see too little time!!! For now I will have to satiate that urge with looking at this pictures, closing my eyes and playing a little good ole' make believe. Brit's blog has a bunch about her trip and also some political meanderings I quite enjoyed. Check it out at Livin' Life at the U of Earth- I am also digging the name!

VOLCANO- I Love the volcano!
There is something spontaneous about this picture that I enjoy- the colour composition is very nice; the red car, the yellow wall and the nun in stride...hmmmm

This is Brit's fav picture- that sky is nothing short of absolute technicolour madness!

I am in love with this cactus pot man- I need a man like this in my life and it would be complete :) I mean Jack is pretty good and all but does he have sprouting cacti eyes? I think not!

-Delilah

 

True? Not True?

For C. Flower in response to....

    This is a pic for my most ardent reader and favorite blogger Miss C. Flower....in response to her post concerning her le petit pug Cubbie; see here...

   This young pup is Jack's fathers dog, Doug the Pug who has a prime position is Papa's wallet...I recently had the pleasure of meeting Doug on a trip to his hometown of Winnipeg- and PUGS MAKE ME HAPPY and they do look like Susan Boyle!?!? What?!?!?! I agree, it was an interesting observation. 

ENJOY and HAPPY HOLIDAYS! 

I just cannot believe it is Christmas- time is just flying!!!

Sorry the resolution is not the greatest- it is a picture of a picture done by my Mac....

Good night, D.

Three Day Road

   Life is crazy and wild and wonderful and hectic and cold...cold? Yes it is cold outside and snowy and slushy, hence there is nothing better than to curl up in bed and read a good book. With exams finally over I can read without guilt!!!! Woohoo! 

   A few months ago I read 'Three Day Road' by Joseph Boyden, representing authors of the Canadian Metis variety. I would highly highly recommend the book which follows two native Cree snipers from Moosefactory (an isolated community in Northern Ontario) to the trenches in WWI France. Normally I am not attracted to violent stories, but this historical fiction was fantastically written and entrancing is only the way to describe it. Based loosely on WWI Ojibiwa hero, Francis Pegahmagabow, Boyden chronicles with scary accuracy the triumphs and defeats experienced by Canadians stationed overseas. The psychological impact of war is explored as well as reactions to that environment, which represents a particularly moving narrative as my own Grandfather and I am sure many readers relatives experienced during the world wars. Furthermore, Boyden relates a rich history derived from his own heritage, replete with myth. 

   Since exams have ended I have picked up the second book, which is to become a trilogy, called 'Through Black Spruce'. I am pining on a warm bed and that book at the moment!

   I had an opportunity to go to a reading and to meet Boyden which was a unique experience. 

For more about Boyden and a full synopsis of his books visit his website here.

Sometime I feel like this.....

Roaming around the university in a daze amid the throngs of other 19-25 year old kids all vying to get the top grade, to graduate, to compete to get into grad school/ med school/ law school, to get a decent wage and ... and.... I love university but I hate it sometimes too.... I guess I just need to stop and think about what makes everyone unique- including myself.

-D

Dear Santa:

      All I want for Christmas is this wicked awesome owl dress (from www.etsy.com), a new ankle for mommy (hers broke), and for school to be over.... Kinda overwhelmed with essays at the moment, having a bad day; owls make me happy. I have a friend who collects owl things so everywhere I go I always get her owl paraphernalia- salt and pepper shakers; macrame wall hanging; wooden carving.... ummm thinking of more things to write to procrastinate but I had better get back to reading "Institutional Design and Democratic Consolidation in the Third World" sounds exciting doesn't it? 

-Deeeeelillllaaahhhhh

Sorry for my absence....

Been busy completing the above list:

(1) Wrote a small article and submitted some photo's [from the trip] to a magazine on campus [woohoo]

(2) Working on finishing essays; so far so good

(3) Went on a fantastic hike with Jack and my dog Jak{eeeee} today; it was fantastic weather for November so finally we got to bask in the sunlight and trek through muddy cornfields and swampy coniferous forests

(4) Have not been reading so much other than textbooks, which I devour everywhere... my history of sexuality class as some pretty scandalous chapters!

(5) Keeping myself interested- in rug hooking (I want to start!), cooking (mmmmm West African Peanut stewwwwww), the beat generation, hunting (I will explain later)

(6) Constantly dreaming- of today, tomorrow, ten years from now annnnddddd purple unicorns flying through marshmallow clouds

(7) Trying to write- anything!!!!! 

-Over and out, DDDDDDDD

Some More Pictures From Bethlehem I Have Been Meaning to Post...

      Two young boys who we met in Bethlehem in the Aida camp....their family took us into their home as guests and fed us (we tried real Palestinian olives!). The young girl in the orange was an aspiring salon stylist.... she insisted on doing my (and Margot the girl we were with) makeup and hair. I even had the veil done properly and boy...I can attest it was hot! They were absolutely amazing to us and I think of them often....especially the lovely baby whose name I cannot spell but is pronounced 'Nee-lah'....I have many interesting photo's from our day there as the boys ran off with the camera and took a million photo's, I especially like the one of their friend on the street looking up :)

-D

My New Career Path (s)....

Besides being a student that is! I have started off my own cleaning business which I call 'Green and Clean" an eco-friendly business that uses all natural products while leaving your home sparkling! It has really taken off and I have just increased my clientele to five which is sure to keep me busy. 
My happy little slogan :)

I also got a job at 'LUSH' woohoo! For the holiday season....As a teenager I made frequent trips to the city to visit what was then, the nearest Lush store. When a Lush opened up in my local mall I was surprised and delighted. Lush’s dedication to maintain ties to ideological values and business ethics are traits that I identify with and personally would like to support. These traits include; organic and vegan ingredients, no animal testing, responsible packaging, hand-made products, and other green initiatives. As a practicing vegetarian and past vegan, Lush became a natural option for me for bath and beauty products.  More recently, Lush Cosmetics innovative campaign to raise awareness about palm oil use and the effects this has on Malaysian and Indonesian rainforests is an admirable commitment. Lush’s move to eliminate the use of palm oil in their cosmetics is a responsible move when many other companies, such as Cadbury, continue to increase their use. As a political science student I am well aware of international social-political issues pertaining to this type of environmental degradation. Lush represents a viable, affordable and high quality product that acts as an alternative to companies such as Procter and Gamble and Unilever. The Charity Pot Program with proceeds going to various NGO’s, represents yet another example of an ethical company that I would like to become involved in. 

 

 

For more info. please look at:

Lush Canada

Ecosalon: The Green Gathering

-Delilah!!!!!

People always ask..."What were your favorite places on the trip?"

   Jack and I agree that it is A) Difficult to choose and B) Czech Republic! Turkey! Israel! I guess if we could choose....ummmm it would be these three.

    We did not post too much on our way back through the Czech Republic because our hosts were very magnificence and very thorough. We saw everything in their tiny town of Kopřivnice and learned so much of their Czech custom and food. We met Pavel and Lenka on a night train from Romania and on a whim (and after a bottle of white wine they shared with us) we decided to spend the last week of our trip in their home. It was one of our most memorable experiences by far!

     This is in Stramburg, after we hiked a trail to a cave where a child neanderthal skeleton was found, we headed up to this picturesque tower to watch the sunset. 
Our fire in the old quarry! Pavel and his brother Michael are in the background playing their song 'Ahojte!' and Elena roasts delicious cheese over the flames (which Jack and I later determined to be Halloumi which we have done on the BBQ at home!)

   This is the wild (WILD) hedgehog we ran into on our trek home through the dewy fields. I was in awe that he let us pick him up....Pavel's friend 'Peppa' says he knows him and sees him often in the area at night searching for bugs and slugs and whatever else hedgehogs eat. 

   Well I gotta return to school work, which is seemingly never-ending despite the fact I am part-time?!?!? Hmmmm....

Over and Out, Deeeeeeelilah

The Canoe Trip on the Magnetewan

       Yeah, I am kinda a procrastinator!!!!! But it is a new school year and I no longer have to rely on dial-up (the only internet available in the boonies where Jack and I currently reside). So I am back for good! People keep asking about updates...they say "WWHHEEENNNNNN?????" So here I am back in my old haunt, pining for the times spent on the open road and planning our next big trip!!! It won't be for a bit, but I am not going to settle for mediocrity! Period. 

   

     The camping trip went great and I finally got some photos uploaded. It was largely uneventful (many fish fry's, swimming, hikes etc...) with the exception of when our canoe tipped over when we tried to get over a beaver dam. Jack was in the back steering and I was hesitant to get my feet wet. Big Hmac (mom) was in the middle and had reassumed her roost in an orange lawn chair when it happened. Over went to boat. Luckily we had dropped off most of our supplies on shore but nonetheless I was waist high in beaver shit and not happy. Judging from the sound that came from my mouth , Jack was positive I had broken something. Thanks to my life jacket my head did not get wet, but Big Hmac went directly under and came up with a mouth full of beaver water.  

     My brother and his GF (Gypsy women as I will refer to her as due to her Hungarian gypsy heritage) could see us. We knew they were laughing. "Most likely to tip....TIPPED!" Gypsy women later sputtered as she laughed incredulously. She was merely jealous as we had dubbed our boat the 'party boat' and she was not privilaged to be part of it. 

    Anyways, I managed to navigate myself to the top of the dam and gain secure footing (after struggling to extract myself from the black sludge in which I was submerged). We got the water out of the canoe and Jack was so kind as to dive in to retrieve the orange lawn chair that had made itself comfortable at the base of the beaver home. 

    After we reunited with Daddy-O, Jake and my lil' Bro they expressed unrestrained mirth and mentioned how long it took us to get going again. Hmmmmm... I now have a personal vendetta against all beaver-kind. We then commenced the five hour canoe out to Big Bing Inle, soaking wet and quite cold. 

     I promise more stories will follow!!!!!

-Delilah

Our West Bank Excursion

   Ok. So here is the deal. After our travels I have been inspired to write. About anything. Things I know and things that are new to me. To expand my mind, to discover and rediscover. I have been thinking for awhile about writing something to submit to my favorite magazine The Walrus (a Canadian publication which is a general interest magazine dedicated to things such as politics, canadian fiction, poetry, art etc...) as well as to our student paper and on campus magazine. I think we has some unique and fantastic experiences on our trip and what better way to connect with the world than sharing through this type of media. I would love your feed back on something I am working on. This is the bare bones;  I know what I want to do with it but for starters I just sat down and wrote out what I felt and what I saw. The rest will come. 

 The day was hot. We boarded a bus outside the old city Damascus gate in Jerusalem and headed to Bethlehem. Waiting attentively, I watched as people boarded the small bus and get off once again. By the time we reached the West bank border, there was only myself, Shaun and another girl (blond, likely a tourist). The bus pulled up and we emerged into the glaring Israel sun, meters from the barricade. Looking around anxiously, I asked the blond girl if she knew where to go. Shrugging she introduced herself as Margot and we discovered we had a mutual acquaintance. Margot mentioned that she was from Switzerland and that she also aspired to journalism. 

    The three of us watched as buses rumbled past as a woman gestured us toward a door, opening to reveal a concrete passage that immediately took a sharp turn right. Shaun led the way and we walked for a few moments before reaching an open area caged by a chain link fence and sharp, twisted barbed wire. I distinctively recall a single yellow rose, in bloom, growing through the parched soil on the opposite side. Perhaps a desperate attempt to make the border crossing seem less like a cattle corral. I think that rose could be representative of the beauty and generosity that we would later experience within the confines of the wall in Bethlehem. 

   Army officials stood at attention with smug expressions as the sun formed beads of sweat on their furrowed brows. We entered another gate, again adorned with barbed wire, into the concrete slab structure that was before us. Inside the walls were glaringly white. It was a labrinth of closed doors, metal detectors and x-ray machines. Besides a few men lingering at the other side as they completed the rigorous process of exiting the compound, and the few soldiers about the place was empty. It was silent and possessed an asylum-like quality. We flashed our passports, which were not even open, to a bored looking man in the booth and continued on. Winding our way through more concrete hallways, under red flashing lights, through another chain link fence and metal enclosure we emerged into a barren parking lot. 

-Over and out, Delilah

Graffiti of West Bank Part I

    During the duration of the trip we were constantly on the look-out for great graffiti. The best place by far for this endeavor was in Bethlehem, West Bank (the Palestinian territory in Israel). Jack was in his glee snapping photos so this is the first installment here. Enjoy!

-DDDDDEEEEEE

It has been so looonnnnnggggg!

    Helloooooo out there! I realize it has been quite awhile but Jack and I were in motion, flying from Israel to Romania, taking multiple trains to the Czech countryside- where we stayed with the most amazing people ever- then travelled to Germany and flew home to Canada!!!!!

   As many of my readers might know I am a university student studying politics and history. I aspire to perhaps one day do journalism so this is my creative outlet for the moment- although I try not to get too controversial on this blog (concerning politics). Since the trip is over, after I catch up on my posts I intend to continue writing and posting so...

PLEASE KEEP READING!!!!

    I have some amazing stories to share, including one about our experience in a West Bank refugee camp, about the amazing people we met in the Czech Republic and our experience there, the 600 euro we almost scored, and much more. For the month of August we also have a big canoe trip planned for Northern Ontario so I will include tips on:

• How to bear proof your campsite
• How to clean a fish
• Idea for a tasty camping friendly meal

Anyways, I will keep posting.... Over and out,

-Delilah

Dead Sea!!!!

Took an hour bus ride to the Dead Sea. When we arrived it was soooo hot! 42 degrees celsius... so we were carefult to consume plenty of water.

Jack and I made our way down to the water (mind you- no sandy beaches just big rocks covered in crusty salt) and dipped in a te. The water was hot as well and you could see it was murky with a film of salt on the surface. When you first walk in you feel a very weird sensation as the water makes your skin feel slick or slimy. You can see Jordan enveloped in a thick haze across the sea and Jack was convinced he could float there.

Before we arrived we got a few pieces of advice from other travellers:

1. "Do not get it in your eyes! It burns like hellfire!"
2. "Do not drink the water, you'll vomit"
3. "Do not try to swim, it might splash in your eyes"
4. "Most important thing I can tell you, do not for any reason pee in the Dead Sea or open any bodily orifice for that matter! Trust me."

Luckily, Jack and I, after our two dips managed to not succumb to any urges to gargle it or pee in it! All was well!
I just wanted to include few facts about the Dead Sea as well:

• It is the lowest elevation on Earth (above water that is); and has been known as the Earths navel
• It is 8.6 times as salty as the ocean
• No animals orish can live in its environment
• The Sea level is dropping as much as 1 meter a year
• Large sinkholes form and can be dangerous near the shore due many different ecological factors

Anyways, heads up, Jack and I depart Israel tonight from the Ben Gurion airport and head back to Bucharest. The next few days we will try to scramble back to Germany...hopefully there will be many adventures in store! I will try to keep you updated....I have more exciting stories about Israel and the West Bank to come!

-Deeelllliiilllllah and Jack (who is sleeping ont he couch beside me :))

Free Tour of the Holy City

A view of the Western wall after passing all the security... A couple of orthodox Jews cruising by after a morning of prayer. If you look closely the right hand side is reserved for women. Many people leave special letters in nooks and crannies of the wall. Our guide described this as a kind of 'direct post office to God.' Also modern technology allows you to email, text message or twitter your requats to God....what is this world coming to! Do not get me to rampage about cellphones- the ban of my existence!


Anyways, Monday was free tour day! There is a company which runs free tours in Jerusalem and across many major European cities as well. It runs on a tipping basis, leave what you can afford if you enjoyed the tour.

Many of the major sites we saw included:

• The old city wall and a view of the 'new' city
• The Armenian quarter, the Christian quarter, the Arab quarter and the Jewish quarter
• The Western wall, or wailing wall which is a very important Jewish holy site
• The Dome of the Rock where Mouhammed (the Muslim prophet) ascended into heaven to barter with God
• Al-aqsa mosque
• The 13 posts, spots marked where Jebus carried the crucifix and places where he fell or his hand touched the wall
• The Church of the Holy Seplchur where Jebus is supposed to be buried and resurrected
• Mount of Olives and Mount Scopus
• Temple mount
• Tower of David
• and Much more!!!!!
  
  The Brazillian woman on the tour. When everyone in the group introduced where they were from, her son and her were quite obvious as you can see by the brazillian flag vest she is sporting. She was hilarious!She was always wandering arounf muching on falafal and blowing on that horn thing (as seen in the photo). At one point the tour guide, Kobbie, was talking and she had made friends with some young Israeli soldiers. Before we knew it she was blowing that freaking horn again! The whole time her son (in his matching Brazillian flag t-shirt) was either looking for her or snapping photos of her wailing on the horn with the city in the backdrop.
  This is a plack dedicated to George Double-yeh Bush for being such a great friend to the Israelis! It is dedicated to him for being such a 'loyal partner to the state of Israel.' One interesting thing to note in a book Jack and I are reading called, 'Power Faith and Fantasy: American Involvement in the Middle East from 1776-Present' George Bush had a great uncle, also named George Bush, who was a pro-zionist and supported the resettlement of Palestine....who woulda thought?
  

-D

Hitchiking to Jerusalem....

We set out for the holy city with our packs and two thumbs. We set out from the tip of the Sea of Galilee, or Lake Kinneret as it is known to the Israelis. After a restless night following the elderly party animals arrival, we went for a morning swim while I continued to stew. They even had the guts to invite us to coffee! Not impressed. If anyone is familiar with 'Bailey' my evil alter-ego please note Bailey was out in full force!

Anyways, made it into town after a trek up to the road and caught a ride with two young guys. Man it was hot! It was only about 8 am but we were pouring sweat. I think it was about 42 degrees celsius and humid. We walked to the edge of town to catchanother ride but we had some competition in town, as there were a few young Israelis also vying for a ride at the designated hitching spot.

"Pulled into Nazareth, I was feelin' about half past dead;I just need some place where I can lay my head."Hey, mister, can you tell me where a man might find a bed?"He just grinned and shook my hand, and "No!", was all he said." -The Band lyrics, The Weight [had to throw this in there, I love this song! If you have never heard it please youtube now!]

We managed to arrive in Beit Shean and waited at the junction with Nazareth. A few rides later, as the sun climbed higher and higher in the sky we found ourselves effectively stranded in the occupied territory of West Bank in front of an army base on highway 90 to Jerusalem. The one girl we were with caught a ride immediatly and we waited and munched on cookies. After a bit, a bus did arrive which was seemingly our only option as there were not very many vehicles on the road. A girl who arrived shortly after us lent us the three shekels needed to fund our ticket and we were off! Arrived in Jerusalem after a long and arduous day, completely exhausted.

Now about that Holy city...Jerusalem is one of the oldest, continuously occupied cities in the world. It is a crucial holy place for people from all three religious denominations: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In the course of it's history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times. So some people think it's worth killing and be killed for. Some people think it's beautiful, some say it's ugly, some say it's boring, some say it's fascinating. Some say it's holy. You can find here a mixture of people living in a harmony of love and hate to each other. Some of them say this city changed their life. Some went a little wacky.... [I will update you on mine and Jacks impressions!]

Jerusalem Syndrome is a mental illness thats onset is triggered by a visit to Jerusalem. It centres around religious delusions and psychosis, including a belief that they are the manifestation of the messiah, they represent the second coming of Christ or that God has communicated with them. If you do not believe me see Here!

Also, there is an interesting interview about the illness Here! from which the below quote has been borrowed from;

"The malady called Jerusalem Syndrome is no joke. Afflicted tourists have been found wandering in the Judean desert wrapped in hotel bed sheets or crouched at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, waiting to birth the infant Jesus."

Absolutely bizarre! Hahahahaha!

-Signing out, DDDDD

The Sea of Galilee

Another sunset....another sea....

Our shoddy campsite after we moved....

Hitched to a public beach after our arrival in Israel. When we arrived at the Sea of Galilee, we started to set up camp under a tree that afforded a bit of shade. After awhile Jack was making a fire pit when he turned over a rock and noticed a turd. He began looking around and noticing more, and more and more, "Theres poo everywhere!....Delilah, we are camping under the shit tree!" This beach was seemingly 'THE' spot to kite surf (which is crazy!) and the kitesurfers used this evry spot to do their business, and everyother spot with a tree. So when the sun retreated we moved to the edge of the water.

The Sea of Galilee is famous for its appearance in the Bible. Here Jesus delivered his 'sermon on the mount,' walked on water, calmed a storm and fed a ridiculous amount of people with some bread. Now the Sea is the place to party on weekends when it is bombarded with rowdy Israelis. We were rudely awoken to 'beats', aka shitty club music, not five metres from our forlorn little camp. There was another group partying far down the beach, but there was tonnes of space and two trucks decided to pull up right next to us at about one in the morning as we lay sleeping peacefully. Music blaring, headlights on about eight geriatrics poured out of the trucks. I was infuriated and prepared to crack skulls. Although Jack asked politely for them to turn down the music they never complied as they loaded their crap onto the pebbled beach. I slept fitfully, haunted by intrusive dreams that included a background soundtrack of 'Boom Boom Bamb Boom" that eerily made me feel as if I was asleep on the floor of a crowded night club.

The next morning, I grinded my teeth and managed to wave an offensive finger to a few of them. They were old! They should know better! I can't even think of it anymore because it make my blood boil....Grrrrrrr....

-D

P.S. about the sea: it is perfectly calm in the morning and warmer than bathwater! In the afternoon to wind picks up and there are wave....then it dies down again as the sun sets.

Our Trip Back to Israel...

Jack and I caught a bus from Wadi Mousa to the Jordan capitol of Amman. We hopped on the bus with our French-Canadian friend who seems to be following us- aka we have seen him in Egypt, at our hostel in Petra, on the bus and multiple times in Jerusalem now... Jack and I were sitting in the back seat talking with a young couple from Spain. After awhile, the bus made several stops in the desert, and we were joined by a young girl and a man (her father? brother? uncle?) who sat down beside us. They did not say much as the girl peered over the seat at a woman from our hostel listening to an Ipod.

Soon we made some small talk with the local Jordanians; the man was wearing the traditional headress (think Saudi king style), a long white robe and had a massive beard. In rudimentary english he asked us where we were from, if we were married (one day we said, but I think he interpreted 'yes'), and do we like Allah? He kept talking on his cellphone, and I think he was talking to someone who spoke english so they were translating a bit for him. He asked, "Baby?", "No, no, no Students!" we responded. When he asked about Allah we broached the subject tenderly... we were not sure if 'agnostic' translated. All and all it was an interesting ride. From what we interpreted of the conversation he was taking his little sister to visit his wife and baby in the hospitable. The funny thing about the ride is that he kept gesturing to the Spanish couple, "We don't like...not married." I dressed very conservatively for the bus ride, while the girl was wearing a sari exposing her entire leg and canoodling with her BF. The thing about Arab countries is number one: you have to dress conservative. The Jordanian women always wear the veil or the hajib or chador (black material covering everything except your eyes). Our Jordanian friend asked me, "You like the veil? You wear?" All I could do was laugh, thinking I might pass out if I wore that in this heat!

When we got off the bus, us foreigners stuck together. Instead of a bus station we were left on a roundabout island in the middle of the highway. After a moment, collecting our thoughts and looking around we were encircled by a group of men who had taxis waiting for us. "My friend! This way! I make you a deal!" Since beginning our travels we have had enough of cab drivers cutting us a 'deal' so we all loked at eachother and attempted to fnd out where we were. Jack and I were heading to a northern border crossing, so we left the others to fend for themselves and began walking. After a busride, a cab ride and finally another bus ride we reached a town where another cabbie cut us a deal to take us to the border as no buses ran there.

After a long and arduous day we arrived at the border where we discovered we had to pay another cabbie to drive us across the border (to our chagrin), and a bus to drive us 200 metres. When we arrived at the Israeli side, we were searched rigourously and questioned (likely due to Jacks out of control beard and having been in an arab country). We finally made it out alive and started walking. Luckily we hitched a ride and found a decent accomodation (although we literally slept in a janitors closet with a bathroom) for cheap, but the hotel had a pool! and my favorite thing...in the courtyard there was a 'Kitten!'

All is well that ends well in Beit Shean, the city we stayed in. We regrouped and prepared for our next adventure!

P.S I wanted to include a picture of King Abdullah II of Jordan as he is everwhere (a la Ataturk). On the backs of buses, in car windows, blown up photos adorn shops and homes. To find out more visit his official website here. My favorite pic in particular was one of him in army fatigues aiming a rifle on the back of a truck...priceless! Imagine a picture of Stephen Harper (our Canadian Prime Ministers for everyone out there taht might not know) like that! Hahahahaha!

Upon further research I discovered that Abdullah II stared in an episode of Star Trek: Voyageur while still prince....this is Priceless!

Slow Ride Home

In our hostel in Wadi Mousa we met this really cool Aussie named Ben, who unfortunatly we did'nt get to spend much time with. What we did find out about him was that he had a blog called the Slow Ride Home, documenting his motorcycle journey from London, England where he had been living and working home to Australia!!! Amazing!!! He gave us his address to check it out, and so far he has seen so many different places with so many more to go. We chatted about his upcoming trip to Iran and what else he had planned on the 13 month or so journey. I suggest checking out his blog because as our NZ counterpart Hamish would say "This guy is a LEGEND!"

-Over and out, more posts to come, D

The Bedouin

When you are in Jordan and Egypt you can camp and travel with a bedouin tribe. Many tribesmen work and live out of the caves surrounding Petra, making their livelihoods offering camel rides, Donkey rides, trips to the desert, and selling food and jewellery.

The bedouin we met, Ali, gave us this saying:

"The Bedouin are as strong as the desert;

Soft as sand;

Quick as the wind;

Free forever."

Check out the wikipedia article on Bedouin

Also, a site documenting Bedouin life in Petra specifically The Bedouin Tribes of Petra; which the photo above is courtesy of [the tea he is drinking is bedouin tea which we enjoyed in Petra and in Egypt, it is a sweet black tea with dried sage leaves....it is delicious!].

Our Donkey Friend!!!

HHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA....There were Donkeys everwhere! Our friend Eileen, who is German, kept calling them monkeys (as english is not her first language). Jack and I kept looking everywhere "Monkeys! Where!" but all we saw was this friendly fella'...

Petra and Wadi Mousa Part II

After our trek to the Monastery we befriended a bedouin, named Ali, who lived in a cave a couple of kilometres away. We spent the hottest part of the afternoon hanging out with Ali and listening to him play a rudimentray flute he fashioned out of a chair leg! It was amazing! Later we went to his friends shop and he dressed us up as Bedouin brides, complete with black kohl eyeliner. Jack looked exactly like Moses, hahahaha now that his beard is gettin out of control. He invited us to hang out at his cave later that night but we sadly had to decline as we had paid for dinner at our hostel (a delicious buffet!!!!) and Jack and I were catching the bus to Amman at 6:30 in the morning. Luckily, we will keep in touch with Ali via facebook, because yes, Bedouin tribesmen who live in caves have laptops and facebook...believe it or not!

I will continue to catch up on the blog- at the moment we are in the holy land!!! and we are going to attend a Shabbat lunch hosted by a local Rabbi who we must meet at the Wailing wall at 12:45...so we must vamoose!

-D

Petra and Wadi Mousa Part I

I am so behind on the posts!!! So I am going to try to bring it up to date as quick as possible. We spent some time in Petra before heading North towards Amman, and crossing over to the Galilee in Israel...
"Hey, Wat up baby...nice donkey if I do say so myself..."

View from the top of a big mountain we climbed to see the monestary in Petra...I am pretty sure from this vantage point we are seeing Israel/ Palestine...

The monestary- If you look very closely, in the right hand corner that is myself (Delilah) and Eileen, the German girl we hung out with in Petra...Good times!

Puffing our way up the mountain..too cheap to pay for a donkey ride plus we felt bad for the poor asses lugging us up to the top... Some little Bedouin boys (riding donkeys) saw Jack, Eileen and myself and remarked: "Lucky man...Two wives!", to our amusement. Many Bedouin take as many as four wives as is customary. The Bedouin work and live in Petra, making a killing off of selling bottled water to thirsty tourists for as much as 3 Jordanian Donair a pop! 1 Donair is the equivilant of a euro roughly....

The treasury! It was beautiful! Amazing! and the camels who chilled in front of it all day... There is Delilah, slowly approaching to make friends with the camels.

Part II will follow....