Possessed Pigs

Yesterday was a long travel day for the McLain clan, starting the day with an early trip to the airport in Luxor, a short flight to Cairo, a bit of a layover, and another short flight to Amman, Jordan.  Jll and I have not been here since the beginning of the pandemic, when we almost found ourselves stuck in Jordan when it closed the borders.  Luckily, we made it out on the last flight (to Dubai) 2 minutes after the airport closed, but we were never able to see ancient Petra.  It was mainly for this reason that Jordan found itself on the itinerary for this sabbatical.  In any event, after waiting to get through customs and collecting our baggage, we made it to our hotel in Amman, met the new travelers and our new tour guide, and had a team dinner.  

This morning we traveled from Amman to Jerash, a city north of Amman by about an hour or an hour and a half.  Inhabited since the Bronze Age, it is known for the ruins of the walled Greco-Roman settlement of Gerasa just outside the modern city. These include the 2nd-century Hadrian’s Arch, the Corinthian columns of the Temple of Artemis, and the huge Forum’s oval colonnade. We spent a few hours walking with our guide, Montaser, through the ancient settlement.  At the time, approximately 20,000 to 25,000 people lived in Gerasa.  When we visited the Northern Theater, we saw local men playing bagpipes and drums.  I always assumed that bagpipes originated in Scotland, and I found myself this many days old when I learned that they did not.  This was the site of Jesus healed the demon-possessed man, allowing the demons to enter into a nearby heard of pigs, which promptly drowned themselves.  

We headed from Jerash back by Amman, stopping at a local roadside shawarma and felafel stand for lunch on the road on our way to the Dead Sea.  We floated in the Dead Sea for a few hours, covering ourselves in mud, and doing everything we could to keep the water out of our eyes and mouths, with some limited success.  On our way back to Amman, Montaser stopped us at a local bakery so that we could try knafeh, is a popular traditional dessert of Arab Fatimid origin, made with spun pastry called kataifi, soaked in a sweet, sugar-based syrup called attar, and typically layered with cheese, or with other ingredients such as clotted cream, pistachio or nuts, depending on the region.  Ours had pistachio and was delicious.  

Back at the hotel, Jll, Magnolia, and I jumped into an Uber to head to Rainbow Street for dinner.  Rainbow Street is a vibrant street near the center of downtown Amman, known for its restaurants, galleries, and bars.  Walking around, the three of us were struck by how nice it was not to be hassled by vendors trying to get us to visit their shops, buy their trinkets, or take rides in their Egyptian Ferraris/horse carriages.  It was a very long day, and we are looking forward to visiting more of Jordan over the next week.

- Dave