Hi all!
Sorry for my very delayed first official blog post! Internet has been sporadic and expensive. I will try to give you a brief update on my adventures thus far! (It will probably turn into a book though, knowing me!)
Linford, Janet, and a group of 30 students (including me, obviously) left EMU on January 13, and arrived in Cairo, Egypt on the 14th. Our time in Egypt was packed with everything -- food, culture, history, people, cars, sand, and stray cats. We did many things on the more touristy side, such as seeing the pyramids, tombs, mosques, museums, temples, and monasteries. It's amazing how much the history of Egypt has to do with Biblical History. For instance, Moses married a daughter of a priest. I just naively assumed that he was some sort of Jewish priest. Highly doubtful. He probably worshiped Ra. Also, it was not unusual for people to worship cows, so Aaron making a golden calf makes a lot of sense. It was just the Israelites returning to their old habits. We had a great tour guide, Samer, to lead us. He was so full of information and knowledge and we are all blessed to have had such an amazing Christian guide. We celebrated my birthday our last day in Egypt, even though it wasn't for a week. The hotel loves our group, and so when it comes to the last night for an EMU group to be there, they make a cake from scratch, sing happy birthday in Arabic, and make you dance with the chef. He even fed me the cake! Ellen said, "Little do you know, but you just got married..." I'm just hoping that's not the case :)
We then traveled by boat to Aqaba, Jordan. The town was much cleaner and relaxing than anywhere we have been in Egypt. It was nice just to putz around the town for a while before going to the Bedoin camp at Wadi Rum. Wadi Rum was yet another nice change of pace. We stayed in tents made of animal hair which were surprisingly wind and rain resistant. Our first morning there, we went on a four hour camel ride. It's true. After about an hour, it gets really painful, but then after another hour or so, you become numb, so what difference does it make? :) It was an absolutely gorgeous day. The sky was so incredibly blue!! I spent most of my time reflecting on where I've been, the stories that these lands hold, and my relationship with Christ. After our time with the Bedoins, we visited Petra, and Amman, where I spent my real birthday. Somehow, word got out that I love ice cream, so some strings were pulled for all of us to have ice cream! They brought out a "cake" of chocolate puddingish stuff with sparklers. I naturally tried to blow them out, since that's what you do on your birthday... nope. I just looked silly :) Overall, Jordan was very welcoming, beautiful, and less stressful than the traffic and sheer amounts of people in Egypt. I definitely enjoyed my stay!
So now here I am, in Palestine. I'm staying for 3.5 weeks with a host family with Bridgett Brunea. I'm looking forward to getting to know my family and Brigett better, and to learn Arabic! I'm overall excited for a lot of things. I'll hopefully be able to update you all a little more consistently (but I make no promises) while I'm here. And I'll be adding even more stories (especially from Egypt and Jordan) once I'm back in the states and have processed everything, or some things :)
I love you all!!
Janelle
Sorry for my very delayed first official blog post! Internet has been sporadic and expensive. I will try to give you a brief update on my adventures thus far! (It will probably turn into a book though, knowing me!)
Linford, Janet, and a group of 30 students (including me, obviously) left EMU on January 13, and arrived in Cairo, Egypt on the 14th. Our time in Egypt was packed with everything -- food, culture, history, people, cars, sand, and stray cats. We did many things on the more touristy side, such as seeing the pyramids, tombs, mosques, museums, temples, and monasteries. It's amazing how much the history of Egypt has to do with Biblical History. For instance, Moses married a daughter of a priest. I just naively assumed that he was some sort of Jewish priest. Highly doubtful. He probably worshiped Ra. Also, it was not unusual for people to worship cows, so Aaron making a golden calf makes a lot of sense. It was just the Israelites returning to their old habits. We had a great tour guide, Samer, to lead us. He was so full of information and knowledge and we are all blessed to have had such an amazing Christian guide. We celebrated my birthday our last day in Egypt, even though it wasn't for a week. The hotel loves our group, and so when it comes to the last night for an EMU group to be there, they make a cake from scratch, sing happy birthday in Arabic, and make you dance with the chef. He even fed me the cake! Ellen said, "Little do you know, but you just got married..." I'm just hoping that's not the case :)
We then traveled by boat to Aqaba, Jordan. The town was much cleaner and relaxing than anywhere we have been in Egypt. It was nice just to putz around the town for a while before going to the Bedoin camp at Wadi Rum. Wadi Rum was yet another nice change of pace. We stayed in tents made of animal hair which were surprisingly wind and rain resistant. Our first morning there, we went on a four hour camel ride. It's true. After about an hour, it gets really painful, but then after another hour or so, you become numb, so what difference does it make? :) It was an absolutely gorgeous day. The sky was so incredibly blue!! I spent most of my time reflecting on where I've been, the stories that these lands hold, and my relationship with Christ. After our time with the Bedoins, we visited Petra, and Amman, where I spent my real birthday. Somehow, word got out that I love ice cream, so some strings were pulled for all of us to have ice cream! They brought out a "cake" of chocolate puddingish stuff with sparklers. I naturally tried to blow them out, since that's what you do on your birthday... nope. I just looked silly :) Overall, Jordan was very welcoming, beautiful, and less stressful than the traffic and sheer amounts of people in Egypt. I definitely enjoyed my stay!
So now here I am, in Palestine. I'm staying for 3.5 weeks with a host family with Bridgett Brunea. I'm looking forward to getting to know my family and Brigett better, and to learn Arabic! I'm overall excited for a lot of things. I'll hopefully be able to update you all a little more consistently (but I make no promises) while I'm here. And I'll be adding even more stories (especially from Egypt and Jordan) once I'm back in the states and have processed everything, or some things :)
I love you all!!
Janelle
I. WANT. TO GO. :)
ReplyDeletesounds AWESOOME!! Can't wait to see some pictures!!
ReplyDelete