Jerash and the Roman Ruins

Today, Jace, Lisa and I ventured yet again to Jerash which is north of Amman by about an hour. There are a few 'ruined' cities in the North such as Umm Qais, Pella, and Jerash. Jerash is actually called the "Pompeii of Asia" and it one of the best-preserved Roman cities in the Near East. Many of the gates were still standing, pillars, the long street, a Cathedral, and temples. I put up some pictures on facebook and as soon as I can, I"ll post some on my picture blog. The internet seems to be a bit on the slow side today so loading pictures is not a fun process. :o)

While we were walking around Jerash, it seemed to get hotter and hotter!! I guess I am in the desert but still, I was sweating a ton and trying to drink as much as I could. Luckily, at 11:15, we signed up to go to the Gladiator show. You'll notice in my pictures that they demonstrated what a legion of the Roman army would look like, carry with them, wear, and how they would fight. They showed some of the formations as well as techniques for fighting with the enemy, the Romans were ruthless! After that, they brought out 'Gladiators' who fought each other and the audience got to decide who would live and die. I, of course, was telling them to let everyone live but some other members of the audience did not feel the same way. Chariot races were then demonstrated to close the show. At the end, we got to go down and take pictures with anyone we wanted, just look at pictures to see me with a gladiator helmet as well as Lisa attacking one of the legioneers!

Tonight, I had to lay down, I've been doing so much exploring I was just exhausted! We are going to conclude our week of adventures with a possible 6-hour hike tomorrow in Wadi Mujib which is supposedly to lead through a waterfall, trees, and loveliness.

On a side note, tonight (after I made some really really good fried rice for dinner), Lisa and I heard a kitten crying outside but very close to her balcony. We looked out.....and then up! The kitten was on the edge of the roof terrace just crying and crying SO we decided to go up and see if we could bring the kitten down. When we got up the stairs, I heard a second kitten who was sitting up on the stairs, crying and trying to get out of the stairwell. Using our brilliant minds, we used food to coax them out of the building. What we didn't think about was that they would remember us. Later this evening, we went out to buy supplies for the hike and there was little Blackey, waiting for more food. Not a good trend to start! We'll have to see who shows up tomorrow.

Bed time for me. Missing home a lot. Hopefully I will be moving into my own apartment on September 1st. When that happens, I will be able to stop living out of suitcases (even though I love Lisa) and decorate my own place, make it homey. :o) Talk to you soon!