Schnudie Wall and I reporting for duty. I'm here with my BFFL from Morocco. We lived through host mom washings, diets of pure Malawi, Pepto-Bismol pre-emptive strikes, Moroccan strep throat, and getting lost in the middle of the night in Spain (we never did make it to Buddha). And now we're back, better than ever, and conquering our second #MENA adventure- JORDAN! and Palestine. and.. the other country who shall not be named. We'd like to give our readership (@Kathryn, @Sara) some of the highlights of our highlighted trip.
Soon after Erin arrived in Jordan, we hugged. It was great. It had been wayyy too long. #DustinandAndrewyoumissedoutonthisone Shortly thereafter re. the next day, we spent entirely separate- I worked holding interviews for a super neat new project at JRS (jrsmena.org) and Erin visited Jordan's National Art Gallery while mastering Amman's elaborate public transportation system composed entirely of weird yellow cars that make loud honking noises and flash their brights all the time. We reunited from our day apart for a dinner of delicious Yemeni cuisine.
After Yemeni and sleep, we took off for Al Quds. For those of you who dont know, that's the Arabic name for Jerusalem. As foreshadowing to the tone of our trip, we met overly talkative, a little too friendly and hospitable Arab brothers #recurringtheme. We made it to our hostel, got excited about a discount map, ate some bagels, and failing at using said map with coupons, stumbled upon a tiny bar where Elad gave us Araq, a great view of his tiny mustache, and a number to call if we wanted to hang in Tel Aviv.
After a restful/less night of sleep in Abraham hostel we got da hook up and toured the Kenesset (Israel's parliament). Talk about freaking cool things that we do. We met Sheik Ibrahim Sarsour, one of twelve Arab members of Parliament. We discussed Israeli/Palestinian and Arab issues. Get with the program America, it's time for international pressure to create change.
On a struggle up the Mount of Olives, a nice shop owner offered us a ride, which our tired calves gladly accepted. We saw the Garden of Gethsemane, the Jewish cemetery, a French church with the Lord's Prayer translated into all the languages, and an amazing view. After not actually hiking up the mount- we were dead tired and went straight to bed.
Waking up the next day led us on a guided tour of the old city of Jerusalem. and then neither of us can remember what we did after that. But agree that the night ended with a hostel pub crawl, two Persian Jews (which is THE thing to be in L.A.), three Dutch doctors, a British Moroccan, and two Germans who loved their lives!! We discussed deep matters over the course of the evening and ended it all with egg/hummus/onion/pita/grilled/fried maybe deliciousness. So good, Erin saved half of it in her purse with some jam stuck on her camera for breakfast the next morning.
After seeing Bethlehem and the wailing wall, we headed to the beaches of Tel Aviv. We lied on the beach. We lied there some more. We got up to get food. Then we lied back down. Erin lied so much, she got burned! We continued this for the next two days. We only took one break from lying on the beach to go to the much hyped Tel Aviv club scene. In our best fashion, i.e. gym shorts to prevent sunburn chafing, we hit up an unknown club approx. four miles from our hostel. Better ideas have never been had.
Our last bit of the trip was in the serene Baha'i gardens in Haifa. They were green. Erin nursed her sunburn while I listened to four middle age British women swear off husbands, trips to Ecuador, and anyone who wouldn't cook for them.
Upon our return to Amman, we did more great stuff. Erin's now whining that she has to go to bed so this will just be an overview. We got Erin a job teaching English to kiddies, went posh at the Dead Sea Movenpick, explored Madaba, Mt. Nebo, Ajloun, and Jerash where we met two more delightful brothers. We ate hummus, hummus, dates, and hummus. Went dancing, chillin, chattin, and spotted textual errors including a Snoopy T-shirt with the caption "Waolo Famdus Deagle!!" as well as a museum exhibit of "Jugs- Bombs?" Good thing Erin's coming to teach English. I just know she'll use the Waolo Famdus Deagle in her lessons.
And that was all.. a very very small part of our trip. But sleepy McGee over here has to get some sleep before a long flight tomorrow, a big decision (sign that contract!!), and a return to some mini Apple homies. (shout out to the roommates I've never met but will!) (maybe even the cat that I could potentially be indifferent too!) Keepin' it real from the Middle East. #thatsallfolks.
Soon after Erin arrived in Jordan, we hugged. It was great. It had been wayyy too long. #DustinandAndrewyoumissedoutonthisone Shortly thereafter re. the next day, we spent entirely separate- I worked holding interviews for a super neat new project at JRS (jrsmena.org) and Erin visited Jordan's National Art Gallery while mastering Amman's elaborate public transportation system composed entirely of weird yellow cars that make loud honking noises and flash their brights all the time. We reunited from our day apart for a dinner of delicious Yemeni cuisine.
After Yemeni and sleep, we took off for Al Quds. For those of you who dont know, that's the Arabic name for Jerusalem. As foreshadowing to the tone of our trip, we met overly talkative, a little too friendly and hospitable Arab brothers #recurringtheme. We made it to our hostel, got excited about a discount map, ate some bagels, and failing at using said map with coupons, stumbled upon a tiny bar where Elad gave us Araq, a great view of his tiny mustache, and a number to call if we wanted to hang in Tel Aviv.
After a restful/less night of sleep in Abraham hostel we got da hook up and toured the Kenesset (Israel's parliament). Talk about freaking cool things that we do. We met Sheik Ibrahim Sarsour, one of twelve Arab members of Parliament. We discussed Israeli/Palestinian and Arab issues. Get with the program America, it's time for international pressure to create change.
On a struggle up the Mount of Olives, a nice shop owner offered us a ride, which our tired calves gladly accepted. We saw the Garden of Gethsemane, the Jewish cemetery, a French church with the Lord's Prayer translated into all the languages, and an amazing view. After not actually hiking up the mount- we were dead tired and went straight to bed.
Waking up the next day led us on a guided tour of the old city of Jerusalem. and then neither of us can remember what we did after that. But agree that the night ended with a hostel pub crawl, two Persian Jews (which is THE thing to be in L.A.), three Dutch doctors, a British Moroccan, and two Germans who loved their lives!! We discussed deep matters over the course of the evening and ended it all with egg/hummus/onion/pita/grilled/fried maybe deliciousness. So good, Erin saved half of it in her purse with some jam stuck on her camera for breakfast the next morning.
After seeing Bethlehem and the wailing wall, we headed to the beaches of Tel Aviv. We lied on the beach. We lied there some more. We got up to get food. Then we lied back down. Erin lied so much, she got burned! We continued this for the next two days. We only took one break from lying on the beach to go to the much hyped Tel Aviv club scene. In our best fashion, i.e. gym shorts to prevent sunburn chafing, we hit up an unknown club approx. four miles from our hostel. Better ideas have never been had.
Our last bit of the trip was in the serene Baha'i gardens in Haifa. They were green. Erin nursed her sunburn while I listened to four middle age British women swear off husbands, trips to Ecuador, and anyone who wouldn't cook for them.
Upon our return to Amman, we did more great stuff. Erin's now whining that she has to go to bed so this will just be an overview. We got Erin a job teaching English to kiddies, went posh at the Dead Sea Movenpick, explored Madaba, Mt. Nebo, Ajloun, and Jerash where we met two more delightful brothers. We ate hummus, hummus, dates, and hummus. Went dancing, chillin, chattin, and spotted textual errors including a Snoopy T-shirt with the caption "Waolo Famdus Deagle!!" as well as a museum exhibit of "Jugs- Bombs?" Good thing Erin's coming to teach English. I just know she'll use the Waolo Famdus Deagle in her lessons.
And that was all.. a very very small part of our trip. But sleepy McGee over here has to get some sleep before a long flight tomorrow, a big decision (sign that contract!!), and a return to some mini Apple homies. (shout out to the roommates I've never met but will!) (maybe even the cat that I could potentially be indifferent too!) Keepin' it real from the Middle East. #thatsallfolks.
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