Ayoub, Zeek and I drove up to Ajlun Castle a couple of days ago. The further north we drove the greener it was. The area is mostly farms and small villages and just too charming for words! We saw olive trees that were planted by the Romans, and are still producing fruit. The castle itself is a huge fortress built by Izz al-Din Usama, a commander and nephew of Salah ad-Din al-Ayyubi (Saladin), in AD 1184-1185. The fortress is considered one of the very few built to protect the country against Crusader attacks from Karak in the south and Bisan in the west. From its situation, the fortress dominated a wide stretch of the northern Jordan Valley, controlled the three main passages that led to it (Wadi Kufranjah, Wadi Rajeb and Wadi al-Yabes), and protected the communication routes between south Jordan and Syria. It was built to contain the progress of the Latin Kingdom of Transjordan and as a retort to the castle of Belvoir on the lake of Tiberias. Another major objective of the fortress was to protect the development and control of the iron mines of Ajlun.

Aqaba/Wadi Rum

Because we still needed a few things for the flat we decided to make a quick trip down to Aqaba to see what we could find in the duty free shops. It was also a nice opportunity to get out of the city for a couple of days and relax a bit by swimming and lazing round on the beach. We found a few treasures to bring home. The drive down was just gorgeous. We stopped a few times to make some pictures of the countryside with the stark, bare mountains. Sadly, the haze was fairly heavy so the pictures aren't of the greatest quality. They are somewhat better on the return trip when we stopped in Wadi Rum. So soon, we will be taking a camping trip down there!

Enjoy the pics!

More to come!!!

It's Raining, It's Pouring...IN AMMAN!!!

We just got our first rain of 2009 yesterday. We were so excited, we grabbed the cam and made a few pics for you. For those of you in Alabama, the pictures probably won't generate a lot of excitement, since you have had so much rain that moss is growing on your backs...

This rain is actually very early, as the rainy season won't really start until about late November or early December. Yesterday was the first time I saw rain since I came back to Amman in August. Now the temperatures have dropped considerably; it was 18C when we came from our shopping trip last night. I think the winter this year is going to be mean as hell! Due to our elevation here in al Rabiah I'm told we can expect to see snow several times during the winter. If it is as usual, it won't be a lot of snow, but it will fall here.

Every day is a new adventure for us here and we are having the time of our lives! I wish you are all here to share it with us. For now though, enjoy the pictures we made of the rain yesterday.

Please make comments and stay in touch with us!

We finally have the new flat mostly furnished. The only things left are pictures for the walls and finish decorating and furnishing my office. We are enjoying it even more now that it is more full and comfortable.

The month of Ramadan is just finishing. In fact, today is first day of Eid. We have been downtown shopping so many nights and it's just amazing! Imagine going out to shop at 11pm or midnight and shopping till 3 or 4 am and the streets and shops are packed!!! We usually go as a group. For instance, last night it was Abozaky and me along with Emad, Abdullah, Mohammad, and Osama. We all bought new suits and shoes for the wedding of our friend "Ketchup" on 22nd. I will tell about that and post some pictures after the wedding.

We finished up the night's shopping with a great meal. We stopped at a tiny place that serves baked egg sandwiches and tea. They make their own bread, of course, and I saw dozens and dozens of loaves being taken out of the huge oven the entire time we were there. The rolls are opened and filled with white cheese and baked eggs. Then they are generously sprinkled with fresh thyme and believe me when I tell you these sandwiches are grand!! Each of us had two sandwiches with a nice cuppa tea.

We hope you will enjoy the pictures and make comments. Let us hear from you all!

Eid Mubarak to everyone!