10-27 Fri petra

Spent yesterday at Petra. We rode a horse in and then hiked for miles and miles. Barbara rode a donkey to the Monastery, I didn’t go because I have done it in the past. We hiked up questionable steps and rocky areas to the Mountain of the High Sacrifice. A Bedouin woman explained exactly where the animals were slaughtered - there was a hole and a trough for the blood to run down.

We had dinner with a very traditional Muslim family. We were honored by this invitation even though we did everything in our power to get out of it! We immediately took off our shoes upon entering the house. We took family pictures only to find out that was a “no, no.” We had to look at wedding photos on the mother’s cell phone for about 45 minutes. We sat on the floor and all ate off the same huge round platter. Thankfully I had put a bug in their ear about wanting chicken otherwise I think they would have served us lamb. We each had one large spoon with which to eat. I had a hard time eating my chicken with a spoon. The mother had to get up halfway through dinner to go pray. When we arrived the mother did not have her head scarf on but put it on just before she went to pray. Barbara wore her shorts so half way through the dinner the mother called for a blanket and covered Barbara’s legs.

Barbara is writing now . . .okay, it’s me………..Nancy owes me big time for having to join the Muslim dinner. Abrahem (the man Nancy remembered that drove her to Amman after her Petra visit about 5 years ago) talked about Muslim life and traditions - stating “oh no, a boy is not allowed to even talk to a girl and must communicate thru a female member of his family to the girl and must propose marrige with a ring before being able to look directly at her or talk to her. This is how he got married as well as his oldest daughter who just got married 3 months ago - those were on the telephone photos we saw. The chicken with rice and vegetables and a salad I have no idea what all was in it were both tasty. My knees hurt so bad after the 5+ miles touring up and down Petra, I thought I would die trying to sit on the darn floor trying to eat without spilling altho the big round serving plate and separate salad bowls were on a piece of plastic - no napkins or anything to drink. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful - it truly was a unique experience and feel very honored to have had it. It is such a different way of life. Abrahem’s children are all beautiful - the littlest girl so cute and shy. He explained that his wife shampooed the girls hair each morning and dressed them “just so”. Two of the daughters drove with us on the way back to our hotel - Abrahem said girls are not allowed to leave the car at night so they could not get out to bid us farewell. Nancy took a picture of me with the youngest son who is 15. Abrahem said it was the first time he has had his picture taken with a female. Next week starting Friday is some kind of special religious celebration. Everything is shut down for one week. The tradition is to bring a live lamb INTO the home where it is slaughtered while all family member watch, then cooked and eaten. We are so thankful that we didn’t come during that time - we laughed about this as our luck has not always been good on this adventure. Nancy is now trying to sleep and it is not even 10:00 but she is not happy about the lights on so until Nancy turns this over to me again - good night (even tho I am not tired yet!!)
face book . . .

Spent yesterday at Petra. We rode a horse in and then hiked for miles and miles. Barbara rode a donkey to the Monastery, I didn’t go because I have done it in the past. We hiked up questionable steps and rocky areas to the Mountain of the High Sacrifice. A Bedouin woman explained exactly where the animals were slaughtered - there was a hole and a trough for the blood to run down.

We had dinner with a very traditional Muslim family. We were honored by this invitation even though we did everything in our power to get out of it! We immediately took off our shoes upon entering the house. We took family pictures only to find out that was a “no, no.” We had to look at wedding photos on the mother’s cell phone for about 45 minutes. We sat on the floor and all ate off the same huge round platter. Thankfully I had put a bug in their ear about wanting chicken otherwise I think they would have served us lamb. We each had one large spoon with which to eat. I had a hard time eating my chicken with a spoon. The mother had to get up halfway through dinner to go pray. When we arrived the mother did not have her head scarf on but put it on just before she went to pray. Barbara wore her shorts so half way through the dinner the mother called for a blanket and covered Barbara’s legs.

Barbara is writing now . . .okay, it’s me………..Nancy owes me big time for having to join the Muslim dinner. Abrahem (the man Nancy remembered that drove her to Amman after her Petra visit about 5 years ago) talked about Muslim life and traditions - stating “oh no, a boy is not allowed to even talk to a girl and must communicate thru a female member of his family to the girl and must propose marrige with a ring before being able to look directly at her or talk to her. This is how he got married as well as his oldest daughter who just got married 3 months ago - those were on the telephone photos we saw. The chicken with rice and vegetables and a salad I have no idea what all was in it were both tasty. My knees hurt so bad after the 5+ miles touring up and down Petra, I thought I would die trying to sit on the darn floor trying to eat without spilling altho the big round serving plate and separate salad bowls were on a piece of plastic - no napkins or anything to drink. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful - it truly was a unique experience and feel very honored to have had it. It is such a different way of life. Abrahem’s children are all beautiful - the littlest girl so cute and shy. He explained that his wife shampooed the girls hair each morning and dressed them “just so”. Two of the daughters drove with us on the way back to our hotel - Abrahem said girls are not allowed to leave the car at night so they could not get out to bid us farewell. Nancy took a picture of me with the youngest son who is 15. Abrahem said it was the first time he has had his picture taken with a female. Next week starting Friday is some kind of special religious celebration. Everything is shut down for one week. The tradition is to bring a live lamb INTO the home where it is slaughtered while all family member watch, then cooked and eaten. We are so thankful that we didn’t come during that time - we laughed about this as our luck has not always been good on this adventure. Nancy is now trying to sleep and it is not even 10:00 but she is not happy about the lights on so until Nancy turns this over to me again - good night (even tho I am not tired yet!!)