24 Hours

The past couple of days have been a blur of travelling. Last night I got my first decent sleep in 24 hours. We left New Delhi India three days ago and started our trek into the middle east. We all were very excited for the change in spiritual climate as well as an environment that was quite a bit less noisy and substantially less garbage. We arrived into Amman Jordan thinking that we where about to have a long day of sitting in the airport. Our layover there was ten hours, and the entry visas were a little pricey for a day trip. But to our surprise because of our lengthy layover the airport issued transit visas for the day. This gave us the privilege of going and touring around the country a bit. So we hopped a bus into the city of Amman. The drive was stunning and had all three of us commenting constantly on the sites all around us. Amongst the hills we saw mansionesque estates everywhere. They had wonderfully lush trees and greenery in their yards which was a stark contrast to the desert that lay just outside their walls. The city of Amman was filled with inspiring architecture and busy with construction in every direction. All the buildings blended with the colors of the desert to create a very earthy look to the city. After departing the bus we hired a taxi to take us to the Dead Sea. Like most countries we have experienced the first man we tried to hire was scheming to get as much money as possible from us. Luckily though we escaped the scam without losing our shirts in the deal. After that we found another taxi driver that was a real stand up character and hired him for the day. The drive out to the Dead Sea was an hour long through the country side of Jordan with the windows rolled down and driving on the right side of the road. The best way to describe it was that I felt peaceful as we drove, no cares or worries, just driving! When we arrived to the Sea it was a barrage of tourist traps and fancy resorts, so we asked our driver to take us to a local spot that was free. We ended up at this great little spot with the hills all around us and heaps of locals watching us strip down to our boxers. When we got into the water it was as if we had entered a whole new world. It was like nothing any of us had ever experienced. You could float effortless, hands and feet sticking out of the water and still not sinking. The water burned the mouth, nose and eyes so badly if ever you tried to swim under the water. On the surface of the water it was like a translucent oil film covered the sea. It made ones body feel smooth and silky! We played in the water until we finally had to head back to the airport. The drive back was equally refreshing, looking out over the hills in awe of the landscape that God had created. Then with Jordan behind us we boarded a plane that took us to Tel Aviv. It was there that we caught a bus to the old city in Jerusalem. We arrived late into the night and found a cheap hostel to settle into, getting our first decent sleep in 24 hours. The middle east is a fascinating place and we are so excited to see what God has in store for us here. Lehmann