Petra, Jordan

Holy shit! My blog has been linked to a website with tourist information for Aqaba, Jordan. If anyone has stumbled upon my post about the ferry looking for information about Aqaba, don't necessarily take my advice. I would still say DONT take the ferry, but keep in mind that I'm a complete newb to travelling in this part of the world, so it was a worse experience for me than it would be for someone with more experience in the region. Anyways, believe it or not, right now is a great time to be an American in the Middle East. Everybody is very excited about Obama. I was riding on a bus to Petra today, and since I was in the front the driver asked me where I was from. Upon learning I was American, everyone in the front of the bus began rejoicing in Obama's inaugauration and declaring "Bush khalas - Bush is finished." Then they joked about Bush getting a shoe thrown at him in Baghdad. This shoe thrower is a true hero to everyone in the Middle East. They seem genuinely happy to meet an American who voted for Obama. There's a big modern customs checkpoint outside of Aqaba, since it's some kind of a free trade zone. One official just peeked in the door and waved us through. But then there are police flagging down cars for light inspection all over the place. They have no barricade or anything, they just stand by the side of the road and have a little red light/green light paddle. Amusing. What's even more amazing is that the Jordanians obey them. Yes, this is not Egypt. There are traffic lights and people actually stop at them! So now I've seen Petra, and it's as amazing as reported to be. BUT the tour groups are annoying. A lot of people visit Petra as part of a package tour from Israel. One tour group was all wearing hats from their tour, complete with the Star of David on them. Yeah, that's smart, considering I just saw a sign at a grocery store here saying "Sorry, we do not receive dogs and israelies." I'll try to upload a picture of it later to prove I'm not making this up. There are plenty of snack stands within Petra if you're hungry. At one, I saw an American woman approach to get something for her friend who was too lazy to get up from the bench she was sitting on. She wanted a water bottle, but the water bottles they were selling were too big. She went back to her friend and told her that they did have soda, so her friend requested a Diet Coke. Unfortunately, all they had was Diet Bebsi, and she did not want to drink this so she went without a beverage. I realized that since Egypt is technically in Africa and Jordan is technically in Asia, I have now been to all continents except Antarctica. I'm sure it has been noticed that my spelling and grammar gets worse in each post. The quality of my spoken English has also gotten a lot worse as it makes it easier to communicate with people when I speak as if English was my second language. At first when the kids on the street yelled "alo" at me I would respond with a correct "hello," but now I just say "alo." They are convinced that this is the proper pronunciation because it's how they answer the telephone, taking after the French.