We went to the south this past weekend. It was a long weekend but it was worth the early mornings and late nights and many hours on the bus. First we went to the Wadi bin Hamad. It was a little stream running down the center of a canyon with steep walls. It was an absolute paradise. Then we went to Karak Castle. The castle was big and old and most of it was still in one piece. Karak has been left over since the time of the crusades. Then we went to the Dana Nature Reserve, which is the equivalent of a national park. We got there right at dusk, so a few friends of mine and I climbed up on a rock to look into the valley and see the sunset. Then we had dinner, and afterwards listened to some traditional Arab music. We had another early morning and went to another castle called Shawbak Castle. This castle was very similar to Karak but hadn't fallen into so much ruin. There was a long tunnel down deep into the mountain where the water reservoir was. I climbed down about half way and then when the steep steps turned into a slide I returned to the surface. After Shawbak, we went to Petra. Petra was incredible. The trademark of the Treasury is only one small part of the city as a whole. I climbed about 800 steps to the Monastery. All the buildings were amazing, and they were all carved away from the rocks, even the interiors were carved away. After Petra we went to the Wadi Rum to spend the night with the Bedouin. The Bedouin are nomadic peoples who herd sheep, goats, or camels. The next day we went camel riding in the Wadi Rum. It was a lot of fun. We finally made it back to Amman Sunday afternoon when we could finally get a little bit of rest.

I miss everyone and I hope you are all having a good time in Michigan and California and Britain. I love all of you and I'll be back in a few weeks. I really miss Karli too. And I'm excited that I'll get to see her again in 12 almost 11 days :D:D I miss her soo much and I can't wait to get back to her :D. Karli Kae, I love you SOO MUCH!!!