And We're Off...Again...

Hello everyone!

I am writing to you from Madaba, Jordan.  Dad is currently setting up the bikes while loud music plays in the street and the smell of shawarma wafts through the air.  We have made it to the Middle East!

Dad and I are very excited for the next month as we journey from Madaba to southern Jordan, then cross the border to arrive in Eilat, Israel and work our way north from there.  We are spending 10 days in Jordan and 20 days in Israel.  This has been a dream of mine for a long time (not necessarily the biking part), but certainly to go to Israel and Jordan.  As a Christian, I have always wanted to come to this area of the world to better understand the history of my religion and how it came to be what it is today, but most importantly, to be where Jesus has been.  I never saw myself doing it on a bicycle, but I am excited for the challenges and opportunities that accompany any cycling trip with my father.

Tomorrow is our first day of cycling and as I try to go to sleep (after a very long day of travel), I still have a sense of uneasiness that I'm sure will be with me until I am back at home in my own bed.  It's the feeling of not knowing what comes next and trying to be ok with that, while at the same time, being prepared for whatever it is.  It's a difficult feeling to deal with sometimes, but it certainly helps to have Dad right there with me, always remaining cautiously optimistic that things will just work out.  He's never failed me yet!

Today we flew from Calgary to Frankfurt, then Frankfurt to Amman, Jordan.  It was a tearful goodbye (although you'd think my mom would be used to this by now!) and we were 2.5 hours early for our flight.  I don't like running late, but this was a bit too much, even for me.

The flight was very smooth to Frankfurt, but Dad and I were still pretty tired.  As such, I took advantage of any flat surface where I could lay down and get some rest during our layover!

Soon enough, we had arrived in Amman!  It was obvious to me that we were not in the western world anymore when we stepped off the plane in Jordan.  In general, the Amman airport is just a nightmare in regards to operations management.  Almost everywhere you look (security, customs, luggage), there are groups of men standing around doing nothing except talking to each other while passengers try to figure out what to do.  I think we stood in the customs line for 20 minutes and we were behind 2 people.  Remind me of this if I ever complain about Canadian customs again...

Getting our luggage was also quite the ordeal.  We were able to get 3 of the 4 panniers (the saddlebags that go on our bikes) at the luggage carousel (which you know, is what normally happens), but when Dad asked someone at the "lost luggage counter" to find out where the 4th one was, he was told to just "ask a luggage guy".  Little did he know that I had already spent the past 20 minutes trying to talk to the "luggage guys".  We had become fast friends.  Except not.  Because they only speak Arabic and did not understand that I was trying to get the bike boxes...with the bikes in them (kind of two very important pieces of luggage for us).  I'm sure you can imagine it involved a lot of hand talking on my part.  I basically just kept holding out my arms in the shape of a giant rectangle and then would start miming someone riding a bike.  They didn't get it.  They were also not at a luggage counter, they were in this small closet type space with a metal detector that you could only enter when the guy made eye contact with you and started yelling.  At least that's how it went for me.

Eventually, I could SEE the bike boxes in the ware house and kept telling the guys that they belonged to me.  After nearly an hour of waiting, we got our luggage and met our driver from the hotel (who was less than excited that he had to wait for us).  However, he eventually warmed up to us.  By the end of the car ride he was already telling me that as a muslim, he can have up to four wives and he is on the market for his second wife...perhaps a Canadian..? Dad and I both laughed awkwardly.  I feel like we do that a lot in foreign countries.  Anyway, he was a really nice guy though and was just joking, obviously. Though he did give me his business card before I left and said "just in case you change your mind..." Again, I just laughed and said "ok thanks buh byeeeee!" Seemed to work out.

We're basically staying at the Four Seasons...

Our hotel is...well, it's a good bike trip hotel.  As in the room is big, it's cheap, and a little sketchy.  Dad thinks it's fantastic (obviously) and I think it will do for the night.  But I'm happy we are moving on tomorrow.  We went out to have some Middle Eastern food tonight.  I can't remember what Dad had, but I had a shawarma and we had fresh mint and lemon juice!  Delicious!  We are reveling in our small victories today-all of our flights left according to schedule, we successfully got a SIM card for the phone once we arrived in Jordan, the electrical converters that I packed work on all the outlets, all of our luggage arrived (despite the hassle), and now we are ready to start the cycling part of our adventure!  Tomorrow we are heading to the dead sea with stops at Mount Nebo (#Moses) , Bethany across the Jordan (#whereJesuswasbaptized), and two churches that house the Byzantine Mosaics (#500ADmapofPalestine).  Those hashtags are harder to follow than I would've liked.  ANYWAY, we will update you tomorrow with all the details.  I am trying to write regularly and as often as possible.  This blog will be simple and not necessarily pretty to look at, but I hope it will provide a good representation of what we do here so all you readers can keep up with the adventure, and we can look back on it when we get home.

Trying to rock the head scarf!

My favourite pictures of Dad are when he looks like a little boy.  Like this one.

Please pray for our safety as we begin cycling tomorrow!  We will keep you posted! Literally! #blogpostpun #loveit

Love,

Annika