Uh oh... over a month has passed since I last updated this blog. My idea is that more pictures and less words will be a more time friendly way of updating whoever is reading this on what exactly I have been doing for the past month.
(the whole SIT group on the Southern Jordan trip in November... pic in Wadi Rum)
I said farewell to all of the wonderful friends I made through my study abroad program mid December as most of them headed straight back to the States in order to make it home for the holidays. I, on the other hand, was about to jump right into so many more adventures.
The day after the SIT program ended my friend Christina and I flew from Amman to Istanbul (short two hour flight) for an exciting seven day Turkish adventure. Simply stated, it was amazing. So amazing in fact that I would seriously consider moving there one day if given the opportunity.
ISTANBUL, TURKEY
(inside the Ayasofya... obviously pictures cannot capture how incredible it is so I have to tell you, it was incredible)
Outside the Ayasofya and Blue Mosque... I know the lighting on our faces is dark but I like the background of the Minarets.
View of the Bosphorus Strait from the hill that we lived on for the first few days in Istanbul while staying with some University Students
....I am hoping to add more Turkey pictures later when I get some of my lovely travel companion's pictures <3
THE HOLY LAND
View of the Dome of the Rock with the Wailing/Western Wall below it
Western Wall
... from Jerusalem we went to Bethlehem for Christmas Eve
Beautiful art on the Separation Wall (Bethlehem is inside the West Bank and the wall directly wraps around many parts of the city)
"Merry Christmas World, From Bethlehem Ghetto"
Before christmas eve events we spent a long time wandering around the winding wall taking pictures... not the cheeriest few hours I have experienced on Christmas Eve.
Above by the famous Graffiti Artist Banksy
But we didn't let the serious political tone completely ruin our Christmas cheer...
Small old city roads of Bethlehem PACKED with people as a band marched through town
Lots of Mosques and Churches side-by-side in Bethlehem. From what I have experienced in Jordan and Palestine Christians and Muslims live, work, and play together peacefully. Sadly, the recent New Years day bombing at a church in Alexandria, Egypt seems to be a blatant indicator that this is not the case throughout the entire region.
That evening we went to the Shepherds' Fields (where it is believed that shepherd's saw the star of the nativity) where masses were being held in over twenty languages.
more to come soon...
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