Just a few hours outside of Jordan’s capital city of Amman lies Jerash, a city playing host to a rather impressive collection of Roman ruins. No “ruin fatigue” here: the history of Jerash – layer upon layer of civilizations, from Greek to Roman to Umayyad, keeps you wondering about the cycles of cultures and religions — and all the people who walked the same streets over the last 3000 years.
The South Theatre pictured below was built by the Romans in the 1st century AD. Its layout highlights the Roman skill of acoustic design. If you stand at the central acoustic point inside the theater and belt out your favorite tune or poem, every person in that 3,000 seat theatre will hear you loud and clear. Impressive.
Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Jordan, Panorama by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
5 Comments | 30 August 2011
OK, great photos and stories from Jordan but what exactly was your itinerary? Where did you go, stay, eat? We’ve been answering a bunch of “I’m thinking of going to Jordan” emails and need a place to put all of our answers.
So here it is: the details of where we stayed, where we ate, what we saw and experienced. The whole scoop for one final go-round.
Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Jordan, Middle East, Travel by: Audrey Scott
29 Comments | 10 April 2011
Our journey through Jordan took us from sprawling Amman to the ancient Roman city of Jerash and Nebatean city of Petra. Along the way, we made our way through canyons, deserts, dusty villages, forests and farmland. We took dips in both the Red and Dead Seas. This is all to say that Jordan packs quite a lot into a small land mass.
Someone on Twitter recently asked us how Jordan was as a photographic destination. We admit we’re a bit biased, so we invite you to check out the slideshow below and decide for yourself. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Jordan, Middle East, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
15 Comments | 25 March 2011
If you emerge from a visit to Jordan and you haven’t had enough to eat, you’ve clearly done something wrong. Or in the words of an American friend of Jordanian heritage, “If you don’t leave Jordan heavier, we haven’t done our job.”
Mansaf, the Jordanian national dish.
Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Food, Jordan, Middle East by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
29 Comments | 24 March 2011
Whereas we sometimes feel like we know the Romans and Greeks when we visit the ruined cities they left behind, the Nabataeans, the mysterious ancient civilization behind Petra, are people we need to meet. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Audio Clips, Jordan, Middle East, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
15 Comments | 22 March 2011
Sure, the Rock Bar in Petra has great ambiance and a smooth lemon mint shisha, Luigi’s at the Dead Sea Movenpick has impeccable shisha service and adds a nice belly dance, and Al Rasheed in Amman is the ideal place to chill out in the big city.
But when I think “shisha in Jordan,” where will my first memory go? I’ll remember hanging with the guys in the northern Jordanian town of Rasun. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Jordan, Middle East, Panorama by: Daniel Noll
8 Comments | 21 March 2011
Bedouins. Before our visit to Jordan, the term conjured an image of mysterious desert-bound, tunic-wearing nomads.
While in Jordan, we met our share of Bedouins — some camel collectors and shepherds, others guides and businessmen. Upwards of 40% of the Jordanian population is of Bedouin heritage. As a result, Jordanian hospitality, wisdom and culture are all very much a product of their Bedouin roots.
As our Bedouin hosts shared some of their protocols, their wisdom, and their clever ways of looking at the world, we took note. Here’s what we learned. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Jordan, Middle East, Travel by: Daniel Noll
38 Comments | 18 March 2011
On occasion, we are fortunate enough to have an experience or conversation that sends chills for its human quality. Our time with Zikra Initiative and the women of Ghor al Mazra’a was one such experience.
From the moment I passed into the courtyard, Um Atallah took control and led me to a seat on the ground near her. Two other women swapped their attention between their work and us, offering encouraging smiles. These were the women of Ghor al Mazra’a near Jordan’s Dead Sea. And for a few hours, they shared a bit of their lives with us.
Continue Reading »
- Women in Jordan Snapshots: Coffee to Courage
- Women in Jordan: The Once Forgotten Women of the Dead Sea
Filed Under: Jordan, Middle East, Perspectives by: Audrey Scott
13 Comments | 15 March 2011
Wadi Rum, the colorful, iconic desert valley many of us know from watching Lawrence of Arabia. It remains the land of the Bedouins who move their tents of woven goat hair, the season depending. Whether they make their way camel by day or pickup by night, they seem to know the placement of every rock and every turn across the sand.
Their land is also the land of some unusual rock formations. Open the panorama to full screen to see for yourself what it’s like to stand atop the Wadi Rum rock bridge and look out over the desert below. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Jordan, Middle East, Panorama by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
7 Comments | 14 March 2011
In Jordan, I spent a lot of time with men. Not only did my immediate company consist of men (our driver and host were both men and I had Dan by my side), but many of our in-home social and cultural experiences were dominated by them, too. Tea and coffee in Bedouin tents was served by and among men, dinners in homes — outside of some interactions with the women of the house – were largely a male affair.
Don’t get me wrong: I enjoy spending time with men and learning about their world, but I also look forward to sharing time with women so that I may get a glimpse into their lives and appreciate their work.
And so I did in Jordan. And for me, three stories stood out. The women I met and their pride as individuals, as mothers, and as breadwinners left an impression on me. Continue Reading »
- Women in Jordan Snapshots: Coffee to Courage
- Women in Jordan: The Once Forgotten Women of the Dead Sea
Filed Under: Jordan, Middle East, Perspectives by: Audrey Scott
15 Comments | 13 March 2011
