My Final Thoughts: Study Abroad

Hello World,

The wonderful Amman, Jordan

Snowboarding in Lebanon

Swimming in Lebanon

Jerusalem, Israel

Before January of 2013 I had spent most of life in Missouri, USA.   I did not ever travel to many parts of the world or even America before I studied abroad.  When I was 16 I went to Cancun, Mexico with my family for a week vacation making my first and only time outside of the States.  As far as America goes, I have spent a little time in Iowa, Ohio, Tennessee and Florida for a week at a time at max. Bluntly, I have not seen much of the world, most of my life I have been confined to the small country state of Missouri, the place I call home.  This Spring 2013 Study Abroad Semester changed all of that.

I left the United States of America in January and arrived in Amman, Jordan.  While in Jordan I visited Wadi Rum and rode camels, Petra and walked in the footsteps of Indiana Jones, Um Qais to look at the meeting borders of Israel, Jordan and Syria, then to Jerash to look at Roman ruins, and Zarqa to teach Jordanian elementary kids how to play basketball.  I then traveled to Lebanon and stayed in Beirut on the Mediterranean Sea, the Faraya Mountains in the Beqaa Valley and snow boarded down the Lebanese mountains, Baalbek to see more ancient ruins, Sidon, Tyre(Sour) to see Hezbollah controlled territory and Mleeta.  I then went back to Amman, Jordan. Then took a bus into the West Bank taking me into Israel. I enjoyed the beach at Tel Aviv and the ancient city of Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified and rose back to life, then headed to the Palestinian city of Nablus located in the West Bank.  And now I am back at home(well my second home) in Amman, Jordan. I am enjoying my last week here and then I will head to England to chill with my British side of the family.  And finally in 3 weeks I will be back in the United States of America again to my real home.  In these last 5 months I have seen more than I had in my previous 20 years. It has been amazing and I have learned so much about so many cultures. 

       When I was deciding where I wanted to study abroad, I did not choose a fun destination like France, Spain, the UK, Italy, or Germany, where the vast majority of the 1% of Students that do study abroad, choose to study abroad. I chose a destination where less than 1% of study abroad students study abroad.  That is like .001 of all students.  When studying abroad in those countries I listed there is not as much of a culture shock.  The people speak a different language but they are still in the Western World.    The Middle East is completely different, the countries here have not adopted to Western lifestyles.  There are some things that they clearly have adopted but they still have their authentic awesome culture that is centuries old. Jordan is officially a Muslim country.  

     When I first arrived in Jordan I realized whey no one chooses to study abroad here.  It is a desert.  Jordan is the 3rd poorest country in terms of water.  From living here, I have realized that water is a huge deal that is taken granted of in the rest of the world. Also the language spoken here is Arabic, the hardest language to learn for English speakers according to the US government.  People choose not to study abroad here because it is not a fun place to be and it is very challenging.  (Don't get the wrong impression though, I have enjoyed myself). 

     I often get asked why I chose Jordan. "It is the safest country to study abroad in". I then get weird looks. "Well, the safest one to learn Arabic."  I chose Amman, Jordan because my chosen foreign language is Arabic.  Jordan has the closest dialect to the formal Arabic. 

My Goals:

1. To improve my Arabic skills. Speaking and Listening
2. To learn many aspects of Arabic culture
3. Make Jordanian friends and acqaintances 
4. Grow as a person

All of those goals have been completed.  Therefore I consider this semester a success.  I have learned more this semester than any previous and probably any in the future.  When I got here taxi drivers would ask where I wanted to go and I could not understand them.  I also could not tell them in Arabic where I wanted to go. Now I get in, tell them where I want to go and have a conversation with them about their lives all in Arabic.  I sit at home with my Jordanian host mom and we have conversations about politics in Arabic ( not to deep in to politics though). I am very content with the Arabic skills I have learned but I am still far from fluent.  For fun, I go to the downtown area of Amman and other souks.  I go there to talk to the locals and learn about their way of life. By doing that I have learned vast amounts about this Jordanian culture. I have made a few Jordanian friends. We sit, talk and have coffee.  I have definitely grown as an individual.  I am now fine with going up to a stranger( one who speaks a different language) and just start talking to him.  I now know how to stop the Jordanian taxi drivers from cheating me.  I am a pro at using Jordanian transportation, whether it is public or private. I have traveled around Middle Eastern countries with just me and a couple friends. While here, I took on challenges and beat them. My confidence has grown extraordinarily.  I am no longer just a country boy who knows nothing about the rest of the world.  I am very happy with my achievements since I've been here. 

 My false stereotypes of Arab people have been broken.  They have actually been reversed. American media does a terrible job at portraying these wonderful people.  If you are hungry, they offer you food. Rather you are thirsty or not they make you drink tea or coffee. And you are always welcome in their homes. 

These 5 months have been long months.  I have enjoyed every hour of this trip but I am ready to be back home with my family and friends. I will honestly say, I miss my American way of life.  Although I was blessed with getting such a good host family here in Jordan.  They have been great to me and treat me like a real son or brother. I have not once felt out of place here in Jordan. The people are very welcoming.  Some people in our program have failed to feel at home here because they are not welcoming of the Jordanian culture.  To succeed, compromise is necessary and rewarding.

What an Amazing semester!

Until Next time (if there is one). 

--John Michael Middleton

PS. Now off to England for a bit.



               

The Holy Land: Israel and Palestine

View from the Mount of Olives over the Old City of Jerusalem

Greetings from the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, Israel-- with the old city as a backdrop.

    Three and a half years ago I was watching a documentary about a man walking around the streets of Jerusalem. I remember the city looking so magical but at the same time so real. He walked through these narrow streets that were bursting with life from markets filled with the locals and thousands of tourists wondering around aimlessly. As he was walking he would fade into different sections of the old city. He started in the Armenian district, then he was in the Jewish district at the Wailing Wall, walked on top of that famous structure and ended up at the Dome of the Rock-the rock of the Muslim district, and finally ended up in the Christian district.  At the Christian district he went into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In there he went to the spot of Jesus' crucifixion and where he was buried.  It was an interesting show to watch.  I was watching it with my family and we were sarcastically saying, " I hope I get to go there someday". 

     Well, my dream came true.

The site of the crucifixion of Jesus

Day 1- Tel Aviv

      As soon as I knew that I was going to Jordan to study abroad and that I got two vacations during the semester I decided I was going to Lebanon and Israel.  During my first vacation (the long 7 day vacation) there was a vamped up security warning for Israel and the West Bank so I decided to go to Lebanon for my first vacation and who knows how long that country will be stable enough to visit.  If you read my prior blogs then you know that I loved Lebanon. So after Lebanon I knew I was going to Israel and I had to get a group.  About two weeks before we came a group was put together of James, Katie and Matt. We decided we were going to Tel Aviv for the first day and then to Jerusalem and the West Bank the next 3 or 4 days. 

       7:00AM on Wednesday May 1 we all met at a Jordanian Bus station and headed to the border. Before we went we heard some tales that the Israeli border control or IDF were a tough bunch to deal with but the people telling me said that Americans usually don't have problems, that they just hold Arabs and Muslims. Well those people were wrong.  We arrived at the Israeli customs at 9:00AM and did not get out till 1:00PM.  Everything went smooth and then I caused problems for every American in there. By the time that we arrived two other groups of Americans going to Israel had also arrived.  I was the first one to go through passport control.  The man who did not speak English Well was questioning me and was getting confused so he brought over another person and they questioned me for 15 minutes and meanwhile they started questioning James and Matt as well.  They handed me a form to fill out and took all 10 of us American's CIEE students passports and held them till 12:30.  They said they had to just check up on us. Our group was by far the longest people sitting in that holding area. But finally we got out. 

    We took a bus from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv and arrived in Tel Aviv at our hostel at 3:00PM.  On the bus ride I purposely sat next to an IDF(Israel Defense Force) soldier and we had a good hour conversation during the ride. He gave me an IDF issued key chain that he was explaining to me got them free stuff in Israel (it has a little attachment on it for that but I don't know how to use it) and he also gave me an IDF ink pen that he said he gave me on behalf of Israel.  That was a fun bus ride.

We immediately checked into the hotel and then ate a much needed meal and got to the beach. The beach was absolutely amazing.  The sand was white and the Mediterranean Sea felt great  to swim in and there were beautiful Israeli women. I found it funny that there were quite a few wearing American flag bikinis. I stayed on the beach till the sun was going down which I think was till 6:30.  After that I went and rested at the hotel for a bit and then went to eat again at 8:00.  I had a big tasty Kosher hamburger with a glass of local Israeli red wine.  The burger and the wine were both quite good. Finally Matt and I ended the night going to a bar in the area called The Port. It was a Wednesday night so there wasn't a lot going on but I did enjoy a great tasting local Israeli beer-Goldstar. 

Rabin Square

US Embassy in Tel Aviv

       We all met for breakfast downstairs the next morning at 9:00 and ate and then went to Rabin Square. It is the famous spot that Prime Minister Rabin got assassinated by right wing Israelis who were mad at him for trying to make peace with the Palestinians. It was  a nice area but not really anything to write about it.

Tel Aviv beach

Day 2- Jerusalem

      We left Tel Aviv at 1:00 on Thursday the 2nd.  We arrived at our hotel at about 2:30-Mount of Olives Hotel. I immediately headed over to the old Jerusalem.  Matt and I walked down the Mount of Olives and past the Garden of Gethsemane( the garden that Jesus prayed in before he was taken away and arrested) and finally made it into the old city. It was bursting with culture. I had my mind set that I was going to go on the Temple Mount which hosts the Dome of the Rock and the the Al-Aqsa mosque, it is also believed by the Jews to have the Holy of Holies.  The problem was that today was only for Muslims to go in it.  So I went to the first gate and the guards spotted me immediately as a non Muslim and stopped me from going in.  The second gate the same thing happened.  The third gate I greeted the guards with and Arabic greeting and they let me by and I got on the Temple Mount but then a Muslim man on the Temple Mount, I guess some how spotted that I did not belong so he told the guards to make me leave and I argued with them for a  couple minutes that I just wanted to look around a bit. But they asked if I was a Muslim and I could not deny my faith as a Christian so they kicked me out again but I did actually get on the Mount which was a far step.  Finally, I tried the last gate to go in and that guard was about to let me in but he got radioed about me and stopped me and said they were going to have to arrest me.  The man came with the handcuffs but I talked to the IDF guard and told him I was just an American tourist and he made them leave me alone.  I do realize that I brought it all on myself but I was determined to get in. Something kind of funny that happened at the gate was when I was walking in and the arabic speaking guard said "You are American not Muslim, and at the same time some Japanese men were walking up and said to them "You are Asian, not Muslim", it was funny.  I was with my group of American friends before I went for all my attempts at getting in but I left them for what I told them would be 10 minutes.  Well just arguing about not getting arrested took 20 minutes so when I went back to find them they were gone. I was alone in the old city of Jerusalem the rest of the
day.

As close as I could get a picture the first day to the Temple Mount

The first thing I did was walk the path that Jesus walked which was just a street, Via Dolorosa . I then went to a store to buy a couple souvenirs for Dad, Mom, and me. I bought $120 worth of stuff. After that I went to the Palestinian district of Jerusalem and had a few conversations with them in Arabic so I could practice and learn some culture. That was real enjoyable.

just a street in old Jerusalem

     
        After that I went to the church of the Holy Sepulchre, the place that I most wanted to go.  This is Easter weekend for many countries around the world so things are a little more crowded in old Jerusalem than normal.  When I first entered the church I saw about 10 Greek Christians kneeling down rubbing their belongings on a stone on the ground.  It was the stone that Jesus was cleansed on after he was crucified and before he was put in his tomb.  The people were pouring oil on it and touching their belongings to it.  It was interesting and they were very excited about it. I just went over and rubbed my hand against the stone. Then I wondered up a staircase that led to the Hill of Golgotha or Calvary, the spot is believed to be where Jesus was crucified. Their was about a 15 minute line to go into the area and kneel down at the foot of the cross and pray for about 10 seconds that was monitored by monks.  I did not wait in the line but just kind of went in their and stood in the area for a bit. This was my favorite site because it is where Jesus gave up his life for the whole world's sins. "Father, Forgive them for they do not know what they do not know what they are doing".  Up there hanging on the cross he showed the true spirit of Christianity- peace, forgiveness, and most of all Love.  and then "It is Finished", no more law, just belief in Jesus. After the cross site I walked back down the stairs to the spot of Jesus's tomb.  The line there was about an hour long so I definitely did not do that.  But I walked to the back of the tomb and there was a little passage way that had a monk sitting in there. This was the head of the tomb, on the floor there was a step with a candle sitting on it and that was the spot that Jesus's head laid in the tomb.  I went in there and kneeled down and said a quick prayer. The tomb was pretty cool also, it was the spot that Jesus rose from the dead, back to life and fulfilled the old testament prophesy that set all believers free. It was magical thing to say the least. After that I went and lit a prayer candle and just hung out in the church for a bit watching all the Christian Pilgrims for Easter. I had a good time. Finally I walked to the courtyard of the church and the loud church bells started to ring.  I don't know how to explain it but just standing in the courtyard with those ringing annoying bells was quite an interesting and enjoyable experience.

The stone that Jesus was cleaned on before he was put in his tomb

the Tomb of Jesus

The dome lets in a light beam that falls on the Tomb

The candle lies where Jesus's head was in the tomb

The cross

        After the Christian district I headed down to the Western Wall.  Little did I know there was a huge ceremony that night. Walking with me to the wall were 100s of Israeli soldiers and other Jewish people.  Once I got there I realized what was happening, it was the swearing in ceremony for the Israeli Paratroopers-the most respected branch.  I walked through the huge crowd to get to the pathway to get to the actual wall.  It is necessary to wear a yamaka ,the Jewish male head cover, to go to the praying area. So I put on a yamaka and went to the wall.  It is traditional to write a prayer on a note and put it in one of the cracks of the wall, so I did.  Then I just stood around and watched the very serious Jews pray in their very interesting way at the wall.  It was a neat thing to see.  After that I turned around and watched the military ceremony.  It was in Hebrew so I did not know what they were saying. I figure that was probably a once in a lifetime thing to see, for me anyway. By that time I was very hungry so I headed to the Jewish district to grab a bite to eat. I ordered an Israeli dish called "Shnitzel", which was huge and tasty. I left my bag of gifts at my table when I went to pay and when I came back it was gone.  That made me very upset because it had all my gifts that I purchased for a good amount of money. But to cheer me up I went to the ice cream place right next door and ate some ice cream that was delicious. Then I walked around the Jewish district for a bit, but it was a lot nicer than the other parts and more expensive so I did not buy anything else.  Then to end the night I walked up a huge hill or mountain-the Mount of Olives.  The Mount of Olives is where Jesus ascended to Heaven.  But after I walked up the huge hill for 20 minutes I was exhausted and went to bed.
What a day!

The Huge crowd at the Swearing in Ceremony for the Paratroopers 

The Western Wall

Praying at the Western Wall

Prayers stuck in the cracks of the Western Wall

Day 3-Jerusalem

    Today is just kind of a relaxing day.  I woke up at 8:00 and ate breakfast in the hotel which consisted of Palestinian breakfast. It was good. I drank a cup of coffee and headed to the Old City with James and Katie. Let me note that today is Good Friday.  We walked into the Lion's Gate which is by the street that Jesus walked.  There were at least a thousand people on that street all bunched up and crazy speaking all kinds of foreign languages. We realized that we were not going to get anywhere on that main street so we walked into the living quarters down some thin pathways and finally made it to the Tower of King David Museum.  We went in there and walked up a bunch of stairs to the terrace.  From that terrace I was able to look down at the whole old city. It was an amazing view. Then we walked around the museum and looked at all the exhibits.  I don't really know but there is not much to say about that either. Don't get me wrong though, it was neat and I enjoyed it but is was just history. 

    After that we walked to a Greek Church next to it was a Holocaust museum.  We went and there and looked around.  It was a sad experience as you can guess.  Then we walked to the cemetery and found Oskar Schindler's grave and looked at that.

An IDF riot squad(these people are everywhere)

The street that Jesus walked was crowded with Christians on Good Friday

     Then we walked down to the Western Wall at 12:30.  This was a very busy time at the wall. I was reminded of the story in the bible where Jesus got angry with the money changers at the church.  As I was walking down the path to the wall, this man had a table of yamakas selling them to people who did not have them.  He told me that I had to buy one and wear it if I was going to the wall.  So I bought one after bartering him down quite a bit.  So with my yamaka on my head I walked to the wall again, washed my hands in the fountain and prayed at the Western Wall amongst all the Jews. Of course I prayed a Christian prayer. It was quite an experience. We were tired so we decided to walk back to the hotel and rest for a couple hours and then go back.
     After that I went back and walked around for a while.  I sat down in a couple Palestinian's shops and just talked to them.  I talked to them about how they felt about their situation and if they were happy.  From talking to multiple Palestinians living in Jerusalem, I came to the conclusion that they are treated well.  They all told me that they get the same rights as the Israeli Jews.  A couple of the Palestinians actually referred to themselves as Israeli.  After that I went to an Armenian restaurant and ate Shish Taouk. It was a great meal.  It was tasty and huge. with my food I had a Maccabee Beer, the local beer. Then at about 8:00PM I went to the Sepulchre church and looked at all the sites again.  I just kind of hung out in the courtyard for a while, it was entertaining to watch all these people from all over the world, speaking different languages, looking different, all of them coming to see the the site where Jesus was crucified. It was truly amazing.  Then at about 9:30 I went to the Western Wall, at this time it was the Jewish Sabbath.  The Jewish quarter was completely shut down.  Then I went back up the dreaded walk to the Mount of Olives and went to bed.

My Armenian Shish Taouk, tasty

Day 4-Palestine

Nablus market 

My Palestinian buddy that I got Nablus sweets from

     Today I felt like I was back in Jordan. When I left Israeli territory and entered the West Bank I  read the sign that said "This is Area A controlled by the Palestinian Authority, It is illegal for any Israeli citizen to enter and is dangerous for Israeli citizens".  The buildings and area magically transformed into what reminded me exactly of Jordan.  Except the first Palestinian city I went to was very modern and nice.  It was far from what I expected, I had been told that it was a terrible poor place that I would be astonished by. That was far wrong.  But of course it was poor compared to the United States of America but most countries are.  The city of Ramallah was quite nice and from what I saw nicer than Amman, Jordan (except for West Amman). From Ramallah I hopped on a bus and went to Nablus.  It was about and hour bus ride through huge hills and valleys and maybe what I would call mountains.  Every side of a mountain was covered with olive trees. Driving through there I thought about numerous old testament bible stories.  This was the area that Abraham walked and his descendants how many years ago. Also on the way there there were what I counted to be 9 Jewish Settlements which are illegal according to the UN and what seems to be Israeli law according to their road signs. So that is a very complicated issue that I will not go into.  Finally I arrived in the city of Nablus. It was a bit older than Ramallah but it looked exactly like downtown Amman except cleaner and bigger.  There were multiple alleys to walk down that were selling any item you could think of for dirt cheap. It made the Friday Souk and the downtown Amman markets look small.  I was astonished by this, nothing what I expected.  And the best part was talking to the locals.  I think that Jordanians are good hospital people but the Palestinians in Nablus were the nicest, friendliest and helpful people I have ever met.  I went into a coffee shop to ask the men in there where a good restaurant to eat was and in there were a couple men eating a plate of tomatoes, hummus and bread.  Instead of telling me where to go eat, they asked me to just sit down with them and eat their food.  After that we went to a little restaurant and ate falafel sandwiches.  Then finally the best part of Nablus happened, I ate Kanafeh the best Arab dessert.  I have eaten it in Jordan multiple times but Nablus is where it was invented so I had to eat it there. It was too delicious to describe.  Then we all spent about another hour in the downtown area in amazement. As I was walking through the fruit section I saw a cart full of Plums and had to have one.  I grabbed one and asked how much and the man told me to just take it for free, I got out some money to pay but he would not let me.  To say the least, I loved Nablus and the people of Nablus.

Sign forbidding Israeli citizens in the West Bank

Checkpoint to the West Bank

At 2:30 we got on a bus to go back to Ramallah and then to Jerusalem.  I got dropped off by the old city so I decided to spend some time in there before going back to the hotel.  I was very hungry by this time, it was about 5:00 now. Previously, I ate in the Jewish quarter, the Muslim quarter, the Armenian quarter now it was time to eat in the Christian quarter (save the best for last). I went to a little restaurant owned by a Palestinian Christian, it was on the nicer side for Jerusalem.  I ordered a famous Palestinian dish named "Arayes".  If you want to know what it is google it, I cannot explain it.  But I will say it is delicious.  With the "Arayes" I had bread and local red wine.  I sat in there and watched all the Easter Pilgrims walk the streets.  It was enjoyable.  After eating I ended the night like my other nights and went and hung out at the Sepulchre for a good while and then headed up to the hotel for a good nights sleep.

Day 5-Jerusalem to home

I went to bed early last night so I could get up early this morning.  I had plans to go to the Temple Mount first thing in the morning.  The security is not as tight and they let in some non Muslims in the early morning.  I woke up at 6:00AM and made it to the Temple Mount at 7:00.  For you all that don't know the Temple Mount is sacred to three religions: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.  For Muslims the Temple Mount hosts the famous Dome of the Rock Mosque and the Al-Aqsa Mosque which is where they believe that Muhammad had his night journey. It is the third holiest site in Islam.  The Temple Mount is the Holiest site in Judaism.  Inside the Dome of the Rock rests the foundation rock in which used to host the Holy of Holies which hosted the Ark of the Covenant. The strict Jews will go onto the Temple Mount because the chief rabbi forbids it because of the Holiness of the site. Instead the Jews pray at the Western Wall of the Temple Mount which is the closest point to the Foundation Rock which always hosts God's Devine Presence. It is sacred to Christians because the stones that make the Temple Mount are believed to be the same ones that Jesus walked on and a few stories from the bible about Jesus happened at the Temple Mount.  It is also sacred to Christians because of the same reasons as Judaism. Over the Years it has been destroyed an rebuilt but still hosts the Foundation Rock. And there has been much controversy over the Temple Mount because it is sacred to 3 religions and only Muslims are allowed unrestricted access and non Muslims are not allowed in the Mosques, even to see the Holy of Holies. Well, there is your history.

I got onto the Temple Mount and was amazed at how large it was, it did not look that big from the distance. I first went to the door of the Dome of the Rock.  I asked if I could go in but was denied.  So I walked around for a bit and came back to a different door about 10 minutes later.  I stood there and talked to the man sitting at the door for a while.  He eventually opened the door and let me enter for a couple minutes to see it and take a picture.  It was a pretty cool experience. A crowd of other non muslims saw what was going on and came rushing over, the man made me leave and closed the door, not letting anyone else enter.  After that I went back to the hotel and ate breakfast and checked out at noon.  I then headed to the Old City one last time in order to go to King David's tomb.  Mom had told me that I needed to go there but it was closed on Friday and Saturday.  I went in there and there were Jewish rabbis praying.  Close by was also the apartment that the Last Supper was held in.  I went there and called it a day.  I got on my bus, went through a few check points and now I am back home in Jordan. 

I finally got a picture next to the Dome of the Rock in my last hour there. 

Inside the Dome of the Rock, very rare opportunity for a non-Muslim

King David's Tomb

This trip to Israel was amazing, I would recommend it to anyone.  Old Jerusalem is a small area with 4 different cultures and religions living side by side. On top of that there are tourists from every corner of the world visiting all year long.  The dynamic is amazing. If you go, sit down and talk with a Palestinian Muslim, a Palestinian Christian, an Israeli Jew, and an Armenian.   I believe that trips like this are the corner stone of a good study abroad semester.  A student can take classes anywhere but can not get real experiences in a lecture hall in America on issues of the Middle East.  I called my visit to Israel the cherry on top of my Israeli-Palestinian Conflict class. What a great trip. 

Oh and I forgot to mention that throughout all the streets of Jerusalem are IDF soldiers carrying M-16 rifles and some of them have grenade launchers.  It is a weird thing to get used to.
Oh and I also for got to talk about going to the Garden of Gethsemane.  That was the garden that Jesus prayed in the night before the Roman soldiers came to take him away. It was very peaceful.

The Garden of Gethsemane

Until Next Time.....

-John Michael Middleton

My daily life in Amman

Amman, Jordan with the world's 3rd tallest flag. A beautiful sight. 

Hello again..!
Warning- this will be a long and boring read but is interesting if your interested in my normal life abroad.
As I have mentioned before my study abroad experience does not always consist of me being a tourist in the Middle East.  Sometimes I actually live life like a normal person, well a normal study abroad student anyways.  What I have wrote about so far is mostly about my awesome weekend and week vacation journeys that consist of exploring centuries old sites of ancient civilizations, floating in the dead sea, wandering around in dangerous Lebanese territory or even skiing(on snow) in the Middle East.
       Although all of that will probably be the most memorable parts of my experience it is not the most important parts.  Unfortunately, more than anything else, I am a student this SEMESTER. I am over here studying abroad so I can learn and come out with a vast amount of knowledge and wisdom that I could not of obtained back in the States. Well, I could of took the same classes with the same content but I could not of experienced what I was being taught every day.  What I mean is: I am obviously taking Arabic language classes.  Every day after class I have to use that Arabic to order food, buy stuff, talk to people, and to get home.  Well, I have to use it for most of that stuff I listed but I also like to challenge my self and talk to random Jordanians to practice my Arabic. They are very kind and enjoy it when us Americans try to talk to them in their native language.  Most the time when I talk to a Jordanian I end up getting an Arabic lesson and making a new friend.  Let me note again that they are some of the most generous people I have ever met.  Of course they are not all like that, some just use my lack of Arabic knowledge to entertain themselves but the generous Jordanians far outweighs them.
Another class that I get practical knowledge from is "America and the Arabs".  Well there is no need to explain how I learn outside the class with that one. I am an American in an Arab country.  My other class is the "Israel-Palestinian Conflict".  If I get in a good conversation with a Jordanian I often try to ask him how he feels about that subject.  I have almost learned more from doing that than I have in the class.  So my main point in all this is that in stead of learning from a professor back in the states who has a fancy degree from a famous university, I get to learn with real world experiences and from professors who live the life of the subject they are teaching.  It really is a phenomenal thing.

Alright, so I will tell you what my daily life consist of over here. I have 3 different days groups. I have the main group: Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.  I have the second group: Mondays and Wednesdays. And I have the fun group: weekends, Friday and Saturdays which I will not discuss because I never know what I am going to do on the weekend.
On the first group of days I only have language classes. I am taking two different types of Arabic here. I am taking Fus-ha, which is the formal Modern Standard Written Arabic or MSA. It is not spoken by everyday people. It is the Arabic that is written in books, newspapers, bibles, and the quran. It is a language that is made on rules and unlike English the rules are not broken. It is very difficult and punctual. The only time that it is spoken is the news, lectures, and by government officials.  For muslims, Fus-ha is regarded as a sacred language because they believe that Allah wrote the Quran in Arabic. Most ordinary people in Arab countries do not really know Fus-ha, although if they hear it they will probably know what it means.
The other class I am taking is colloquial dialect Arabic that is used in Jordan. Every Arab country and even the different regions of each country have their own dialect.  And it is not like English in America where southerners have a slang.  A dialect is almost like a different language. And people who speak in the dialect are not looked down on, even the well educated speak in the dialect. Actually if someone would speak in Fus-ha in a normal conversation, that would be weird. Most dialects are very similar to Fus-ha but still have a lot of differences.  They are derived from Fus-ha without all the hard grammar and instead of words that do not flow well verbally are replaced with words that slide off the tongue.  Arabs can tell where a person is from by the way they pronounce certain sounds and letters. It is a really neat thing. When I went to Lebanon, I would try speaking to the people in Beirut with my Jordanian dialect and they would not understand me at all. And that was with simple stuff that people in  Jordan always understand without questions. Although when I was in rural parts of Lebanon the people there understood me perfectly.  It was a cool experience. I like learning the dialect a lot more than learning Fus-ha because I get to use the dialect every day and never use Fus-ha unless I am listening to the news. Although Fus-ha is more important because from that it is easier to learn all the dialects and Fus-ha never changes.  That is a bonus and disadvantage of studying abroad in an Arab country, I have to learn 2 different languages.

University of Jordan North Gate. very secure. 

Anyways, I have dialect class from 8:30-9:30 on the first group of days and have Fus-ha from 11:00-1:00.  I usually get up at 7:00 and eat a light Jordanian breakfast consisting of flat bread and some type of spread.  Then I meet with 3 other friends that live in my area and we take a taxi to class. After dialect class a group of us usually go to a donut shop and eat donuts, drink coffee and prepare for Fus-ha class. After Fus-ha I meet up with a couple other friends and we either take a taxi or bus to a gym and I normally work out from 2:00-4:00. We all joined the gym for 3 main reasons. The first of course being that we want to stay in shape while we are here. The other important reason is for the long hot shower we can take at the gym.  There is a huge water shortage in Jordan, it is either the 3rd or 5th poorest country in terms of water in the world.  So each house gets a tank of water on their roof that gets filled up once a week. If it runs out before the week than they do not have any water for that time. It is a big problem for the people here. As a result showers have to be very short and we feel bad taking them at our homestays  so we take them instead at the gym which gets a special amount of water. And the 3rd reason for going to the gym is to use up some of our time with something enjoying.  After the gym I usually walk home which is about a 3 mile walk that normally takes me an hour. It is a good time to think and have a little bit of time to myself with nothing to worry about. I enjoy that long walk. So I then get home at about 6:30 and my host mom always has a fantastic meal prepared for me so I eat and then go study for about 2 and a half hours.  At 9:00 a show comes on that I watch with my host family every night. It is a Turkish drama that is in Arabic. So it is a good bonding time with my family and a good way to practice my listening skills for Arabic. After that show I study for another hour and go to bed.

Fus-ha class

Ghadeer(our Fus-ha professor) and me

Our dialect class. we had a cultural day and went to a restaurant with very tasty Arabic food. my favorite day of class. 

     
The Second group of days: Monday and Wednesday are a little longer. On those days I have Fus-ha, "America and the Arabs", and "Israel-Palestinian Conflict".  I wake up at 8:00 and eat the breakfast and these days I take two busses to class instead of the taxi. I get one bus that takes me to a main hub of busses and then get on one of those busses to take me to the University.  It was fun learning how these busses work. They are not public busses, they are little private white busses. It is always a fun experience. My Fus-ha class runs from 9:30-11:00.  After that I always go to a shawarma restaurant and eat.  Then I head to a coffee shop that I have made friends with the owner and hang out there for 2 hours. I usually drink a coffee and use their wifi to waste time on the internet or read some articles for my classes.  After that I have my first political science class-"America and the Arabs". It is taught by Dr. Zubi Al-Zubi.  He is a brilliant man and makes the class very enjoyable and the subject is also interesting.  At first we learned the history of American interactions in the Middle East since the 1900's and now we are discussing critical thinking subjects about the relationship between America and the Arab countries.  It is a great class. It runs from 2:00-3:20.  After that I have the seminar on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. That class runs from 3:30-4:50.  The subject and content of the class is awesome and very enlightening. Although our professor Dr. Barari is not good at all. He is very knowledgable and smart but not a good teacher. He stands at the front of the class for over an hour and lectures in a quiet voice. It is not entertaining at all or interactive.  Although I do learn a lot from the readings he assigns. Also, us students in the class have discussions on the content of the class which are productive. So the professor is not good but I am still learning a lot.   After that class I head to the gym for little while.  On those two days I run about 3 miles and take a shower and then head home.  I don't walk on those days, I take the bus. After that it is the same routine.

The first 2 months I was here I was never bored. I was always engaged in something from the new experience.  But now I can tell I am used to the new culture and new life. I am commonly bored now in this last month or so I am here. The new excitingness is not with me anymore. I am not experiencing new things everyday anymore. It is now just a normal routine. Although, I am not complaining, I feel a sense of normalcy now which is heart warming. I feel  lot closer to my host family and the other friends I have made here.  It is sad to think that in a little more than one month I will have to leave all this when I am just now getting used to it.  But then again I guess that is the best time to leave. I got my sense of a new culture, a completely different and new culture!!.-the Middle East, like no other region in the world. I wish I could go deeper into that.
My boredom will not last for long though because I have a 20 page paper to write for Israel Palestinian class, 3 presentations for 3 of my classes, and studying for my final exams. So this coming weekend I have to start the hard stuff.  I will learn what I have learned from this experience.

Until next time.....
- John Michael Middleton

Spring Break in Lebanon

skiing in Faraya

At the beach in Tyre

Hello,

I just arrived back in Amman, Jordan from what might have been the craziest week of my life.  I spent my spring break in the cities of Baalbek, Beirut, Mleeta, Sidon, Sour(Tyre), and Faraya-- cities and villages in Lebanon.  And I am gonna say, this blog will be super long because a lot happened in Lebanon so sorry for all the reading you will have to do. 

        Why did I choose Lebanon for Spring Break 2013?

Back in January when I was preparing for my study abroad in Jordan I came across some info that there was a week spring break in late March.  So I started to try and find good places to go for vacation.  My choices were limited to countries in the Middle East because of the price.  It is cheap to fly to and from countries in the Middle East compared to Europe and other places.  So, I came across Lebanon in my research and it looked like the perfect place.  There were beaches to go swimming in, ancient tourist destinations with pre-Roman ruins, snowy mountains perfect for skiing, Beirut-the city known as the Paris of the Middle East, and the mysterious danger of the strong Hezbollah presence in the area south of Beirut.  When I read a slogan for Lebanon: "The place where you can ski in the morning and swim in the beach in the afternoon". That was the final kicker for me to decide to go to Lebanon. My mom and dad were strongly against me going there at first because of the eminent danger that is associated with Lebanon by Americans.  Although after me spending a month persuading them that I am a smart traveler and well aware of my surroundings, they finally gave in and let me go.  The program I am studying with required me to get approval from both my parents and my home University in order to go to a country under a Department of State Travel Warning. 

       The second week in Jordan, all the CIEE students started getting with our friends and trying to figure out where to go for Spring Break.  I knew I was going to Beirut so I tried to get my closer friends to go with me.  They did not want to either because they did not feel safe going there or had other plans already.  So up until 3 weeks before the break, I thought I would be in Lebanon by myself until I discovered that there was another group of 4 people that wanted to go to Lebanon.  We all met up and finalized our hotel and plane tickets. It was then set, we were going to Lebanon for Spring Break 2013. 

   

Air Force One at the Amman airport

  Day 0 and Day 1

      We all decided to head to Lebanon on Saturday the 23.  We were dismissed from school on the Thursday so I had the friday to hang out in Amman.  It just so happened that President Obama was also in town that day.  So I headed to downtown Amman( the heart of the city) to see what the peoples reaction was to Obama being in town. I use to always think that Obama was very popular here in Jordan but he really isn't.  Now there are a large group of Jordanians that do like him but the vast majority dislikes him.  That is what I saw downtown. I went to the King Hussein Mosque, which is where a lot of political demonstrations are held.  As I was arriving in the downtown area, I started to see a huge amount of military and police men.  There were 15 vans full of Police men and 5 armored military vehicles.  I sat and watched as the police unloaded from the vans and there were about 150 police then that were monitoring the streets to make sure that violence did not break out in the downtown area. I walked over to the mosque and saw the huge crowd and then walked away and ate at  one of the famous restaurants in the downtown area.  I then met up with a couple friends that were still in Amman and we went to the US embassy.  As we were walking by the embassy my friend saw a building with something interesting on it and took a picture. The building was not part of the embassy.  We then walked around for 10 more minutes and ended up at a cafe and went in to socialize with the owners.  About 10 minutes after being in the cafe, a man dressed in all black and a walkie talkie came in and looked around.  He saw us sitting over there and asked if we took pictures of the embassy which was strongly forbidden.  At first we were shocked at how he found us in the cafe and who saw us taking a picture when we were in an area where there was no one in sight.  We then explained to him that we took the picture of something else.  It was a neat experience. 

      So my plane was scheduled to leave at 11:30AM on Saturday morning.  I got up at 7:00 and made sure I had everything packed that I needed and headed to spot with my friend to get in the taxi at 8:00.  We made it to the airport at 8:30 and got our tickets and went through security and all that. By 10:00 our group of 5 were sitting in the area of our plane waiting to start the boarding with about 70 other people.  At 11:00 the Middle Eastern Airlines representatives were not at the boarding desk and we started to wonder what was going on.  So I walked over the the flight information board and it said that the flight was delayed ( not till when but just delayed). There was not an announcement to let any of the passengers know so I tried to explain it to them with the Arabic I knew.  The flight was delayed till 1:30PM.  So my friends and I headed to a cafe and ate. Someone in the cafe told us that Air force one was in the area so I went to a couple different areas and saw the majestic plane. We finally started boarding the plane at 1:00 and headed to beirut and landed at 1:30 their time. 0 hour flight. While on the plane I read the local Lebanese newspaper.  It was talking about people being killed, riots in Tripoli, rocket propelled bombs, and other acts of unstableness which made me realize that I was in Lebanon, a country where anything could happen without a moments notice. 

    We all headed to our hotel right off the bat and checked in.  I went and stood on the balcony for a bit and relaxed looking over the lively street of Hamra. After an hour of that we wanted to explore the city of Beirut a little bit.  So we walked towards the Mediterranean Sea.  I saw that and was very excited. I walked around the coast for a while and ended up a a restaurant overlooking the famous Pigeon rock and we ate some seafood. It turned out to just be a nice relaxing night. 

The famous Pigeon Rock. (I don't know why it is so famous)

Day 2 in Baalbek

Alright, so the members of our group were Dillion, Reilly, Matt, and Chris.  Chris knew a girl from Beirut that studied abroad in America. Her name is Yara.  First night we were in Beirut we met up with her for a little bit and told her our plans for Reilly, Matt and me to to got Baalbek on Sunday.  She advised us not to because Baalbek is a village in a very rural area of Lebanon and people have been kidnapped there before. With that being said we still decided to go because it has ruins that are pre-Roman. One thing that made the site so intriguing were the stones that were as large as the stones used in the Egyptian Pyramids.  Anyway, we decided Saturday night that we were going to meet in the lobby at 9:00AM to leave to Baalbek by the bus system at Cola intersection.  We got in a taxi for a 5 minute ride to the bus station and got pulled in the bus by some lebanese men who said it went to Baalbek.  The ride was interesting because we were going up a big hill (Lebanon is made of mountains) and the bus transmission gave out for a bit and we began to rolled back down the hill for a second.  It was bumper to bumper traffic.  They fixed it though and we were on the road again.  The road we were on was great because we were on a tall mountain looking down towards Beirut and the Mediterranean Sea. It was beautiful. and on the other side were snow topped mountains. It was phenomenal.  After a 2 hour ride we made it to the Pre-Roman ruins site.  We were all starving though so we went to a little shack restaurant with only Arabic menus.  We then realized we were in authentic Lebanon land, not tourist land.  side note- in Jordan we can all talk to the people in Arabic with their local dialect.  In Beirut there is French in their dialect and a weird accent but they also speak English in Beirut.  In Baalbek it is still different from Jordan but the French is not there so we could talk to them in a successful manner.  Also they did not speak English so we had to speak in Arabic which was awesome being able to practice our speaking without someone trying to only speak in English with us.  

So we went in this authentic Lebanese restaurant and ordered. I heard lebanese hummus was better than Jordanian so I ordered a hummus plate.  It was delicious-the best hummus I've ate thus far. After eating we finally made it to the tourist site.  We were reminded of Petra when we arrived. There were locals there trying to sell us "stuff".  Something I forgot to mention was that when we arrived in Baalbek the red cedar tree flags of Lebanon disappeared and were replaced with yellow Hezbollah flags and pictures and posters of their leader everywhere.  It reminded me of the King Abdullah pictures in Jordan.  It was Surreal being in that surrounding.  So at the entrance of the ruins site, the vendors were selling Hezbollah t-shirts and flags.  I talked to them(in Arabic) and asked if this area had Hezbollah.  He had an astonished look on his face and said "Akiid"(of course).  He started pointed to places and telling me where they lived and said he was Hezbollah and pointed to his friend in a blue jacket and said he was Hezbollah police.  We finally got away from them and made it into the site.  It was beautiful.  The stones were huge which made me ponder how they got them in place back in the BC era.  The columns were huge and the temple of Jupiter was huge and majestic.  It was also like a castle up on a hill.  While we were looking at the ancient architecture a Lebanese man came up to us and started singing to Reilly and telling her that she was beautiful, he only spoke in Arabic. We could not get away from him.  A funny part was that he kept talking about the temple of Jupiter and saying something about the moon and Jupiter every 54 days.  He was saying the number 54 in Arabic (Arbaa wa khamsiin) and he would try to translate it in english as 45.  He kept on repeating the number 45,45, 45. It made us laugh for a while. We found a path going down to the temple and walked fast and found a little cave thing and us three hid in there as the man passed by. He was really annoying so we had to get away.  We stayed in the ruins site for about 3 hours in amazement at the gigantic structures made by Pre-Roman men.  After that we found a man who had a bus who said he was going to Beirut and we got in.  He told the truth.  It was also a beautiful ride back because the sun was setting over the snow tipped mountains. The ride was also interesting and scary because the driver was drinking Vodka and driving fast down the swerving mountain road.  But we made it back to our hotel safely.  It was a great way to start off the vacation.  It wasn't on the beach but it was nice. 

The huge column structure

The singing man

Beautiful Mosque in Baalbek

View from Baalbek Temple, the Beqaa valley and snow tipped mountains

The Jupiter Temple, or Bacchus Temple

holding the huge fallen column

Day 3: Southern Lebanon

    Before I write this I just want everyone to know that I am not a supporter of Hezbollah.  I agree with the American Government stance towards Hezbollah.  When I talk in a positive way about them it is not my views it is the view of the Lebanese people that I am just putting out there.  On the third day(Monday) in Lebanon we went to the land of the South (not my south).  The Southern parts of Lebanon are the areas that are controlled by Hezbollah.  Once we got south of the Litani River the flags were changed to Hezbollah flags. 

    For this trip, our whole group went plus Yara.  We arranged a taxi the the night before to pick us up at 8:00AM on Monday Morning.  It was a normal sized car and there were six of us in it for the 2 hour ride. It was very crowded and uncomfortable but it was fine.  We all wanted to ride together.  Yara was from Tyre so she was very good to have with us and keep us out of to much trouble.  

     The plan for the day was to go to Mleeta first and then down to Tyre to see the beach and the famous souk(market) in Tyre. We were hungry for breakfast so we stopped at Sidon on the way to Mleeta to eat a bread and cheese food called kaka(I don't know how to spell it in English).  It was actually very tasty and big so we were all full.  Also, we ate right beside the beach so it was nice.  We then got back in the car and went to Mleeta.  For yall that don't know what Mleeta is I will explain it. 

Back in 1983, Israel went up into lebanon and in the later years invaded most of Lebanon south of Beirut.  In 2000 Israel withdrew from Lebanon. Israel withdrew because Hezbollah was destroying many Israeli outposts and winning most of the battles. Mleeta is one of the spots of a strong Hezbollah base, the major resistance spot for the Lebanese people.  Now Mleeta is the name of the war museum of the Lebanon/Israeli conflict. The museum is very pro Hezbollah and operated by Hezbollah so the history that they gave us was very one sided. 

     So we arrived at the Museum at about 10:30AM.  We all had to pay 2000 Lira to get in which as a little more than $1.  We walked in and were amazed.  It was so nice and new.  It was ran very professionally.  It was nicer than any museum I have been to previously. Also something different about the museum is that 90% percent of it is outside.  We walked in and were met by a tour guide.  He first led us to the multipurpose room to watch a 15 minute film about the history of the war and what the museum is about.  After that he led us around the whole museum for 2 hours explaining everything. Not to our surprise, we were the only Americans there. But everyone there was very friendly to us.  The only time they got upset is when Dillion said that he was from Jordan.  Apparently they do not like Jordan at all because they are friends with Israel.  But they don't have a problem with American citizens, they just hate President Obama. It was  an interesting time at the museum, definitely something that very few Americans have ever done. 

    After that we headed further south to Tyre(Sour). It is a beautiful and historic city on the Mediterranean Sea. The Hezbollah presence is even stronger down there but no one knows who is Hezbollah or not.  Now it is a secret organization with only 1000 members but if a war starts then all the young men around will supposedly join like they did in the 90's. When we first got to Tyre we went to a restaurant on the beach.  We ate a huge plate of some little fish that were caught earlier in the morning.  It was good fish but they were really small. It was nice eating looking out to the water. After eating we went to the famous Souk in Tyre.  It was a lot different than the souk in Amman.  It was about 1/4 the size and it was in between buildings in an alley way.  I didn't like being there. It was the only time I really did not feel safe.  After about 30 minutes there we finally went to the beach and hung out there till sunset.  It was a nice sandy beach. Then we all piled back in the small car and headed back up to Beirut. On the way we stopped at a bakery and got some dessert.  I ate some Lebanese pastry that was excellent.  At about 7:00 we arrived back in Beirut.

Sidon castle in the Sea

Mountains going to Mleeta

Mleeta Museum, the Abyss  

Israeli base on the mountain

Hezbollah tunnel

The museum part about the Israel Army

Me at the Museum

Hezbollah and Lebanon flags together

The beach of Tyre(Sour)

Day 4: The Rock Beach

On Tuesday Matt and Chris were booked to go home, well back to Amman. Matt went home but Chris changed his flight and left Wednesday afternoon instead.  On Tuesday Dillion, Reilly, Chris and I went to the beach for the day. Well that was our plan anyway.  We soon found out that the sandy beach resorts in Beirut do not open for a few weeks.  But we were able to find a place called Sporting beach club.  We all payed 15000 Lira to get in which was about $10.  We walked in and the club was a small rock peninsula sticking out in the water.  There were beach chairs to lay out on though. So we all went out on the rock and laid out for a few hours. The rock we were on was right next to Pigeon rock.  

   I made the best of it even though it wasn't really what I wanted, it was the best I could get.  I ordered a Corona, laid out on the rock in the Sea and had an afternoon of relaxation. About 2 hours into it I was getting hot so I jumped into the Mediterranean sea.  There were only 2 other people out there and one of them had a wet suit on.  When I jumped in I realized why, it was freezing.  To get in I climbed up some stairs on a ledge about 20 feet up and jumped.  I did the life guard jump though so I wouldn't go under and slapped the water with my hands because there were rocks under me.  My hands hurt for the rest of the day, lol.  The first 5 minutes in the water were miserable from the cold water but after that I think my body went numb and it felt good.  I swam out to a rock island in the sea and stood on it and then swam back to the ledge and got out.  By the time I got out they were all ready to leave so we left.  We didn't go back to the hotel though, instead we walked around for a couple hours up in Northern Beirut.  We stopped and ate some ice cream and then went back to the hotel. It ended up being a nice and relaxing day.  That night we made plans to go to the Faraya mountains to go skiing in the morning. I arranged for a taxi to pick us up at the hotel at 9:00 AM.

the view from our rock, beautiful water

Lebanese beer, Almaza
 

swimming in the cold water

standing out on the rock

The sporting club rock resort we were at

Pigeon rock

Day 5: The snowy mountains

    At 9:00 Dillion, Reilly and I got in the taxi we arranged and he took us to one of the famous Beirut restaurants-BarBar.  It was a good and tasty breakfast.  After that we started the journey to the village of Faraya-the snowy land.  The drive there was insane.  It was one of the most beautiful rides I have ever had.  We were driving through and up huge green mountains and valleys.  The fog was coming down touching the tall mountains. It was an amazing drive there.  About 1 and a half hour ride we made it to Faraya.  There the mountains were covered in snow.  Although this was the last week to go skiing because all the snow was melting.  Only 3 hills were open at the ski resort we went to. Us three stepped out of the car and were shocked at how warm it was considering that there was snow all over and we were up in the mountains.  So we headed to the ski shop.  When I got in there I decided I wanted to snow board instead of ski because it seemed a lot cooler and more fun.  We all rented out our equipment, I had to get a pair of ski pants and gloves because I didn't know they would come in handy in the Middle East. After getting all our equipment we bought our pass and went up to the snow. 

   Let me also note that I have never snow boarded or skied before.  I did not think it would be to hard.  I was sadly mistaken.  

    So we got in the ski lift and headed up the beginner path.  Reilly and Dillion have been skiing multiple times so they were good.  I went down the beginner path falling multiple times.  Dillion and Reilly wanted to go to the harder path and asked me to go with them.  I refused and went to the beginner path again.  That time I made it down with out falling except for the end so I could stop.  It took me a while to learn to stop and turn.  My confidence was up then so I went to the other slope that was pretty steep. Once I got up there and looked down, I knew I went above my level.  I snow boarded for 30 minutes and thought I could do a slope that was for experienced skiers. Anyways, I was at the top looking down, and a moment of fear came to me. I locked in my boots to my board and headed down.  I went about 20 feet and wiped out in an awful way.  I flipped in the air and then rolled twice and try to imagine that with a huge snow board attached to my feet.  I ended up on my back dazed sliding down the slope.  I got right back up and tried again and the same thing happened the next three times down the hill.  I am about 90% percent sure I got a minor concussion that day.  It felt like the times I have had concussions previously.  After I finally got to the bottom of the hill I decided to leave Reilly and Dillion at the big slope and for me to go to the beginner slope again.  I then had it set in my mind that I was gonna learn how to snow board.  I was determined.  I spent about another hour on the beginner slope and finally learned how to turn and stop.  We had about 30 minutes left before we had to leave-- enough time for 2 runs at the big slope.  So I met up with Reilly and Dillion and took the ski lift up the big hill. We made it up there and I went for round two.  I started the beginning of the hill going side ways constantly turning so I would not build up to much speed and I kept practicing stopping on the big hill.  Then I got half way down and wanted to get some speed. I got going very fast down this hill in a straight line and thought to myself "I am not going to be able to pull off a successful stop going this fast", so I delayed stopping and picked up more speed. It felt great but the obstacle of stopping was still ahead of me.  I finally decided to give it a go or I guess a stop.  I turned the board side ways and started slowing down and was happy for a second and then I started toppling over more than ever. It was very painful and I know I got a minor concussion from that.  I was dizzy and felt terrible. I flipped and rolled and finally stopped with my eyes closed.  I was laying there on my back with my legs in an awkward position.  I opened my eyes to look at my legs.  My board head was stuck 2 feet down in the snow with my boots attached.  It took me 5 minutes to get the board out of the snow.  I still had another run to make it to the bottom of the hill.  So I got back up and went to the bottom in a very slow manner.  I got to the bottom and laid down in the snow in exhaustion.  My whole body ached. But I had time for one more slope run.  I decided to go down the big slope for my last time.  I went up and started coming down.  This time I started by just going sideways and going back and forth on the slope. I did get some speed but it was controlled this time. I reached the bottom and pulled off a successful stop.  It felt awesome, one of the best feelings of my life even though my legs were dead, my hip felt like it was popped out of place, my head was throbbing and I was soaking wet from the snow.  I had accomplished going down the hill in a successful manner.  I arrived at Faraya not knowing anything about snow boarding and left being able to go down the hill successfully. I was very proud of my self. 

     That day in the Faraya mountains was probably my favorite day in Lebanon.  It was awesome and exciting, safe and something new.  After my finally slope we headed to the shop to give back our equipment and then I limped back to the car.  I got my back pack with extra clothes and changed into the because I was wet from falling so much.  We then all got in the car and went back over to Beirut through the beautiful mountains and valleys. 

   Dillion and Reilly went to the hotel and took a nap but I went to a store and bought a huge bottle of water and gatorade.  I drank both in a matter of minutes.  My head was throbbing but after the water and Ibuprofen I felt normal again. I then walked down to the beach and relaxed for just a couple minutes.  After that I went to the Middle Eastern Airlines building and tried to get a flight for Saturday. I loved Lebanon and did not want to leave on Thursday.  Sadly all the flights for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were booked full.  So I was going to have to leave on the next day, Thursday.  After that I went to a coffee shop and drank some good Arabic coffee and relaxed and regained my energy. 

      Some other CIEE students arrived in Beirut on that Wednesday from Cyprus.  So I went over and saw what they were doing and decided to go out with them for my last night on the town.  We went to one of the famous night life streets and went inside a fancy bar. We stayed there for the night and then went back to the hotel and slept. 

   I will say again, It was an awesome day.  Snowboarding in the evening and sitting by the beach in evening watching the sun set.  Amazing.

view from the drive there

On the snow lift

snow lift

The slope that gave me so much pain

boarding on the beginner hill

Since of relief from being done snow boarding

Faraya mountain

I had to put a picture of this in here. I is the dessert I ate Wednesday night at Cafe Hamra.  Very delicious.

Day 6: last day

I got up early on Thursday to try to get me a later flight again and failed again. Then I came back to the hotel and packed everything. After that I relaxed on the balcony again. It was a sad day having to leave Beirut.  Beirut was so awesome and I did not want to leave.  Then at 10:00AM Dillion, Reilly, Yara and I met at a breakfast restaurant and ate an American breakfast.  I had eggs, hash browns, and toast with strawberry jam.  I also had a large cup of French pressed coffee.  It was a good hearty breakfast.  After eating we all walked down to the beach one last time and around Beirut.  We made it back to the hotel at 2:00PM to get our bags and head to the airport.  My flight was at 5:00PM.  We made it to the Airport and went through 3 security checkpoints and then loaded the plane.  The 3 security check points were more than normal which was weird because when we made it into Beirut, the customs was just shut down because the workers were taking a smoke break so we just walked right into Beirut. There was a time change so I arrived back in Amman at 7:00PM. I was back in the desert. 

Beirut from the sky

Beirut was awesome and I hope I get the chance to go back sometime.  My whole upper body is sore. My back hurts, my arms are to weak to do anything and are aching, and my neck is stiff and sore. Surprisingly though my legs are not sore. Hopefully next time I snow board i will not experience as much pain. 

Until next time.....

-John Michael Middleton