Headed to no man's land, the desert

Okay, so I've had a quick trip around Amman and my opinion so far is Jordan...very nice country and friendly people. It is noted, when looking for a cheap ride just talk loudly to a taxi cab driver and out of no where 4 other taxi drivers will offer you a better price. Even if you turn them all down, everyone you encounter will end with a sincere "Welcome to Jordan" goodbye. Men here don't usually talk to women and women aren't supposed look them in the eye, it's just the culture. So it's nice traveling in big groups with males present. I've been in cabs in Mexico, San Francisco, Spain, New York..etc and they all share something in common with Amman, they are crazy. The cab drivers make a middle lane for themselves, wasting no time, this is how we ended up getting into an accident. No car insurance exchanged needed just a few words, I imagine vulgar words and a slight wave and they both go their separate ways.
The people in our group are majority of UCSD students, not all archaeology and not all studying in the U.S. It's nice to hear of other's travels, some were just in Peru, Belize, Ireland, etc. on other excavation trips. I guess that's the life of archaeology. It's been really cool and helpful learning different focus' of archaeology. I feel if this is something I'm interested and want to pursue, I will be doing a dig a year if possible and could get paid for doing it. What's that called traveling and getting paid to do it? OH yeah, my dream!

I'm heading off to the dig site this afternoon, where I'll be located south of Dead Sea..Faynan or Khirbat en-Nahas...You can see the description of our excavation here http://www.anthro.ucsd.edu/~tlevy/Archaeology_in_the_Levant/ELRAP_Jordan_Field_School.html
I will be able to receive fed exes...Here's the exact address..
Alejandra Gonzalez c/o ACOR, 8 Rashid al Abadla, Tla' al Ali, Amman, 1181 JORDAN
(just found out we will rarely be visiting here to pick up the items so if you are sending things send quick)Please send me addresses so I can send you cute postcards of camels and things, lol.
While on site I will have no internet access, once a week we will travel different cities, so I'll accumulate an assortment of pictures and writtings. Thanks for reading, Ali.


Just found out that National Geographic not only will be watching us, but documenting our WHOLE DIG!! I should've brought more clothes, hopefully they don't notice I wear the same clothes every day. AWESOME :)

Jerash, the adventure

Day 1 Amman:
At the breakfast table we all talked about the day's agenda, swapping ideas of nearby sites to visit. We gathered a couple people for a trip to Jerash in the early afternoon to see the Roman ruins. As the morning went on we picked up a few more tag a longs, with hopes of having a UCSD graduate student to guide us, we were soon set with reality. At 1030 a.m., we began to walk to the street to catch a cab: 10 Jordan newbies, non-Arabic speakers and 2 Lonely Planet guide books. This was mistake number one. Clearly we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into, because of the number of people we were forced to take 3 taxis, mistake number two. We instructed for all of them to head towards the main Abu-dali bus station. On our way there I notice our taxi cab driver is a tad bit reckless and as one of the passengers is discussing a statistic of the accident rate between America and Jordan...Boom we get hit, how's that for timing. We rough it all the way to the station, even gave a tip, mistake number three. After looking lost waiting for the other taxis, we soon realize we were at the old Abu-dali station, clearly not stated in Lonely Planet, remind me to bitch them out later for not revising their information. We should have been dropped off at the North Abu-dali station, the brand new one. Without delay and slight concern of the others we dodge traffic to find a taxi headed to the other end of Amman. Did I mention my wallet was in a friend's backpack who was in the other taxi? Long story short we get to the station no sign of the others, hop on a bus for 45 minutes, 2 JD later, we arrived at our destination. We made it to Jerash, with help from a local Jordanian who was chatty and very interested in Americans lives. We walk amongst miles of ruins, sad we lost everyone, happy we made it and exhausted from the delay. Then I spotted a big group across the site it was our friends we see them and say ...Emillliiio, just kidding, but really it was the rest of our group..reunited, again. We held it together throughout the day with sight seeing of all the ruins and were able to all get a bus home together. Long story, Happy ending, thanks Jerash, you made this one hell of an adventure.

The feeling of traveling

As I arrive at SFO International AIrport, it finally hits me that nervous energy that I felt on my first trip to Europe as a 16 year old. Back then the jet lag, weather and culture shock of France in February made me slightly ill. That was the pivotal moment of this relationship I began with travel. It was brutal at times acclimating to the environment, but rewarding once I figured out how to order a decent meal in the native language. That is as much as I can compare for what's come next....Jordan, Im aware of the area, purpose, and lengthy time of this trip. It takes my 2-3 week multiple stays in Europe look like an exploration of the Holiday Inn. Not that it didn't have culture or didn't exceed the expectation I had of a foreign country, but let's be honest this is the Middle East, no real comparison.

I will be living there for two months excavating a monumental site...crazy and staying at a camping site for 6 out of the 7 days a week, even crazier. After hearing the concerns from family and friends, I can't hold up the brave face anymore...that distracting thought crosses my mind, What am I getting myself into? This is a personal challenge and when I come back after this I hope to gain experience and reward myself with a nice pat on the back.
There is a million adjectives I could summarize my current state right now... nervous, anxious, excited, happy, sad, curious, and I guess restless.

Prepping for Jordan

Hi everyone,

So I'm headed off to Jordan on Monday, for two months on an archaeological dig. I have been busy these last three months: graduated from UCSD, traveled Spain in July and took a little time off to prepare for this upcoming dig. I'll miss everyone so please send me updates on what's new, also I'm going to get around to sending postcards so email me your mailing address. Adiiiiooss.

P.S.

If anyone wishes to contact me email me at afg002@ucsd.edu or check up on my updates here. Also just found out my address to receive letters is...

American Center of Oriental Research (ACOR)

c/o Edom Lowlands Regional Archaeology Project

P.O. Box 2470

Amman 11181, Jordan

No parcels please :), unless its fed ex then I need to figure out my exact address.