Jordanian Nights

Natalie Penry
Feb 24, 2023
7 min read

Long time no see...the below post was written well over a week ago as we left Aqaba, Jordan; however, due to an *extremely busy* schedule and bad connection issues, I'm just now getting around to my Jordan post.

I know I talk a lot about the relativity of time during Semester at Sea, but honestly I was shocked to realize that eight days have passed since Jordan - it feels like yesterday.

Anyways, enjoy this slightly outdated collection of thoughts, and I'll be doing my best to be more punctual in the future :)

Hello from the Suez Canal! We left Jordan on the evening of the 16th, but I was absolutely booked the last few days, so I’m just getting around to my Aqaba blog post now. The past five days have only scratched the surface of Jordan’s beauty, but I’m eager to tell you all about my adventures here.

Day 1: Exploring Ayla

I got an early start to my day, eager to watch the sun rise as we docked in Aqaba. I’ll be honest, I had no idea what to expect with first impressions, and I was absolutely blown away by the landscapes around me. Standing on the top deck, I could see Jordanian mountains to the east and Israeli mountains to the west; the sun illuminated both of them in an unmistakably gorgeous way.

Since we had face-to-face immigration, my friend group decided to stay local and explore Aqaba for the first day. I know I’ve explained the SAS time tunnel vision - it didn’t occur to us for several hours that we docked on a Sunday morning, meaning lots of businesses were closed.

Our taxi driver Ali was up for the challenge, blasting Jordanian pop music and dropping us off at Ayla. This Uber-bougie marina was full of high-end cafes and shops for tourists who fancy themselves yacht enthusiasts. I myself stuck to window shopping and admiring the aesthetic decor of the marina.

We left Ayla in another taxi, also driven by a guy named Ali. Unfortunately, this Ali did not have good aux nor was he actually aware of other shopping centers in the city. He dropped us off kind of in the middle of nowhere in the city, but at that point the five of us were content to walk for a bit, so no harm, no foul. As I mentioned earlier, there weren’t a lot of open stores, so we decided to head back to the ship after a quick grocery store stop - I think we were all a bit scarred after the eleven days at sea and wanted to stockpile non-ship snacks.

We freshened up back on the ship before heading back into Aqaba for dinner at The Captain’s Restaurant. It was such a luxury to have options again, something besides the typical fish/pasta/bread dinner on the ship - my tomato soup was literally the best thing I’d eaten all month. A wonderful way to end the first day in Jordan!

Day 2: Shopping Spree

I teamed up with Lauren to explore more of Aqaba’s central shops, a different vibe from the luxury stores of the day prior. We found a family-owned jewelry/souvenir shop and had a fun haggling prices and simply talking to the workers. Hassim has been working in the shop since 2008 and is a verifiable expert on gemstones and camel-hair rugs. According to Hassim, Jordan is unique in that it truly values the contributions of the artists in its economies: when you buy an artisan piece, the creator gets the largest percentage of the profits, not the business itself.

Hassim is a salesman, of course, so I’ll take that with a grain of salt, but it was an interesting perspective nonetheless.

We hit a couple of other shops - free samples are a huge thing here and I had so much complimentary tea - and marveled at how different Jordan was from our expectations. The level of female autonomy seemed much higher here, especially compared with that of Dubai or Kenya. And of course, we were finally in some cold weather, clad in jackets and long pants. After practically melting in Mombasa, I was so content to layer up.

Day 3: Valentine’s Day!

I spent the 14th recovering from my many many miles of walking the previous two days Life goes on outside of SAS, and there are always several housekeeping duties to accomplish when we have service - scheduling for next semester, clearing out inboxes, planning for future ports, etc.

It still felt like a luxury to sit outside for lunch and bask in the glory of the port of Aqaba. The sun was shining, the sea was glittering, and the mountains - both Jordan’s & Israel’s - were beautiful. Few better ways to spend a rest day, in my opinion :)

Day 4: Petra-fied!!

And here’s were the stories pick up…Annakate and I woke up before the sun to make our way to Petra with a SAS Field Program. Talk about a dramatic change: we went from one of the lowest places on Earth up to the mountains to see the Rose City. There were snow flurries on the ground and everything.

Petra is one of the ancient cities from the Middle East, and is a Wonder of the World. Its towering red rock structures have outlasted several civilizations and survived terrible earthquakes without crumbling.

While some SASers kept comparing Petra to the parks in Arizona or Utah, I felt like it was one of those places that you can’t really comprehend until you’re there. The way time and weather carved out this sprawling city, the way the walls dwarf you at every step - you’re drowning in history. You can see some statues that were defaced by various conquerers or rock formations that cracked due to natural disasters. And while there are fun pop culture tie-ins (Indiana Jones & The Holy Grail, anyone?) the real stars are the sites themselves. We had limited time in Petra, and thus we were unable to make it to the Monastery or the Sacrificial Altar, but seeing the Treasury, the Amphitheater, and the Royal Tombs were more than enough to feel dazzled.

All too soon, we were back on the bus and headed to Wadi Rum for the evening’s adventures. Wadi Rum is a desert most people would unintentionally recognize due to its ties with the film industry. Star Wars, The Martian, Dune - they were all filmed in this red sand valley. When it’s not being used as a set, Wadi Rum is a gigantic desert for tourists to explore via camels, jeeps, or hot air balloons.

We stayed at the Rum Oasis in little cabins, eating the zarb (found cooked in an oven under the sand) and bundling up even more for…

Stargazing!! In the desert!! So cool!! We took 4x4 trucks (I was told that’s what to call them; I have no idea if that’s accurate) through the area after dark, heading towards a mini-observatory. While it was a bit cloudy, the wind was picking up so we still had decent visibility, and the stars really showed up for us. As an added bonus, one of the professors on my trip was our Global Studies Natural World instructor, Prof. Scott - he’s an astronomy enthusiast, so we got double the fun facts :)

It was really quite incredible. With the telescopes & binoculars, we got to see several zodiac signs, nebulas - more stars than I’ve ever seen in Indiana. You’d think that seeing so many stars billions of light years away while standing in a seemingly-endless desert would make you feel smaller than the specs of sand beneath you, but I found that I really just felt grateful. It can be difficult to really appreciate the space you occupy in the world when you see the same things day after day after day. The stars of Wadi Rum were a stunning reminder of life outside your own.

Day 5:

After a surprisingly good night’s sleep at the Rum Oasis hotel, we were again up before the sun. Kind of a requirement if you plan on seeing the sunrise…and what a gorgeous couple of hours that was. It really felt like you walked onto the canvas of an oil painting. The beauty was difficult to comprehend. Seeing the sand and the rocks gradually warm up from black to brown to brilliant red, watching the sun creep over the edge of a distant mountain - I didn’t care that I couldn’t feel my fingers.

After the sun was firmly in the sky, we took the 4x4s through Wadi Rum some more, seeing various carvings from ancient Bedouins and a baby camel. The whole time my face hurt from smiling so wide (also from the cold, but, worth it). Unfortunately, my desert adventure came to a close soon after. It was time to pick up and head home to the World Odyssey in Aqaba.

While on board but before we left port, there were several mini-excitements, like our ship picture and the Legacy Event. We like to joke that SASers take care of SASers and this is one big SAS fam, but for several of us that’s truly the case. Getting to meet other students who have grown up hearing about Semester at Sea and speaking with Lifelong Learners that are returning for their second/third/tenth voyages, it’s a nice reminder of the ties that bind. I may not be going to the same ports as my mother and the Fall 1989 Voyage, but the camaraderie and kinship remains, like a sorority without the horror of going through rush.

Final Thoughts:

As we traverse the Suez Canal, I’m seeing cargo ships, tug boats, row boats all around us. Land flanks the ship closely on either side and we even had Global Studies canceled this morning to enjoy watching our transit. In another two days, we’ll be in Cyprus, and the voyage only picks up intensity from there. I’m not emotionally prepared to be halfway done with classes, and yet, midterms are today.

Jordan was never a country I considered traveling to, prior to SAS. I had no preconceived ideas, no assumptions on how my time in country would play out, and I’m incredibly grateful for how my five days went. I’ve found that my port reflections are often clearer when I arrive at the next port, with something tangible to compare it against, but for now, I’ll comment on two things that stayed with me.

Jordanians are so friendly, welcoming. I’ve never been to a country that opened its arms so widely to a demographic of people they admittedly don’t care for. They care that you care, and that’s sufficient for them

Every country has multiple aspects that create its culture, but I rarely see it so defined as in Jordan, with the coastal cities, the ancient ruins, the picturesque nature. I only scratched the surface of Jordan, and I still see many facets of its identity.

For now, I’m signing off and crossing my fingers we don’t pull an Ever Given and get stuck in the Suez Canal…

Again, I wrote this over a week ago and am just now getting around to posting it...I'm actually about to leave Cyprus and will hopefully have more time to get back on track in the next few days!