I have a lot in common with Lawrence of Arabia

We've both hung out in Wadi Rum!!! Though he was leading a revolt and I joyriding in the back of a pick-up, that's okay.

This was our first group trip (late September), a weekend spent in the spectacular desert of Wadi Rum and the ruins of Petra, both in the south of Jordan, about a three and a half hour drive from Amman. Our first activity was to take a long ride around. It was AWESOME. I think just about everyone in the program has liked Wadi Rum the most out of everywhere we've been.

Kathleen got a call from her host Mom while we were riding about; it was hilarious to watch her talk on her cell phone in the middle of absolutely nowhere.

Aren't Lauren's colors fantastic?

There were some pretty rad land bridges.

Ha! Shadows! That's me, Kathleen, Kristin, Lauren, and Tina.

Kathleen and Kristin ran down then sand hill, then instead of walking around it, which they could easily have done, they proceeded to climb back up...it wasn't easy.

This is Oday, our program director's son. He really may be the cutest child ever.

Camels!!! I love camels. These were probably the first I'd ever seen without saddles and clothes and stuff.

Okay, you can't see it at this size, but if you look at the big picture, you can see little carvings of camels in the rock!

Maybe I shouldn't put this up, but Kathleen asked for a "candid" shot of Lauren and Tina, and Lauren heard "chocolate" shot. As she was eating candy bar, she kindly opened her mouth. LOL.

We stopped for sunset at a big rock good for climbing about on.

Everyone should go to Wadi Rum. Seriously.

I Miss You, Cyprus

As you undoubtedly know, I went back to Cyprus for the Eid four-day-weekend three weeks ago. It was all wonderful happy-ime, and here are a couple of pictures. The above is just a view of Brew, my favorite hang out ever, in Nicosia, while the rest are from other places.

My four friends from the CIEE Amman program also came, though on slightly different flights than I, and they were staying in Larnaca, the one city I've never really been to, so the day we arrived I met them at their hotel and and wandered around. We found these designs on beach nearby: a sun, and a bunnyface!

There was a bus into town that we took that afternoon. Katie, Rudy, and Kelly are at the bus stop as Ellis gazes into the distance.

Larnaca, along the waterfront.

This is just a random building that I always pass in Nicosia but had never taken a photo of before.

On Sunday, we took an excursion to the Turkish side, to Famagusta on the east coast, then to Kyrenia on the North Coast. Right outside of the bus station is this creepy statue. I like it, I think it's of Ataturk, but I'm too lazy to actually look it up.

Famagusta is best known for being occupied. Well, the whole north is, but the main part of Cyprus' formerly greatest resort town hasn't been touched since the 1974 invasion, and it looks bizarre from the outside. There is a nice hotel right up next to the fence, so one can lounge on the beach in front of shells of skyscrapers.

Please note the arrowed sign for "Beach Bar" at the bottom. I was amused anyway.

The Turks don't want to do anything to the city precisely because it is so dear to the Greek Cypriots, and right on the border, so by keeping it as it was they can continue to use it as a bargaining chip...

About a kilometer away is the old town, which is really lovely. And so peaceful, not busy, I could vacation here again, no problem.

As Pravin and I went to get a drink at a cafe on the main strip, we ran into my friends from Amman!!! They hadn't even been planning on going to Famagusta, but all just happened to be there at the same exact time. It was almost too insane for me to handle. That's Rudy in a taxi, as they were venturing into a different part of the Turkish side.

Haha! Do you remember asking for this?

Kyrenia's harbor. It was a lot more fun without 80 mostly irritating Americans!