Smile, It's an update

hey all,

This past weekend was filled with adventures.

Friday we went and attempted to fly kites in the outskirts of town. We walked through a part of town that obviously doesn't get tourists too much, because we got a lot of stares and a lot of "Welcome to Jordan!" People seem fasinated by us, especially children. My theory is that it is because we are always filthy and need to take a shower.

When we reached the edge of town a group of 10 or so boys led us to a primo kite flying location. Unfortunately, our 1 dinar kites did not hold up in the wind. It was fun though, and the kids thought it was hilarious. I dont think its often that they see 8 or 10 20+ year olds attempting to fly kites.

Saturday, we headed into Amman around 7 30 am to see some Roman ruins. I got some good pictures which Im sure I will share and will pop up on facebook, but since I cant post them up from the internet cafe, I've found some primo shots of other peoples.

<---- Temple of Hercules, roman

Roman arena could seat 9000 people V

We also checked out the archaeology museum and got to see some of the Dead Sea Scrolls!!

My favorite was the neolithic stuff, i.e. the old stuff, crude stone tools and human remains in cool burial practices.

In the afteroon we headed into the desert and saw some desert castles, including the former home of Lawrence of Arabia. We saw an old Umaayad bath house, or "pleasure palace." When they first found it it was really controversal because there are frescos depicting naked women on the walls, which goes against all Islamic artistic rules. It was pretty cool. Definetly a highlight of the day. It was especially cool because it didnt look like much of anything from the outside.

Qasr 'Amra -->

At any rate, that's all I got. I hope to hear from you all soon! I expect many emails etc!