Jordan almonds

So I hae since moved on to jordan and back into the middle east. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand I feel very comfortable in these countries...espcially this one for some reason. I like speaking arabic and I am familar with the food etc. On the other hand the situation in Gaza makes being so close to Palestine very tough. A day doesn't go by with our getting a lump in my throught. I hate the thought of war and people dying for silly reasons and the thought is inescapable here. But rightfully so. Life isn't all Turkish house and meal to fill your belly is it. The media here does what it does best and innindates you with images at every chance...but I can't help to have much sympathy for all of the innocent people who are dying because of military prowess. If militaries fought militaries...this would be different but it is not the case.

i took a visit around to some places and visited some of the companions of the prophet Muhammed (pbuh) grave sights and at one point was able to look straight into the West Bank. On another day we were at the dead sea and once again was hit with the fact that Palestine whas just Kilometers away. I felt excitment on one hand and then the crushing pain of reality on the other that just south of us there was termoil and death. Quite a juxtaposition. This did not deter our plans however. Us being me and two pakastani brothers I met at the guest house of Sheikh Nuh's Zawia. They were great...from the UK ...one of them had planned a tour to Syria and was now doing research for a posible tour to Jordan. It was nice to visit these places with knowledgeable lads and it was nice to hae the company as well. We visited many graves in two days as well as the supposed tombs of the prophets Joshua, Shuyab and Noah (pbut). We topped the trip off with a visit to these wonderful hot springs under waterfalls in the middle of a desert canyon! Nice way to relax the mind.

amman is very relaxed to me. I love the company here at the zawia and being around Sufis again is very nice. The quality of education here is top notch. The city itself is not extremely exciting but it seems like a decent place to live. The people at the zawia all dress ery traditional and so the driver did not recognize me when I got off of the plane in my western clothes.

The land is very beautiful in a desert fashion and I hope to head off to Petra tommorw and wee the famous rock dwellings from Indiana Jones and the last crusade. Looking forward to that. Other than that I am taking it easy a bit and eating lots of delicious shwarma! Missing all of you.