Another Day at the Dead Sea

Traditionally we spend the majority of our last day in Jordan at a Dead Sea resort, in this case the Holiday Inn (which, ironically, is where I stayed on my first trip to Jordan fifteen years ago when I was there on a State Department grant). It's way too posh for the likes of our students (or their professors) but it does make them happy. And, well, they've spent the last two nights camping in the Wadi Rum.

I also have a video of this scene where they're playing White Christmas in the background, adding to the otherworldliness of it all.

Sadly, the Dead Sea, due to global warming, continues to drop precipitously. Not only can I tell the dramatic difference from fifteen years ago, but you can see if almost yearly.

This is when it really begins to get to the students that their time in Jordan is drawing to a close.

They were a uniformly happy group from beginning to end.

See, this is what happens when you leave your picture unattended for a couple minutes.

Yet another spectacular Jordan sunset, in this case setting over the Dead Sea. It has a strange Lake Champlain feel to it as the sun is setting.

And this is when I truly made the connection that this is where I stayed on the trip in 2004.