Luqman

 My son sent me this picture today that he snapped in the Wadi Rum, and although I look to be around fifteen hundred years old I actually like this picture. He had just climbed to the top of a massive sand dune that had built up next to a rock outcropping and I was waiting his return. It's a nice fit for me at this stage of my life: 1) the Wadi Rum; 2) tinkering with the new camera; 3) the weathered Cincinnati Reds sweatshirt (doubtless with the weathered Rising Sun, Indiana t-shirt underneath); and 4) the weathered old man pushing stubbornly onward.

Or maybe I just look like Luqman, taking the opportunity to share (doubtless specious) wisdom with my son.

The Boy - an Endless Series

 Not surprisingly, I took so many pictures of G3 on the trip, many of which will find their way to my walls. The apartment is starting to fill up with pictures, about half of which, as any parent would expect, are of my son.

While there are more to come, I suspect this one will remain my favorite. It was snapped on our first full day in Amman, walking around the Roman Theater.

The Young Man and the Red Sea

 As I pointed out yesterday, for some inexcusable reasoning I had never made it to Aqaba before. Our stop was way too short, although I suspect that most of the charm of the place truly related to snorkeling or diving. That said, it did have a bustling downtown area which should be a good fit for allowing the students to do some exploring on the March trip.  With snorkeling in mind, the Boy and I were signed up for some time in the water. In the end I had to bail because I tweaked my back pretty thoroughly while we were still in Amman so I had to nurse it through the rest of the week (I was determined to climb the outcropping above Suleyman's camp to watch the sunset (yet again) and also to get back into Petra (which I missed out two years ago with a twisted knee), and thus I left G3 to do the snorkeling. He had a wonderful time and was stunned by the clear water and pristine views.

Looking at these pictures I'm thinking about the new apartments I saw for sale in Aqaba for 50,000 JD. Hmmm . . .

The dock from yesterday's picture.

The Boy preparing for the adventure. For some reason they initially handed him a Small.

G3 walking me through the process, and telling me that my students will definitely love the experience.

I think we definitely have a winner.

Missing Jordan - Again

 I haven't been back for twelve hours - and I'm clearly already working through some jet lag - but I miss Jordan already, and am looking forward to getting back there again in March.

Inexplicably, despite all my trips to Jordan, I had never made it to  Aqaba and the Red Sea. I'll definitely be back. And I saw some new apartments for sale there . . .

Mahmoud Again

 On the trip we spent most of the time with our driver Mohammed (much more on him soon) but when I was looking at the itinerary I saw that Fadi and Hossam from Petra Moon Travel had assigned us a guide for our day in Petra. We had asked for a driver and not a guide for the week, so that was a little mysterious but I also appreciate how they always look after us. Also, truthfully, I had this suspicion that they might slip in Mahmoud, our long-time guide (as anyone who reads this blog - and why do you read this blog, seriously?) knows. And, sure enough, we popped down into the lobby at the Petra Moon Hotel on Thursday morning (and what better way to spend Thanksgiving than touring Petra - unless it's riding a camel through the Wadi rum and enjoying Bedouin-prepared turkey that night?) to find Mahmoud hanging out. As I've proposed, Mahmoud is the best guide we've had in any of our trips in any part of the world.  Plus, in addition, he's a good friend.

It was great to spend time with my friend Mahmoud, and he's definitely excited to meet the new crop of students in March.

Obstacles and Paths

 My son and I made it back safe and sound - and relatively unscathed - from our Lab Rat Tour of Jordan. Mainly, I went because I wanted to spend time with him and introduce him to my favorite place on earth, but I was also interested in working through the potential obstacles (at least the ones right now) for the upcoming student trip in March. We faced some definite COVID-related obstacles, but nothing that couldn't be overcome with a little intentionality, detail-focus, and refusal to surrender (I have few virtues, but I suppose I have these in some fashion or another). It helped that we had physical copies of every conceivable document - and uploaded information into every conceivable travel app - but, overall, while at times a little frustrating if not mystifying (at several points in the trip my son and I would debrief and eventually come back around to: "And what was the point of the that app - and the hours we spent uploading info into it - again?"), but it was manageable. Expect a lot more pictures to follow.

Warning: Clumsy Metaphor Alert.

Closer and Further

 I think this may be my favorite picture so far, but that may speak more to my love of cemeteries than its aesthetic merit.

And this is when I wish I had a better lens, and thus you can see the slippery slope of buying a nice camera.

But then the beauty of having more pixels is that cropping and focusing in gets easier.

Now, which is the best version?