Butler Family Travels

I like Jordan… and camels. Most people say camels are weird, but I like them. Also, a Bedouin guy gave me a horse back ride for freeeeeeeee.

Pita bread is government subsidized in Jordan. It costs 35 cents a kilo. It comes in 3 sizes and is eaten with every meal. It’s really tasty (even better that Israeli pita) so my mom and I bought 9 kilos of it before leaving Jordan to put in the freezer at Granny’s. That should last for the rest of our time here.

Just a little background first – Read (Numbers 20:2-29) in the Bible. Petra was the Capital of the Edomites from whence the King of Edom refused the Israelites passage! We arrived in Wadi Moussa, the town that’s perched on the hill at the entrance Petra, just in time to find a nice hotel, a cheap place to eat, and a killer bakery. We woke up at 5 sharp the following morning with the call of the muezzin from the mosque that was right next to our hotel. Lucky for everyone we fell back to sleep for a bit. It was sunny but chilly on our first day in Petra. There were few tourists around because it’s winter and that means slow season – just the way we like it. We walked all day and even climbed the 800 steps to the Monastery. Petra is incredibly extensive. It goes on and on. It is hard to imagine that this place was bustling with people thousands of years before Christ. So much history – conquering empires, earthquakes, kings and queens, floods, you name it. No problem falling asleep that night… until the wind howled and the rain poured… and until 5 sharp… Lucky for us it actually rained in Petra for the first time in a year and we got to see it all flooding and wet and empty of tourists. I’m not sure how to describe the day and do it justice so I won’t even try. Suffice it to say, we had the place to ourselves and it was incredible. We walked an outer, less-traveled loop (6-8 miles) that day! I’m guessing that our family will talk about Petra for a long time to come. It should be on your Bucket List is it isn’t already. Don’t miss page 2 of the album!

We arrived at the Wadi Rum Visitor Center in the afternoon and were greeted by Nayel, Obeid’s oldest son. He took us in his truck to their traditional Bedouin camp out in the desert, where we would stay for 24 hours experiencing Bedouin life and saturating our clothes and skin in camp fire smoke. Upon arrival at the camp, we dropped our bags in a large sleeping tent. Sweet tea in little cups was served by Salem (the younger brother, cook, and musician) in the main living tent while we waited for the camels to arrive. Lots of laughs were had as we did a loop through the desert for an hour. Such silly animals!  We watched the sunset from a large sand dune across the valley that was perfect for throwing yourself off of. Dinner was unburied from the sand pit that it had cooked in all afternoon… delicious chicken, rice, roasted vegetables added to spreads, salads, pita, and more sweet tea. The evening carried on around the indoor fire with some music, darbuka (Bedouin drum) lessons, visiting, laughing, a bit of hookah later that night, and more sweet tea. It was really cold, but we all slept great under 5 heavy blankets each. We spent the next day driving around the desert in the backs of 2 trucks; kids in one and adults in the other. Wadi Rum, part of an ancient route called The King’s Road, was among others, used by the Nabatean Tradesman. Yup, those same guys who bought Joseph for a good deal and sold him to Egypt. Lawrence of Arabia also spent a lot of time in the Wadi during the Arab Revolt. The desert floor is broken up with large sand-stone mountains. Imagine Glenn Canyon before they built the dam, filled it with water, and called it Lake Powell. Stunning! We could have easily spent many more days there exploring. The only thing missing at the dunes was a snowboard. Next time!  

It was strange for me to be driving down the Jordan Valley last week in my mom’s car… on the Jordan side looking back across at Israel! From our house in Poriyya, I grew up looking out across the valley at Jordan, but it was forbidden for us to go there – until recently. My mom (who now regularly flies from Amman, Jordan to Africa) treated us to 5 days in Jordan. And what a treat it was! We stayed with her good friends (and their 3 kids who are the ages of Rebekah and Levi) in Amman the first and last nights. In between, we all traveled south together on the Desert Highway to Al Karak and Wadi Rum. Then (without our hosts who returned home to Amman) we headed to Petra for 2 days and nights. Al Karak, one of the largest, mostly-intact Crusader Castles in the Middle East was actually built by Payen the Butler (we’re pretty sure an ancestor of ours…). Lots of tunnels and passageways to explore! Wadi Rum in Southern Jordan was definitely a highlight, and, just in case you were wondering, it is for good reason that Petra is one of the Seven Wonders of the World! I must add that a large part of our experience in Jordan had to do with the crazy driving. Besides the fact that lanes and their lines don’t mean anything and everyone drives like crazy people, we survived driving in every weather condition imaginable. I really mean it when I say we survived. Rain storm, hail storm, snow storm, wind storm, sand storm, flooding, and dense fog. Each one came with such incredible force. Large shipping containers were flying off their trucks and sliding down the highway. Little trucks and cars were flipping. Plastic bags and garbage were flying through the sky like flocks of birds. We even saw a full rainbow at one point. Jeb also did a fabulous job of slowing down in time for the intermittent speed bumps that appear suddenly on the highway and are especially hard to see at night. We were happy to make it back across the border and back to Granny’s house.

I am pleased to introduce you to long-time friends of my mom’s, The Stockers! We finally got to meet them. You know you are going to get along great with someone if during one of your first conversations the husband quotes a line from one of your favorite movies – “Forrrr freeeeeeee?” – and then the wife offers to take you after dinner to her favorite place – a large outdoor market where everything from Goodwill and European clearance racks ends up and it all costs from 1-5 JD. Sweeeeet! Thomas, Frederica, Andreas, Lucas, and Miriam. They are Swiss-German, but have lived and worked all over the world. Awesome family! To give you an idea about them – They are the European version of the Butlers. Ha! Did I just say we were awesome?! So, as you can imagine, we talked business, life, money, children, faith, movies… Thanks, Stockers, for letting us join your family. It was FUN!

Ok, folks! We lost traction on the last erfing. We were in Malaysia, but no one was able to guess why we were there. So, here is a new one for you all. Where are we? See if you can be the winner of our 4th What the Erf?