BOAT RIDE FROM HELL AND GETTING SETTLED IN AMMAN

After a day of bliss in a posh Hilton hotel on the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba we woke up to a huge windstorm (In Arabic its called a "Khamsiin").  As a result our scheduled touristy ferry ride to Aqaba city in Jordan was cancelled.  At the last minute we got tickets on a poor man's cow ferry. It was a joke trying to get 45 Americans with all our suitcases through security and on the boat. After getting kicked out of a restaurant because we didn't want to order meals they finally found seating for us on an area of the boat without air conditioning.  Apparently these boats don't have scheduled departure times so they just leave when they feel like it.  We ended up sitting on the boat playing scum for about 3 hours before we even left the dock.... rocking back and forth.  Finally we left and the actual boat ride was about 5 hours (the original ferry was supposed to be 2-3 hours).  We passed most of the time with more scum.... except that I (Andrew) got a terrible headache and had to walk around.  I ended up on the top deck taking pictures.  When I tried to go back down all the doors were locked.  To make a long story short I had to squeeze through two guys and run past a security guy to get back to Chana and my bags. Unloading the boat and getting through customs is another story in itself.  We arrived in Aqaba late in the evening, stayed the night in a hotel, and got on a bus the next morning to Amman.

So now we are getting settled in our new home in Amman for the next 3 months.  Amman is very different from Cairo.... much calmer and cleaner (not clean.... just cleaner than Cairo).  The Jordanians are super nice and we haven't had any problems.  We live right next to the university in a pretty nice neighborhood.  I'm trying to get used to a new Arabic dialect (and just trying to understand and speak Arabic in general!) and Chana is trying to get used to life in a totally foreign country not speaking the language at all.  She is a trooper though and even took a taxi to Carrefour (like a Wal-mart but nicer) with another wife who doesn't speak any Arabic.  I'm so proud of her.  She's put up with a lot of hard things and has been so willing to accompany me on this adventure and has such an awesome attitude.  

Sorry this post was so long!  We finally have internet now so we will update more often and not cram so much in one post.... Inshah Allah (that means "God willing" and the Arabs say it after everything.... so if something doesn't work out it's not our fault, God just didn't will it).

This is a shot of the Gulf of Aqaba from the top deck of the boat ride from Hell.  That's my friend sleeping.

This is our hotel room in Sinai.  It wasn't top of the line but it was fun.

Back patio of our hotel room at the Nweiba Hilton.... it was pretty nice.

In Nuweiba, on the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba 

From our apartment complex in Amman.  Jordan University is just down that street.