Feynan Eco-Lodge

We just had a 5 day holiday, so Robert and I took off with our friends for a few days.  We drove down south to a wonderful place called Feynan Eco-Lodge.  It is about a 3 and a half hour drive to the Eco-Lodge and once you are there, you have to transfer all your belongings into a 4-wheel drive pick up truck which takes you to the lodge.

The lodge is a beautiful sandy colour similar to that of the desert landscape.  It is quite plain, simple and has a wonderful, calm energy to it.  I felt relaxed immediately - this is my kind of place!  We took our belongings up to our room only to find that we had single beds with mosquito nets over them.  Yes, there are mozzies here, but thankfully not malaria ones and they only come out in Spring time.  The rooms were fine, small, but clean and fresh and only lit by candles.  Although, the bathroom did have a light.

The food here is unbelievable!  It's all vegetarian, fresh, local stuff and simply delicious.  The cauliflower and lemon was mouth wateringly beautiful.  I would eat like this every night if I could.

After dinner, we retreated to the roof to gaze at the stars.  I said out loud to one of my friends, "Gosh, I hope we see a planet tonight, Saturn or maybe Jupiter would be nice!"  Little did I know that the lodge had a powerful telescope and low and behold, Saturn was in the sky!  So, yes, I said I wanted to see Saturn, and I did!  I was so chuffed.

The roof has mattresses and bean bags so you can gaze at the stars.

Our friends, Theron, Hayden and Lindsey.

Hayden had been hiking ALL day in Petra!  A little rest in the back pack was just what he needed

Our beautiful friend, Nina.

When the sun goes down, candles provide the light.  Thank you Nina for this picture.

Nina's picture :-)

The next day, Hayden was up and walking again!

A nice place to chill out, read a book and look at the natural beauty.

Staying at this lodge reminded me that as a human, I can sometimes consume way too much.  Being here was a nice wake up call.  We can stay in nice places that don't use up too much energy, that uses local produce and recycles the waste.  It is the perfect place to take children to educate them on ways to be energy efficient and environmentally friendly.  It is also the perfect place to escape the traps of our modern society, phones, internet, TV and computers.  

We will come back here!

Friday Mornings

We LOVE Friday mornings in Amman.  I know I've blogged about this lots of times, but I just can't help it.  Amman streets are so quiet and peaceful!  Right now, the jasmine is in bloom so the streets are fragrant and blooming with lots of kinds of flowers.  We just got back from a 5km walk around the neighbourhood of Abdoun.  It was lovely!

A very nice street in Amman.

This tree reminds me of a Pohutakawa of NZ.

Abdoun Circle

Indijana Jones and Mike of Abradia vist

Last week, we had two wonderful people from New Zealand come to stay with us - Janice Jones and her husband, Mike Brady.  They are on a world wide tour and are stopping off in wonderful places to visit their good friends and luckily for us, they stopped off in Amman.  We had an amazing few days with them and took them to Jerash, Madaba, Mount Nebo and The Dead Sea.  We ate great food and had lots of laughs.

It was lovely to have a bit of New Zealand here.  Robert and I miss our Wellington whanau (family) very much so JJ and Mike bought a piece of NZ home with them.  We got chocolate, manuka honey and coffee!!!  Thanks guys :-)

Beautiful people!!!!

Dead Sea Sunset.

Watching the sun go down over Jerusalem - it is quite magical!

Ka Kite Ano, Mike and JJ xxxxx

Iraq Al-Amir

'Iraq al Amir (Arabic:عراق الأمير), is within the municipality of Amman in the Jordan Valley. Located about 15 km southwest of the town of Wadi Al Seer, it has a population of about 6000 people, mostly members of the tribe of Abbadi. It is located on the hills with high and medium altitude, the area has many springs, and is famous for its olive trees, in addition to other forest trees. About 0.5 km south of the town is located the so-called Al-Iraq historical site, which was built by a Persian prince in the 3rd century BC. There are many caves in the hills which date back to the Copper Age.  Sited from wikipedia

We are taking our 2nd grade class here in 2 weeks time to discover the ancient site of Iraq Al-Amir. The story I heard went a little like this:  It was built by a Persian prince in pursuit of his true love.  He wanted to marry her, but her father told him that he must build her a palace fit for princess.  He built this fortress.  When it was complete, he returned to the princess's father to inform him of the completion to which the father replied, "Nah, you can't marry her anyway.  You are not worthy and never will be!'  Not sure whether that is historically true, but it's the story I heard which is quite fantastical.

There is also a LOVELY little shop about 3km drive from the site.  It is The Iraq Al Emirs Women's Association where local women craft pottery, rugs, wall hanging, clothes, soaps and paper.  It is quite reasonably priced, plus you can sit and have a cup of sweet mint tea with your friends.  It is a delightful place.  I found a rug that I liked for 60JD (which is really good!)  I just have to convince Robert :-)  It has pink in it so not sure he'll like it.

Health Care

One of our main reasons for being in Jordan besides from work is my health.  In New Zealand, I suffered from lung problems.  I could not breathe there.  It got so bad that I could not walk up the stairs without huffing, puffing and my heart beating like it was going to explode.  Last year, I was admitted into hospital for a bronchoscopy - then the lung collapsed and I was in hospital for 27 days after the doctors performed a lung biopsy which created lots of holes in my lungs.  They finally gave me a diagnosis.  I was incredibly allergic to something, what, they couldn't say, but as I only suffered from this problem in NZ, I figured, it must be the dampness of Wellington.

So Robert and I signed up for international teaching in the hope that some nice, warm, dry country would accept us, and here we are, Amman, Jordan!  Since being here, I have improved a great deal.  I do not cough anymore, thank goodness and my lung capacity has increased.  In September, when I first started to receive care in Amman, my lung capacity was below half.  I should be at 3.85, but then I was only breathing at 1.95.  Now I am breathing at 2.30.  So there is improvement,  I expect by this time next year, my lungs will be functioning normally once again.

I am most impressed with the health care I have received in Jordan so far.   I don't need to wait weeks for an appointment to see a specialist.  (I waited 6 months to see a specialist in NZ).  I don't have to wait weeks for tests or tests results - everything is done right there and then.  When I go to see my lung doctor, he performs lung function tests there and it takes 10 minutes.  I'd wait for 2 hours in NZ.

The best aspect of health care in Amman is that it is all in one area so there is no need to run half way across to the other side of the city for this test or that test.  Ibn Khaldoun Street is a health care haven.

As I have already said, I am impressed with the level of health care I am receiving,  I really like my doctors and I have excellent health insurance!

Cute little stray cat!