Busy

It is the busiest time of year and I have been under stress for the past few weeks. Stress mostly due to work and also due to the worst nightmare of every employee....getting laid off.....My company had to let go a bunch of people due to the current economic situation. I'm so glad and thankful that I still have a job.

I hope everyone had a good weekend!

Happy New Year everyone!!

All the best for 2009!

Make a Smilebox postcard

Jordan - Madaba

After we left Mt. Nebo, we headed to Madaba to visit some of the churches and museums there. Madaba, also known as City of Mosaics, is famous for its Byzantine-era mosaic art. It is also home of the famous ancient mosaic map of the Holy Land in the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George. It was known as Medeba during the biblical times and was one of the towns divided among the 12 tribes of Israel during the time of Exodus. Madaba was once part of the ancient Kingdom of Moab. It was conquered by the Israelites until King Mesha, the self-proclaimed king of Moab, drove Israel out and rebuilt the city. Madaba later came under the control of a Jewish leader named John Hyrcanus, followed by the Nabateans, and finally the Romans in 106 AD.

Sometime in the 6th century, Madaba was a thriving Christian community and had its own bishop. Mosaic artists had been at work in and around the town since well before 390 AD, but the mosaic art really began to grow during the period of emperor Justinian (527-565). Towards the end of the century, Bishop Sergius oversaw the artistic achievement: surviving mosaics from the Cathedral (576), the Church of the Apostles (578), the Church of Bishop Sergius at Umm ar-Rasas (587), Madaba's Crypt of St. Elianos and Church of the Virgin (both 595), and the Moses Memorial Church on Mt. Nebo (597), as well as the famous mosaic map of the Holy Land in the St. George's Church - all date from the period of his office.

When the Persian armies came sometime in 614, followed closely by the Muslim later, Madaba gave in without a fight and so retained its Christian identity and population - churches were still being built and mosaics laid for another hundred years or so. Madaba was abandoned during the Mamluke period for several hundred years. In 1879, conflict between the Christian and Muslim tribes in Karak led to ninety Catholic and Orthodox families going into voluntary exile. They began resettling in Madaba and discovered a wealth of unsurpassed Byzantine-era mosaics, many of which are now displayed in situ. It was in 1884, during cleaance work for a new church, that the fabulous mosaic map of the Holy Land was uncovered, closely followed by many more mosaics which lay in churches and houses all over the town. Scholars and archeologists arrived from all over the world to excavate in Madaba, and this continuous process still regularly uncovers mosaics and remnants of the past underneath the streets of the modern town centre.

The exterior of the Church of the Virgin

Mosaic art on display near The church of the Virgin

Mosaic art on display near The church of the Virgin

A geometrical design mosaic on the floor of the Church of the Virgin

Inside the Church of the Virgin

Inside the Church of the Virgin

Inside the Church of the Virgin

Mosaic Art School

Mosaic Art School near the Church of the Virgin

The Church of the Apostles

Inside the Church of the Apostles

Mosaic floor - the Church of the Apostles

A scene of goats and olive trees - the Church of the Apostles

Mesha Stele or Moabite Stone on display in the Archeological Museum

A rock with ancient inscription at the Archeological Museum

Mosaic floor - Archeological Museum

Mosaic floor - Archeological Museum

Mosaic floor - Archeological Museum

A view of Madaba town from a roof top near the Archeological Museum

The Greek Orthodox Church of St. George

Inside of the St. George's Church

Map of the Holy Land on the floor of St. George's Church

Jordan River depicted on the Map of the Holy Land

Detailed Map of the Holy Land

A mosaic of the Virgin Mary

A street in Madaba town center

Jordan - Mount Nebo

"Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, and the Lord showed him the whole land; Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, and the Plain - that is, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees - as far as Zoar. The Lord said to him, "This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants'; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there." Then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, at the Lord's command. He was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor, but no one knows his burial place to this day." (Deut. 34:1-6).

Our first journey in Jordan kicked off with a visit to Mount Nebo in Madaba. Mount Nebo is located in the modern day country of Jordan (east of the Jordan River). This site where Moses was allegedly buried, has been a place of pilgrimage since the early days of Christianity. We arrived there quite early. It was a beautiful and serene morning. It pays to be there early because you need a quiet moment to really appreciate the surroundings. I could not believe myself when I was standing there because that was where Moses once stood and saw the Promised Land. I saw what Moses saw when he was there about 3500 years ago.

A mile marker that was once used to mark the distance during pilgrimage

Mosaic floor - Moses Memorial Church

View of Jordan River Valley from the top of Mt. Nebo

View of the surroundings

A hazy view of The Promised Land

The view of the Promised Land is best seen early in the morning or at sunset

A bronze structure symbolizes the serpent lifted by Moses in the desert and Jesus on the Cross

The late Pope John Paul II visited the site on March 12, 2000 during his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This olive tree was planted by him next to the Byzantine chapel as a symbol of peace.

Jordan - Madaba

It was still early (about 5:30pm) when we arrived at the hotel. After checking in, we headed out to have a drink with the taxi driver, M, that we hired at the airport. We basically discussed about our plans in Jordan. After about 30 minutes of discussion, we had a done deal. He would be our driver during our first 5 days stay in Jordan.

We then headed back to the hotel and rested for a bit before heading out to see the city on foot. While we were out, we grab something quick for dinner since we were not all that hungry. We had a meat sandwich which we did not even know the name because everything was in Arabic - so we kind of point at the picture and said that was what we wanted. While waiting for the sandwich, the owner was so nice that he offered us some falafel (a fried ball or patty made from chickpeas). After we paid we stopped by at the grocery store to grab some bottled water and drinks before heading back to the hotel. That night we just hung out in the hotel room and watched some local TV programs and the news of the presidential election in the US.

Jordan is 7 hours ahead of Boston (EST), we fell asleep quite early that night and got up around 4:30am the next day which was great because that gave us plenty of time to get ready because we had an early start at 8am. The next morning, after having our breakfast, M, arrived to meet us up. We checked out and started our first adventure in Jordan.

Madaba City - located about 25km southwest of Amman

Jordan - Amman, Madaba

Middle East is always a fascinating place to visit. We saw an exhibit on Petra about 2 years ago at a Museum in Ottawa, Canada. We started to check out more on Jordan and the middle-eastern countries in general. After reading a lot about Jordan, we decided that it would be one of our vacation destinations. So on October 24th 2008, we went to Jordan. We took Royal Jordanian airlines from JFK New York to Amman, Jordan and the duration of the flight was about 12 hours.

We landed an hour earlier than scheduled. As soon as we arrived at the terminal, we proceed to obtain a visa and clear the immigration. The visa cost each of us 10JD (Jordanian Dinar) which is equivalent to USD14. A few days before we left, we emailed the hotel where we would stay if they could send us a taxi to pick us up at the airport. Since we did not hear back from them, we were not sure if we would get one. We headed to an ATM machine to withdraw some cash. Then after we were discussing if we should just get an airport cab instead. As we were on our way to the taxi counter, a man in a dark suit walked by and asked if we need a taxi service. Billy looked at me and asked if I was OK with that. At first I was a bit hesitant but after a few seconds, I said to myself, what the heck. We asked how much it would be to go to Madaba and since the price is fairly reasonable, we hired him. While in the car, we started talking and from the way he talked, he seemed to be a nice person and very friendly and helpful too. On the way to the hotel, I asked if it's cheap to get a local SIM card for my cellphone. He said yes and it would only cost me 5JD. That was not all that bad so he helped me to buy a SIM card and some credit for my phone.

When we arrived at Salome Hotel in Madaba http://www.salomehotel.com/, the man at the counter said "Are you Mr. Johnston?" Billy said, "Yes, I am". The staff at the hotel then said that they had sent a taxi to the airport to pick us up. They looked a bit upset, but Billy informed them that we never received any type of confirmation that they were going to pick us up at the airport. He apologized and fortunately everything was fine because the taxi they sent found someone else in need at the airport.

Here are some views from the plane before we landed in Queen Alia International Airport in Amman.

Summer of 2008

Summer came and left just in a blink of an eye....I just can't accept the fact that summer is over...Last Sunday, when we were driving up north of Massachusetts to New Hampshire, we saw some of the leaves on the trees have started changing color. Some have even shed their leaves! Time really flies by so quicky - before we know it, Christmas will be here and soon it will 2009!

During the long Labour Day weekend, we went to L.A. We went to Hollywood hoping to spot some stars. Unfortunately the only stars we saw were the ones on the sidewalk. We did manage to see the Hollywood sign & also take a tour out to see the homes of the stars. We were rather disappointed in Hollywood because it wasn't as glamorous as we anticipated. The contrast of LA is quite striking, there is so much wealth but at the same time there are so many homeless people, which is very sad.

Downtown LA

The Hollywood sign on the Hollywood hill

The Roosevelt Hotel - people claim to have seen the ghost of Marilyn Monroe here

Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Arnold Schwarzenegger's hand & foot prints

One of the most photographed signs

Home of the Academy Awards