New digs!

I made it to my location for this month, uneventfully as far as what is common around here. I stayed at a hostel in Nazareth last night, complete with a long-haired man from Slovakia that was rambling about President Obama, the EU, microchips, and freedom. Seemed like a solid sort of guy. There was also a history student from Oxford and a German that was walking the “Jesus trail” around the Galilee.

I figured out where my bus was leaving from in Nazareth using a shoddy map, and a hostel employee said it was a “20 minute” walk. For some reason I reverted to the western way of taking the statement at face-value, and I decided I would have time for breakfast before I left in the morning. As I was walking the next morning, I realized that it was taking far too long to find it. I found out from one local that the place was just about outside of Nazareth, and it was already 8:15- the bus was supposed to leave at 8:30. I just bolted, as fast as I could move. I was saved by cultural tardiness, and I made it onto the bus with apparently a few minutes to spare. The actual border crossing was fine. I don’t like dealing with Customs in any country (especially when you’re charged an EXIT tax), but I received a Jordanian visa without any issues. When I was dropped off in front of the hotel I thought was the same hotel I told my friend to pick up at, but I found out from said friend that the hotel that I was told was the drop off point looks like it had been closed for quite a while. He spent over an hour trying to nail down where I was, because road names are nigh-useless in Amman. It was only a couple years ago when the government actually started numbering buildings and standardizing addresses. People see addresses here as guidelines, to give a general area of where your destination is- not the actual placement. This region is so frustrating sometimes, and I think it’d be hilarious to bring some of my A-type friends out here. Open invitation!

Until next time.