Gerasa

There's a place steeped in history not too far from our little West Amman bubble. It's not even hidden, rather exists side by side with the modern city that has sprung up around it.

Jerash, previously known as Gerasa.

I love going to Jerash. It’s one of the best preserved ancient Roman cities, and in fact I’ve read that it is the most complete of any of the ancient Roman cities. When you visit it, you can really picture what it would have been like to be an inhabitant of this vibrant city.

We recently had Louis’ family visit and then my family visit and on both occasions, we took them to Jerash for a little wonder. Like I said, it’s only an hour away from Amman and the entire tour will take you around another hour, making it a perfect way to spend an afternoon. 

As I finished writing this post I realised how many unique buildings and ruins there really are in Jerash. Too many for a simple blog post.

Sx

Hadrian's Arch.

The South Gate of the City.

The near side of the Hippodrome.

The Cardo - colonnaded street.

Stairs leading to the Temple of Artemis.

Temple of Artemis. Sorry it's a bit blurry.

The challenge was to get the main sites of Jerash, including Hadrian's Arch, in one shot.

City of Jerash in the background.

The Oval Forum.

 

Me posing. Hehe

Where to from here?

I know I've not been very vocal on here for a while.

I do have some exciting photos and reviews I'd like to share with you.

I do have posts that are lighthearted and liken me to Dora the Explorer.

But it's been difficult when my mind has been really occupied with figuring out how to escape the maze that is my brain.

Conundrum.

I'm not one to plan where I want to be and by when. I find that things tend to work themselves out and well, whatever's meant to be will be. Of course, I do hope for things and strive to achieve them because not doing so would kind be crazy...right? It's just if you had told me 3 years ago that I'd be living and working in Jordan I don't think I would've really believed you. And the reverse situation is true, I have no clue where I'll be three years from now.

But for some unknown reason (maturity possibly being it, but let's not be too ambitious here) I lay awake in bed many nights wondering if this is where I imagined life would take me and if this is what I want right now. It's a weird question, because I have nothing to compare it to. I can't bring up my notes from last year and say "yup, crossed that off my list" because, you know, I don't have that list.

Whenever I'm at a cross-roads I tell myself, ugh I wish decisions would just be made for me. Of course I don't want that. Of course I realise that making your own decisions is a privilege. Unfortunately growing up and making decisions are such painful processes for me, since I prefer to bury my head in Topshop.com instead of facing my realities. But I've really started to think about where my life is heading, what choices I want to make next and where I want them to take me.

Here's a confession, I started writing this post about a week ago. And here I am tying it off because I am no closer to finding my decisions than when I first started.

I know one thing is for sure though.

I want to make a plan. I want to reach conclusions, decisions. For once, I am not going to hide. I am going to figure this out...whatever "this" is to me right now. I won't settle. I can't settle. It would be wasting that privilege I'm so fortunate to have.

Sx