Humayma April 21-May 6 Part Three

During the two weeks of the excavation at Humayma, we would return to Quwayra in the mid- afternoon. Sometimes we would stay put and do notebook work. One evening we played the card game Hearts, which I had not played for years. I won, in part because I was the only one not drinking any alcohol. Another evening I ate a whole watermelon as a challenge.

Me and the watermelon

But other times we did something special in the afternoon or evening. The first day, we went to Aqaba, about a 45 minute drive south of Quwayra. We did some shopping for supplies and food, and had pizza dinner with Ghassan Nasser, an old friend of Isabelle and mine, who is currently working in Aqaba. We visited Aqaba a second time on Isabelle’s birthday. We spent some time on the beach and then visited Ghassan again. Ghassan had found a plastic Spiderman figure and cake with which to celebrate. We also took advantage of Ghassan having internet access, since there is no internet outlet in Quwayra.

Ghassan, Isabelle and Spiderman

Our landlord was helpful and friendly. One other afternoon he took us for a trip to the east of Quwayra, where we saw some scenic rock formations and rock bridges. The entire region is very scenic; the Wadi Rum nature preserve is nearby.

A rock bridge

Haroun, our department representative, and Saleh, our landlord

We worked at the site for such a short time that we took only one full day off during the two weeks. On that day some of the workmen took us for a hike and cooked a picnic barbeque of chicken in a scenic area overlooking the Wadi Araba to the west of the site.

The landscape, including a herd of sheep and goats

Steven making a sand angel

The picnic

The town of Quwayra, where we stayed, is the largest town in the area of southern Jordan, between the port of Aqaba and Ma‘an to the north. It has little to offer of interest, beyond the scenery and the ruins of an Ottoman fort. One day we met an American Peace Corp volunteer who was there to offer English classes.

Quwayra as seen from the roof of our apartment building

The Ottoman fort at Quwayra

I hired a local lady to cook supper for us, but her meals were uninspiring and we gave up on her services by the end. The one sour note of the project was when our cook’s husband presented me with a bloated bill for the food purchases he had made for our meals. I challenged his bill, which provoked an unpleasant incident, just as we were leaving for Amman.