home sweet home

I've just come back from two weeks away on break, feeling like I need a break from my break. I met a friend from home in Amman and we traveled together for the two weeks - up mountains in the dark and in the day; down inside mountains through a Crusader castle escape tunnel; under the sea while she dodged hungry sharks, stinging jellyfish and poisonous coral (well...not really!); a few days of pretty much nothing to do but lie around; braving the gauntlet of vendors in the souks who continuously hassled us with promises of "no bloody hassle"; evading shady 'tourist police' always wanting some backsheesh just for standing around; two sleepless nights in a row, one climbing a mountain in the dark with 700 of our closest friends and the other in a bus station, which was less of a bus station than a bus parking lot.

We saw a ton of cool things, met some cool people, and generally had a pretty good time. That said, it seems that I'm quite happy to be at home, in my own bed, and getting back into a usual routine again.