Last week, we took a trip to Petra, one of the most famous and breathtaking archaeological sites in the world. When we arrived, we hopped off the bus, excited and ready to explore. We received our tickets, and while most of my classmates opted to stay with our tour guide, I decided to explore the site on my own, eager to experience Petra at my own pace. As part of our language pledge, we are committed to speaking only Arabic during this program, so the tour guide spoke to us entirely in Arabic. Luckily, my language skills have improved enough that I could understand much of what he said, which made the experience even more enriching.
Petra, an ancient city of the Nabateans, an Arab tribe from this region, is carved into the cliffs of southern Jordan. The landscape here is unlike any I’ve ever seen—dominated by towering sandstone cliffs and rock formations. The path we walked on was paved with stones from ancient times, and as we moved forward, the guide pointed out different structures and their significance. Most of these structures had religious purposes, and he explained that, during the pre-Islamic period, the Nabateans worshipped many different gods.
