Amman.Philadelphia --Stuart Kurtz

We left Mitze Ramon and went down a very very steep downhill with Rabbi Steve on my side. After the descent, my legs felt strong after a day of rest so I joined the lead group and rode with Ehab from Amman Jordon. He is a student at the Arava Institute who studied american literature at Philadelphia University in Amman. I learned also that Amman used to be called Philadelphia. Ehab was a former playmaker for the Jordanian national basketball team and a teacher. His current project involves taking 16 year old children from Jordan to Israel and from Israel to Jordon to study coral reefs. We talked about how poorly the US is viewed in Jordon. People can not understand why we elected Bush again and I told him I agreed with him. His relatives in the states are also experiences prejudice which has not helped our countries image abroad. He was having trouble with the ride and I stayed with him until the lunch stop and upon arrival he told me that he couldn't have made it without me. Peanut butter and jelly awaited us for lunch and I quickly ate two sandwiches. He was without bike shorts so I gave him an extra pair to complete the ride. We road together for the majority of the afternoon. For the day we totaled 65 miles and finally arrived at the campus of the Arava Institute. The temperature upon arrival was 108 and was hovering around a 100 for most of the day..