We had a break from performing today. Another children’s concert was originally scheduled in the morning but was postponed until tomorrow afternoon. This concert will be a special one as it is for the students of the King’s Academy where we are staying. Because of this, we were able to devote much of the day for sight-seeing. After an early breakfast (daily at 7AM – 7:45AM), we departed at 8:15AM for Jerash. Jerash, or Gerasa as to local calls it, is one of the largest well preserved Roman ruins outside of Italy. In fact, Jerash ranks No. 2 in many tour guide books for Jordan after only Petra. We will visit Petra on our last day in Jordan, so stay tuned.

On our way to Jerash, we stopped by the Four Seasons Hotel to pick up two of the FSO’s board members that will represent the orchestra at the concert on Thursday. FSO Board President Dr. Richard Shereff and his wife, Susan Shereff, along with Mr and Mrs Carlos and Terri Zukowski joined us for our trip to Jerash. We were slightly late to pick them up because our bus driver mistakenly drove to the Sheraton Hotel. When he realized his mistake, he apologized profusely. However, all is well as 10 minutes later, we have our board members with us in the bus. They are just as excited as we are to be in Jordan. We enjoyed chatting with them very much. In fact, they alerted us that we are featured in the “Living” magazine in Jordan!

Jerash is located about 48km (about 30miles) away and it took us about an hour to get there. On our way there, we picked up some boxed lunches for the musicians. As we approach Jerash, we drove through many winding valleys and narrow roads. Before we know it, massive columns loomed in front of us. We had approached the city’s South Gate. This appeared to be the entrance to the ruins. We got off the bus only to find ourselves surrounded by people selling souvenirs and novelty Jerash items. It is impossible not to pass through the souvenir stands as they are located along the way to the ticket office. After paying the fees of 8 Dinar (about $11), we began our exploration of this massive ruin. It is hard to imagine this ancient city bustling with people during its heyday. Walking around the city is a workout! It is hard to describe the feeling as we walk on the ‘roads’ that were used by the Roman chariots. You can see where the iron wheels made their marks on the stone ‘road.’ The view everywhere is surreal, something only seen in movies. The area is so big that many of us split up because we each wanted to see different things. Of course no trip to such a famous attraction in Jordan is complete without souvenirs. Many members explored the numerous gift shops outside the entrance and bought gifts for themselves as well as family and friends.

After spending two hours exploring the city by foot, we headed back to Amman to drop off our board members. We then picked up lunch boxes for us and returned to the King’s Academy. Many were sun burnt during this unusually prolonged exposure to sun. The temperature was hot, but certainly not unbearable as there was low humidity in the air. After a good shower, we were ready for this evening dress rehearsal. Our venue this evening is at the concert hall. We had some trouble getting in the hall when we arrived as it was locked. Although the rehearsal went well, Maestro Fakhouri was concerned with sound projection to the back of the auditorium. The hall is very dry due to the large amount of carpeting. This is something musicians have to deal with all the time in different performing venues. We made necessary adjustments to project more to our audience. During a 20 minute break, Susan Grzesnikowski (violin) presented FSO’s gift to our host. It was a music carrying bag that was specially designed by Mali Hutchison (viola). The special logo included colors of the flags of the US and Jordan. It was custom stitched to the bag.

The highlight of the evening came during dinner. Maestro Fakhouri had arranged for us to enjoy dinner at a restaurant that has Bedouin theme. There was a large tent that has floor level seating reminiscent of the Bedouin culture. We sat under the tent as dinner was prepared right outside the tent. Dinner was delicious as we enjoy some Jordanian bread (looks like a pita bread), some hummus, and some smalls pieces of what appeared to look like a mini pizza on a flatbread with lamb meat on them. By the time we finished dinner, it was 12:30AM. We stopped by a small grocery store on the way back to the King’s Academy to replenish some things such as water and snacks.

It was an eventful day and we were all exhausted from exploring Jerash and the dress rehearsal. Tomorrow is an important day as it is the day of the concert that will finally bear fruit to the collaborations between Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra and the Amman Symphony Orchestra.

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"Dress rehearsal of the Copland "Fanfare for the Common Man." Brass section only."

"Relaxing under the Bedouin tent before dinner is served."

"Bedouin style dinner... yum!"

"Some shots from Jerash"