After a quick breakfast, we piled on to the bus at 8:30 with about half of the Jordanian youth. As we headed north to Jarash we watched the beautiful, fleeting scenery pass by. Upon our arrival at Jarash, we met up with Father Nabil and headed into the visitor building to begin our guided tour. I soon discovered that Jarash is a modern city built around the ruins of an ancient roman city. This ancient city included a market place, temples (that were later converted to churches), roads, and my favorite, an amphitheatre. The marketplace was a large circular area surrounded by decorated columns. The temple consisted of partial walls and stairs in addition to columns. The amphitheatre, open to the sky, housed a large stage and backstage separated by arches and walls. Facing the stage is a huge seating area of stone steps and benches, set on a steep incline and reaching great heights. From the top of the seating area, I could see the gorgeous view of modern Jordon in the background of the ancient roman buildings. This juxtaposition of old and new creates a really interesting and uncommon visual. One could stand at a certain spot in the very center of the theatre, between the stage and the seating area, and create an echo. While visiting the theatre, a group of musicians played while some of us joined the Jordanians in a simple circle dance. The spectacular design of the amphitheatre conveyed to me how much appreciation and respect this ancient culture had for the performing arts.  The tour guide shows us that one of the columns was moving by sticking a metal key in its crevice. We watched as the key moved seemingly of its own accord.  I found Jarash fascinating because of the way its elaborate architecture, built so well that some of it is still standing, as well as the functional layout of the city, revealed how intricate the ancient Roman city was.