So my time in Jordan has come and now it is about to go. I fly out the early morning of the 23rd of December. After three planes later I should be in Phoenix that same day just later on that evening. So even though I am across the world, with all the time changes I will be going with I won’t lose a single day. I have learned a lot about the Middle East and in specifically the country of Jordan. Plus my Arabic language has definitely improved since the beginning of the semester. It has been a neat experience to come to a different culture and live in a different place than America for a longer period of time. There are something’s that I will miss and others that will be easy to forget. One thing that is going to be missed is the chaotic driving. Sure it does seem like a dangerous mess but in reality it is pretty neat to not have complete order on the roadways. In America there are lanes that cars need to stay in while here there is no need to paint lines because they would never be followed. Even though it is the most dangerous thing in Jordan it is neat to see how chaos can actually be a relief instead of everyone driving the same. Another thing I will miss that is particular to the Middle East is the call to prayer. For those who do not know this occurs five times a day and when this happens, Muslims set some time aside to pray. This call to prayer is done in Arabic (classical Arabic that is harder to understand because only used in old religious texts), but it does not seem like someone is talking but instead it is a melodic speech. It is neat to hear each time it happens. Plus connected to this is one of the radio stations that a lot of the taxis have playing is the Qur’an. This radio station does read the Qur’an every day, but also during the call to prayer it does play this too. Both of these are done in a rhythmic tone that is real neat to hear, and I will not be able to hear that in the United States. Another thing that will be missed is the Arab hospitality. Even though I have been here for some months now and I am leaving in a couple days I will still be welcomed to Jordan (hence the title of this post) in the next couple of days. Plus with this hospitality come food and other items being bought even if I am a stranger to that person. Overall the generous people will be missed because in America this hospitality is not the same. Some items that I will not miss from Jordan and the Middle East is the constant noise of horns going off. This does relate to the chaotic traffic which I did like earlier, but the constant use of the horn is quite annoying. Another thing that won’t be missed is no independence. This has to do with the host family knowing where I am constantly and not having to check in with someone all the time. In America freedom and independence is assumed after a certain age but here in the Middle East does not happen completely. Plus the ability to cook and eat when I want to eat instead of waiting for another person to cook the food.
These have been some things that I will miss and not miss from the Middle East and specifically Jordan. There are more from both sections but I don’t want to make an exhaustive list. Another thing that I will miss from this semester is the friends that I have befriended. These friends do study in America too, but are located all over the United States. I will keep in contact with some of these people because of the friendships we have built in this short amount of time, but there will be others that I will lose touch with eventually. Overall my fellow students that I have met have been real neat to get to know them. This semester did have its ups and downs but I could always count on some friends to be there if need be.
So my next post will be from the United States إن شاء الله I will most likely put some more pictures from Jordan and most likely do a little bit of a summary. Hopefully everyone enjoys there holidays and have a good next year. Will write later after the holidays when I have time إن شاء الله.
