Today officially marks my first week here and it has been quite a journey. I find myself saying “what is Jordan?” about 89% of the time because this place can be quite confusing. I am in the Middle East, I recognize that. It is kind of hard not to, honestly. I look, speak, act and eat differently than everyone else in the country, I stick out like a sore thumb. And yet, I still feel at home, strangely. Not only do I have an amazing family that I live with that has given me a home and a bed and food, but I am with other students who are in the same boat as me. It is comforting to know and to feel like you’re not alone in the journey, through any part of it.
The strangest thing that I have experienced is getting used to the fact that Jordan is a Muslim majority country and most, not all, women here wear hijab’s (head scarves). Remembering not to stare and just to realize that that is part of Jordanian culture, it is normal here. Even men and women wearing traditional dress, men full white garm and women wearing full covering with eye slits (niq’ab) is natural and does not even garner a second look. But the biggest part of getting used to being in the Middle East and Muslim majority country is the Call to Prayer. It occurs 5 times a day beginning at 4:30am. On the dot. Every morning. The first night in our hotel I was so tired and jet lagged but when the call to prayer began at 4:30, I was up like lighting because I had no idea that that actually happened. All the mosques around the city emit a radio broadcast from King Abdullah Mosque, the main mosque in Amman, for all Call to Prayers. So literally, you can hear the call to prayer wherever you are in the city. It is beautiful to listen to, the passion in the voice of muezzin (the caller) is indescribable.
Some of the cultural norms has also thrown me for a loop. Women cannot stretch in public, women cannot touch a male (even the taxi drivers avoid touching your hand when you give/receive money), women have to sit in the back seat of the car always unless the eats are full/men have to sit in the front unless that seat is taken by another man. The way Jordanians eat is very specific, you have to scoop the food towards you, not away. Never away. Strange things to me, seem normal and expected to locals. Since I have begun writing this in a café in a mall, I have heard the same prayer chant over the intercom on repeat. And it will not stop for the rest of the night. But that is how it is. It is life in Jordan.
We haven’t begun school yet, only have completed orientations and the such, but already our staff/teachers are the most amazing group of people I have ever met and I am so incredibly lucky to have them as instructors. There is an energy about teaching they exude that I cannot be more grateful for. It will be nice to begin only practicing/speaking Arabic. I cannot wait to see how well I will understand the language by the time I leave the Middle East.
I have already grown to respect and appreciate Jordanian culture so much more and since I am living in the city of Amman I know that I will have a different outlook on the world than others. Whatever happens in the next 3 months I am ready; I am taking it all in. I have wanted Jordan for so long, and now I am living it. Mashaallah Yallah!
