Amman @ MindSay

Leaving Jordan today, I had two main feelings: disbelief and satisfaction. Disbelief that this semester flew by so quickly.  Disbelief that I actually made it through this study abroad period.  Having lived in Amman for three and a half months I am definitely ready to leave.  I have learned so much about this region and culture, but I feel that if I stayed here any longer I would not be gaining a lot in terms of learning new things about the culture or region.  To learn more I would have to move to either a neighborhood in the poorer section East Amman or to another Arab city such as Damascus for a more comparative analysis of the city.

Throughout most of the day I have also been expectedly reviewing the experiences that I have had over the past semester.  Thankfully, I really have no regrets.  Reading a letter I wrote to myself at the beginning of the semester, I realized that I had achieved all of the goals I set for this semester.  I have certainly improved my Arabic as I am now conversational and able to read the language.  I was able to see the “other” perspective.

By doing things such staying with a Bedouin and having interviews at the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood, I took chances and advantage of the various opportunities that being in this region can only offer.

For all going abroad next semester, this last weekend of your stay is what you all should have in mind.  There will be tough points; however, thinking about the amazing feeling of satisfaction that comes at the end of the year from realizing you have made the most your study abroad experience helps you get through the tough and trying times.  This was certainly the case for me, for as I leave Jordan, I feel completely satisfied.    

With only a week left in my stay in Jordan, I found myself leaving for the last time the villa where my classes have taken place this fall. At this villa, there is a very cool view of the eastern part of Amman and its buildings.  Gazing at this view for the last time, I reflected on how differently I perceive this view as compared to the first I saw back in the last week of August.

Looking at it for the first time, the view just seemed so foreign.  All of the buildings were the same boxed shaped while minarets popped up hear and there throughout the skyline.  This was simply architecture I was not used [to].  Additionally, I had no idea what the streets and people below these buildings were like.  How did they interact with each other the streets?  Were the streets dirty or clean? How did Arab families interact with each other inside the apartment buildings that I could see?  Because I had arrived in Amman the night before, I simply did not know what the feel of an Arab street or neighborhood was.

Now having lived in an Arab city for three and a half months, I feel as though I am looking at a different picture when gazing from my school’s villa even though the view has not changed.  When I first looked at the view, all I saw were buildings, but now I see more than the buildings as I know what is going on below and in them.

For example, I know that I would likely see a minor fender bender if one of the streets were visible.  I would also know that even if the street were visible, I would still probably not be able to see people on the side walks as they would most likely be covered with the overgrown olive trees that dominate the side walks.  If I were to go into one of those apartments, I know I would be offered tea the second that I walk in.  These facts are what makes studying abroad so great as it allows you to look at a picture from a country you traveled in and be able to see more than is in it.

When I arrived in Amman this past August, my first visual impressions of the airport let me know that I was in a place quite different from the United States.  Similarly, my first impressions of Cairo International Airport let me know that I was in a very different place; however, this setting was different not only from the U.S., but also very much so from Jordan.

Compared to Cairo International Airport, Queen Alia International Airport looks like an old warehouse sitting in the middle of a barren desert.  The interior follows this path as it is dark rather than bright.  Unlike its counterpart in Amman, Cairo International Airport looks as modern as any airport in the United States.  The only real difference between Cairo’s airport and an American airport is that most of the people are Egyptians rather than Americans.  In addition to the visual differences between Amman and Cairo’s two main airports, there is simply a much greater amount of activity and energy in Cairo International Airport.

The differences noticed in the airport certainly continued as my group and I were driven to our hotel inside our tour bus.  For starters, there were simply many more cars on the road.  Knowing that Cairo had [several times] the amount of people than the country of Jordan, I was not really surprised by the fact that the streets were much fuller.  The roads themselves were also much different than those in Amman as they resembled the large boulevards of California that have the massive medians full of palm trees and other vegetation.  As I rode along and gazed along the sides of the roads, I noticed too that there were many skyscrapers, a sight that not normally seen in Amman.  In addition, seeing murals of Hosni Mubarak rather than those of either King Abdullah or late King Hussein was quite strange.

Surprisingly, it was not only the face of Mubarak on the murals that let me know I was in a different place, but also it was his dress that let me know I was in a much different setting and state.  Unlike the traditional Bedouin tribal garb that King Abdullah and his late father are usually pictured in, the dapper Western suits of Mubarak’s murals reminded that I was in the birthplace of Nasser’s Pan-Arab movement rather than the desert kingdom of the Hashemites; however, with nightfall covering much of Cairo and Egypt’s natural beauty, I was not able to see one of the greatest differences between Amman and Cairo until the next morning.

Called “the gift of the Nile” by Herodotus, Cairo, unlike Amman, has the benefit of sitting at the starting point of one of the world’s greatest river deltas.  Consequently, as I went outside on my first morning in Cairo, I saw a lot of green, a color that I had not been that familiar with since coming to the Middle East.  Even though Cairo is a megalopolis, there are still many agricultural fields located in many parts of the city.  Having been staying in a country whose culture, history, and politics have been largely influence by its massive lack of natural resources, I had to grow used to seeing a non-arid landscape once again.

While Amman may be less lively, populated, and green, it is still much wealthier than Cairo.  For instance, during my first day and night, I quickly noticed that the cars in Cairo were definitely not as nice as those in Amman where Range Rovers and Mercedes appear much more frequently.

Overall, I am quite excited at the opportunity to contrast Amman with an Arab city that is quite different from it. 

After returning back from a web café on Sunday night I was finally feeling more than a bit at home in Amman.  Sure my friends and family were still back in the States; however, many other aspects of my surroundings were becoming much more welcoming.  I figured out the best spot for picking up taxis.  My understanding for the city’s main roads was hardening.  My first day of classes went well.  My relations with my host family were becoming more relaxed and comfortable.  Plain and simple, as I rode my cab to school on Monday morning I really felt like I had settled into Jordan’s fast paced capital city.

Then, a few hours later, six tourists get shot and a sizeable dent is obviously put into the side of that soothing mental state I had during my taxi ride to school.  Returning home from school, I felt uneasiness rather than assuredness take over my mind as I chose to take the longer walk home by staying on the main roads in my neighborhood, rather than taking my normal side street shortcuts; however, this sense of unease greatly waned over the next morning as the initial shock of the event wore off and as I realized the shooter was an isolated crazy man and not part of either a larger group, movement, or plan.  As I rode the taxi to school once again, the feeling that I had 24 hours before began to come back again.

Having a general daily routine is probably the most important factor for becoming comfortable with a new area.  Sometimes a routine occurs spontaneously, other times it happens more deliberately.  In my case it happened spontaneously as I found myself engaging in the same activities before and after classes.  Having a routine can be too restricting for some, but not in my case.  With a routine, I now feel much more stable as I have a base from which to attack the challenges that each day brings me.

Today a terrorist shooting occurred in Amman.  There are some basic facts about the incident: a lone man aged 30 shot at a group of Western tourists and killed one and injured five. The shooting occurred at the Roman amphitheater, a popular tourist destination in East Amman.  I first heard of the shootings after my teacher received a phone call on his cell phone from our programs headquarters in Brattleboro, VT.  When my teacher told the class of this developing news, he certainly unnerved me a bit as a sense of besiegement overcame me.  “Was this the first of a planned series of attacks that would come against Westerners today,” I thought to myself.  After some initial thoughts of worst case scenarios such as the aforementioned one, I settled down a bit after my teacher reminded us of both how we went only to areas of Amman that were safe and of how we traveled to these already safe areas inconspicuously in small groups, unlike the one that was shot at today. 

As I left my school for home, I still felt a little unsafe; however, if one were to walk around the Western part of the city, you would never know that such an act had occurred.  Going by restaurants and shops, I failed to see one TV that had anything on about the shootings.  Maybe it was the fact that this event compared to neither the hotel bombings of last November nor the events that happen daily in the countries that border it?  When I returned home, I obviously discussed the shootings with my host family.  All of us emphasized different aspects of the terrorist event.  Being a Westerner, fear and uncertainty dominated my comments as I asked about safety and other similar issues.  Conversely, Osama, one of my home stay brothers, stressed how the act did not faze him since he is constantly surrounded by events like these because of the wars in Palestine, Lebanon, and Iraq.  Ghaith, my home stay father, focused on how bad this shows the perception of the United States and the West to be. 

Even though an awful act occurred in this city today, I am glad that I am here and have no desire to leave.  I will not let the acts of one madman prevent me from expanding my knowledge about a very interesting and important part of the world.  Tomorrow, Amman will be normal once again, just as it seemed today to everybody but me.