Our time in Jordan was too short. We entered Aqaba Jordan from Eilat,
Israel on a Tuesday and went straight to our hotel in the ancient rock
city of Petra. On Wednesday we explored Petra and headed back to Aqaba- a border and resort city. Thursday we swam in the Red Sea and headed
back to Eilat to catch our bus to Tel Aviv.
Just from our two short days there, we could see that there was something very special about the country and the people- we didn't want to leave!
Maybe it was the little Beduin boy who showed us a great spot for taking a picture at Petra and took several pictures for us and didn't want to take our tip for it. (This in comparison to India where we were conned into a 200 ruppee tip for a guard that showed us several beautiful picture spots.)
Maybe it was all the times we were welcomed to Jordan. In other countries we would be asked where we were from so that they could then sell us something in our language. In turn, the majority of time when we were asked where we were from in Jordan, the response would be simply "welcome to Jordan."
Maybe it was all the people that genuinely sad when we told them we would not be going to Wadi Rum- a gem for the region.
Maybe it was Ali, our first taxi driver, an elderly man. who shook everyone's hand, looked at us deep in the eyes, and of course welcomed us to Jordan before starting the two hour drive to Petra.
Maybe it was our second taxi driver Omar who took us back to Aqaba who shared a lot of his life with us and taught us a lot about Jordan. He shared that 25-30 years ago a lot changed in Jordan. Many nomadic Bedouin people like himself moved into the cities, that the economy changed and woman had to start working in many homes. He shared music with us- all kinds of Arabic music and explained a little bit about each song. He shared an "Arabic hip hop" song and a song that is a classic and another romantic ballad that he said was a man talking about how when he is away from his lover he feels like a desert, but when he is with her he feels he has enough water for all the world. ( this as we were driving through the desert in the second most water poor country on earth).
Maybe it was Narif, a young man working at our hostel, who sat at our table chatting until the dinner we ordered came. Narif was passionate about scuba diving and really tried to convince us to do it and was really passionate about how beautiful the reefs are in the Gulf of aqaba and Red Sea. He also talked about his love of the king of Jordan because the king is a diver and cares about the diving industry in Jordan. I guess a few years ago the king put some boats an a tank underwater for divers and as an attraction.
It was this care for one another we heard and saw and is one of the reasons I would have love to stay longer. The owner at our first hostel in petra explained that Jordanians are one big family. To give an example he shared that a few days previous someone shot some police and got away. Later, it was the public that caught and turned him in.
Omar also mentioned it as one o the reasons Jordan is different from other countries in the Middle East. The first was, they have a really good king (Jordanians love their king) that all Jordanians love. The second was that all Jordanians care for each other like a family. And the third, the king made sure that all people in Jordan got an education. This, he says, is why Jordanians are open-minded and freedom minded not like some of the countries and groups surrounding Jordan.
Narif said that people from "our countries" (Mexico and US- but possibly referring to all Western countries) think that the Middle East is one country and all the composite nations have the same problems- we had to agree because we ourselves had thought that for a long time. He said- "I'm sure I know what your family said when they knew you were coming to Jordan. I'm sure they said you are crazy."
Our two days in Jordan definitely confirmed for me that the countries are not the same and each one must be understood individually because what we experienced in Jordan was nothing like the ideas we had about "the Middle East"- conflictive, dangerous, bombs everywhere, aggressive people, etc.
As we were crossing the border back to israel- we had already paid the exit tax and got our passports stamped- we were passing one more window that we weren't required o stop at and a bunch of Jordanian guards called out to us- "how did you like Jordan?"
We said we loved it and Julio asked them, "do you know what the best thing about Jordan was?"
They guessed- Petra? No. Aqaba? We said no. Wadi Rum? No.
"Do you want me to tell you?" Julio was really building up the answer here.
"Yes tell us," they said.
"The people!"
They laughed and really liked that answer. With that we crossed the border back to israel and immediately missed Jordan.
(We also really loved Petra. Here are just a few.)
Just from our two short days there, we could see that there was something very special about the country and the people- we didn't want to leave!
Maybe it was the little Beduin boy who showed us a great spot for taking a picture at Petra and took several pictures for us and didn't want to take our tip for it. (This in comparison to India where we were conned into a 200 ruppee tip for a guard that showed us several beautiful picture spots.)
Maybe it was all the times we were welcomed to Jordan. In other countries we would be asked where we were from so that they could then sell us something in our language. In turn, the majority of time when we were asked where we were from in Jordan, the response would be simply "welcome to Jordan."
Maybe it was all the people that genuinely sad when we told them we would not be going to Wadi Rum- a gem for the region.
Maybe it was Ali, our first taxi driver, an elderly man. who shook everyone's hand, looked at us deep in the eyes, and of course welcomed us to Jordan before starting the two hour drive to Petra.
Maybe it was our second taxi driver Omar who took us back to Aqaba who shared a lot of his life with us and taught us a lot about Jordan. He shared that 25-30 years ago a lot changed in Jordan. Many nomadic Bedouin people like himself moved into the cities, that the economy changed and woman had to start working in many homes. He shared music with us- all kinds of Arabic music and explained a little bit about each song. He shared an "Arabic hip hop" song and a song that is a classic and another romantic ballad that he said was a man talking about how when he is away from his lover he feels like a desert, but when he is with her he feels he has enough water for all the world. ( this as we were driving through the desert in the second most water poor country on earth).
Maybe it was Narif, a young man working at our hostel, who sat at our table chatting until the dinner we ordered came. Narif was passionate about scuba diving and really tried to convince us to do it and was really passionate about how beautiful the reefs are in the Gulf of aqaba and Red Sea. He also talked about his love of the king of Jordan because the king is a diver and cares about the diving industry in Jordan. I guess a few years ago the king put some boats an a tank underwater for divers and as an attraction.
It was this care for one another we heard and saw and is one of the reasons I would have love to stay longer. The owner at our first hostel in petra explained that Jordanians are one big family. To give an example he shared that a few days previous someone shot some police and got away. Later, it was the public that caught and turned him in.
Omar also mentioned it as one o the reasons Jordan is different from other countries in the Middle East. The first was, they have a really good king (Jordanians love their king) that all Jordanians love. The second was that all Jordanians care for each other like a family. And the third, the king made sure that all people in Jordan got an education. This, he says, is why Jordanians are open-minded and freedom minded not like some of the countries and groups surrounding Jordan.
Narif said that people from "our countries" (Mexico and US- but possibly referring to all Western countries) think that the Middle East is one country and all the composite nations have the same problems- we had to agree because we ourselves had thought that for a long time. He said- "I'm sure I know what your family said when they knew you were coming to Jordan. I'm sure they said you are crazy."
Our two days in Jordan definitely confirmed for me that the countries are not the same and each one must be understood individually because what we experienced in Jordan was nothing like the ideas we had about "the Middle East"- conflictive, dangerous, bombs everywhere, aggressive people, etc.
As we were crossing the border back to israel- we had already paid the exit tax and got our passports stamped- we were passing one more window that we weren't required o stop at and a bunch of Jordanian guards called out to us- "how did you like Jordan?"
We said we loved it and Julio asked them, "do you know what the best thing about Jordan was?"
They guessed- Petra? No. Aqaba? We said no. Wadi Rum? No.
"Do you want me to tell you?" Julio was really building up the answer here.
"Yes tell us," they said.
"The people!"
They laughed and really liked that answer. With that we crossed the border back to israel and immediately missed Jordan.
(We also really loved Petra. Here are just a few.)
Beautiful experience. Thanks for sharing all those insights from the people you met. Good reminder about general assumptions vs. really getting to know people.
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