Warm People, Warm Climate

People in the Arab world are known for their hospitality and warmth. Everywhere I go, whether it’s running into a female college student on the University of Jordan campus or just about every cab driver who hears me butcher the Arabic language says “Ahlan wa Sahlan,” or welcome to Jordan. People I have just meet are concerned that I am happy and well taken care of here, each feels at least a little responsible for ensuring I having a good experience in their country. Of course, having to sit down and have a 15 minute conversation with my landlord just to ask him where the nearest ATM (in which I repeatedly have to decline his offer to just loan me any money I need now) is can be annoying to this American who prizes efficiency. However, I’ve had so many experiences with people who amaze me at how they have opened their homes and most often their kitchen cupboards to strangers.

In Aqaba, my friends and I were in a small music store and after we had purchased some CDs we asked the young guy standing behind the counter where a close coffee shop would be. He insisted on not just giving us directions to the place, but walked us to the establishment and played card games with us for an hour…and my friend Sarah has since met up with him and his friends when she returned to Aqaba! My roommate Ashley goes to the gym around if-tar time and frequently runs into the gym owners (who now know her on a first name basis) eating dinner; she often jokes that in attempts to get in shape for a marathon she will end up eating a full meal and having several cups of tea. Another one of my roommates, Nikki, is an absolute beginner in Arabic but loves saying the greetings she just learned to our neighbors while walking past their house. A simple marhaban, hello, once got her invited in for dinner, tea, sweets and several hours of watching wedding videos of the mother’s many children. I’ve eaten dinner with Summer, my American-Jordanian roommate, and her entire extended family quite a few times now in which her aunt Fatima has taught us to cook the sweets Jordan is famous for and her cousin Qabas has become an informal Arabic tutor to me using arabic movies and children’s fairytales. All in all, I've enjoyed the kind people here in Jordan and had some wonderful experiences, even with my limited command of Arabic.