UAE & Me: "Welcome in Jordan"

The number of times I heard that phrase this last weekend when I went to visit my best friend who is studying in Jordan is unreal. Everywhere we went when the person found out we were Americans they happily spouted off...Welcome in Jordan! Unfortunately, the numerous welcoming lads did not know the proper translating is in fact welcome to Jordan.

That aside, it was an amazing weekend to spend with someone I consider family (it was Thanksgiving after all). Quick background on Phoebe and my friendship- we met during DOC First Year Trips at Dartmouth and then a week later ended up sitting next to each other in our Arabic 1 class as we struggled through Aliph Ba and all that is first year Arabic. And the rest is history. We both had been talking about studying abroad in the Middle East from day one and contemplated going to the same place. Last year Phoebe decided on Middlbury's Program to Jordan University and I decided to head to the gulf to study at AUS. Even though we decided on different places we secretly hoped a Middle Eastern reunion would happen and lo and behold it did :) Here is a summary of our adventures...

Thursday night instead of over indulging on turkey and pumpkin pie I jumped on a plane to head to Jordan. It was about a four hour flight and after all of the necessary procedures of entering a new country I walked out of the terminal to see my best friend waiting for me...funny how life works. Became friends in New Hampshire and are now having a reunion on the other side of the world. We got in the cab and headed to her house. I always knew that the UAE was not a proper representation of what the Arab world really looked like so it was nice to see Jordan, to see a city that wasn't home to the world's largest mall, building, etc. It was pretty uniform and nothing too stand outish but it was also night so it was hard to see. We got to her house and tried to head to bed since the next morning we were waking up at 5:30am to start our adventure (we failed at sleeping though because we ended up talking for hours instead and maybe got a few hours of shut eye in).

The next morning we woke up and got on the bus to Aqaba. It was about a 4 1/2 hour bus ride which went rather quickly and thankfully because we had two rather obnoxious men behind us the entire time. Catcalling, harassment and general stupidity from the male population is way more common in Jordan than in the UAE (it is actually incredibly rare in the UAE) and I got my first taste of it right away. They bothered us nearly the entire ride but thankfully Phoebe is really good with Arabic and the Jordanian dialect (her program has a language contract that requires students to only speak Arabic) so she told them off and did her best to make them leave us alone. Once arriving in Aqaba we jumped in a taxi and headed for our hotel. The hotel was amazing! Since we only had one day there Phoebe found a hotel that had everything we needed so we could just relax and enjoy the day. She did incredibly well. The place was essentially a resort and incredibly beautiful!

The advantage of waking up before the sun..sunrise in Amman

Leaving Amman

Sunset at our resort

Friday was a perfect day. We spent time on the beach, chatted about politics in the hot tub, had an amazing dinner and ended the night in the bar area that had a live Arabic band. It was more than ideal. We debated if we were going to go to Aqaba but I am so glad we did. What made it even more cool was where the city is located. We were just a few kilometers away from the Saudi border, Egypt was just across the Red Sea and Israel was across the water too. It was a much cooler version of that place in the states where you can stand and see 7 states...we could see 3 other countries!

A night in Aqaba with my best friend :)

The lights on the other side are Egypt

After a few hours of sleep (yes, just a few again) we woke up and got in a cab to head to Petra. We actually used the same driver as the day before because he gave us a good price and seemed rather normal. We were super glad we used him for the trip because he was incredibly helpful and made stops along the way for us to take pictures and get coffee. After about 2 hours we had finally made it. We said by to Ala (our driver), thanked him for his help and began our journey into Petra.

We stopped at a bit of a random Bedouin camp on the side of the road

Probably the most awkward picture of the two of us but the view was amazing

Once again, a bad picture but here is a pic of us with our driver Ala

It was incredible! We walked along the open path for a ways before entering the path that is essentially in a crack between the large rock formations. We were just talking and carrying along when we stopped because just peaking through the gap in the rocks was the Treasury. It was even more incredible and breath taking than people had described it. It is insane how much history is in Petra and how preserved and magnificent the Treasury still looks. The rest of Petra was just as spectacular. We walked to the end of the area that does not require climbing stairs (keep in mind I just hurt my ankle so I was doing all of this in a walking boot) and sat down to take it all in and eat. We were a couple kilometers in at this point and decided it was probably best to find a different way back rather than me walking on a bad ankle in the sand all the way back. So we took some camels. Phoebe was able to get us an amazing price and we rode camels through the main part of Petra and even got some amazing pictures on the camels in front of Petra. That was an unreal experience...riding camels with my best friend through Petra. Even better than the movies.

Our first view of the Treasury!!

We made our way out of Petra to get some food before our bus back. After a little bit of drama with the buses and having to deal with incredibly creepy men we were finally on the bus and headed back to Amman. Friday and Saturday were the most productive 48 hours I have had in a long time and I am so glad we decided to cram it all in...even if we didn't sleep.

Sunday I went to class with Phoebs and got to see what classes are like in an immersion program. It was pretty impressive to see all of the students speaking only in Arabic and to be learning in their non-native language. Exhausted from not sleeping all weekend we went back to her house after classes and just bummed around for the evening. Since we are both still taking classes we did spend some time doing homework as well so it wasn't glamorous per say but it was just nice to sit next to a friend while studying.

Monday after her classes we went to Wastl Balad which is the downtown region of Amman. It was quite the experience. As I mentioned, starring, pushy comments and forms of harassment are really common in Jordan and this place is the epicenter of it. Especially since we are westerners and uncovered, eyes were on us at all times and so many men creepily said "Welcome in Jordan" as we passed by their shops. We did not spend much time there because frankly it is hard to handle for too long. I am glad we went though because it is an important cultural experience and I got to see what a downtown looks like here. I was joking with Phoebe that the Sheikhs in the UAE probably would not allow any place to be as dirty as that downtown which while is a joke is a little true, places are not that dirty here. Once we got in the cab we were exhausted from being so on guard and tense while walking through the downtown. The best way to describe the feeling of walking around wastl balad as a woman is that of driving in a torrential rain storm. The entire time you are focused on your surroundings and a little tense from fear or whatever it is and once you safely arrive where ever you are headed you are exhausted. Once we got back to her house we recouped before heading to dinner to meet Bridget, another Dartmouth kid who is studying in Jordan. After a lovely cab ride which included our driver telling us his conspiracy theories about 9/11 and Sadam and Bush (he also asked us if we were married-apparently a more casual question than one would think) we finally made it to the restaurant and spent hours taking about our experiences in the Middle East. Though we have all had ups and downs I think we are all really thankful we decided to spend the semester in the Arab world. I know that after spending just five days in Jordan, I am even more grateful for the UAE and AUS. Life is really easy here in the GCC since there is so much wealth. For example, there is a huge water shortage in Jordan which impacts all aspects of life. There is also less money in the general public so places are not as clean and certain areas are a little run down. In the UAE on the other hand, I can take an hour long shower if I want to, they essentially leave the hoses on at all hours of the day to keep the grass alive and my campus looks like a palace. It is just a day and night difference between the two.

The main street of downtown

The Mosque downtown

I am so thankful that I got to spend the weekend with my best friend and that we were able to see so many wonderful things. I am also so glad I was able to see a different part of the Middle East. I know that the GCC is not a proper representation of the Arab world and I am thankful that I have been able to see the other side too. I think far too often the west tends to group all of the Arab world together and think of it as one homogeneous unit. My experience has proved that is not the case. The Gulf is not like the Levant region. The UAE is not like Jordan. Each region and in fact each country is incredibly unique and different. They each have amazing things to show the world (i.e. Petra, Dubai, etc.) and they each have their separate struggles as well. I think that this little getaway trip has helped me realize there is a lot more to Middle Eastern culture than we learn in courses. There is so much more to be learned and I hope to someday better understand the Arab World because right now it is a big puzzle to me.

Some of you may be wondering how I just peaced out of school for five days to travel to Jordan but no worries we did not have class because of National Day. Tuesday (December 2nd) was the UAE National Day and in celebration of 42years of the union we did not have classes. Though I did miss the actual National Day I was able to participate in some events leading up to the day. Here are some pictures from the Sports Day and the main celebration. Oh, and congrats to the UAE and Dubai for winning the bid for the World Expo in 2020! Here's too even more excessive!

The sports day was an outdoor sports tournament..here is a view from the volleyball court

I obviously couldn't play so I just cheered on the teams and the union :)

The winners from the girls' tournaments...there was not a third place team for volleyball so my coach put my name down...the girl on crutches got 3rd place in a volleyball tournament