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 two days left in our Middle Eastern stay and with our classes having finished, my program spent today and yesterday in Aqaba, Jordan’s Red Sea resort city.  Throughout the past month Amman has been quite cold with the average temperature hovering around the low 40’s; however, right on the Red Sea, Aqaba’s average temperatures are about 30 degrees higher than Amman’s.  Luckily, the weather did not disappoint one bit.

I found myself comfortably wearing shorts during the afternoons of both days.  Just like the weather, the water of the Red Sea was very warm and comfortable.  The afternoon of our second day was amazing as we hung out on a boat all day and snorkeled.  While the Middle East may not be the first thing that pops into one’s mind when thinking about destinations for snorkeling, it actually has amazing coral reefs and sea life.  The views that I saw below the surface were simply breathtaking.

Another very cool part of the boat ride was the fact that from where the boat was anchored in the Red Sea you could see Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia all from the same spot.  The Four Corners of America’s Southwest had nothing on this sight and experience.

After spending a full day in the sun and water, my group and I enjoyed the night life of Aqaba.

Aqaba’s nightlife certainly caters to foreign tourists and the more liberal minded members of Jordanian society.  For example, there are many alcohol stores.  In addition, night clubs dot every corner with some being a little shadier than others.  Having not seen any belly dancers since we had been in the Middle East, my friends and I decided to go and try to find a club in Aqaba that had some; however, the place that we were told to go to was a little sketchy.  The belly dancer, a Russian, was not that good.  I wasn’t that surprised though as I was told the only good ones were in Damascus and Cairo.  Either way though, the sketchiness of the club made the story a fun one.  After this we went back to our rooms ready to return to Amman for our last day in Jordan.     

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.

As a study abroad student it is impossible for taxis to not be a large part of stay here.  Without a car and with the buses being a little too confusing and chaotic, I have had to use taxis for wherever I need to go; however, I am glad of this fact.  Unlike in major American cities, the taxi fares in Amman are very good as a twenty minute ride is about $1.50.  Additionally, the taxi drivers are usually very nice people.  Only two or three out of the 100 or so that I have used since being here have been skeezy in terms of either taking me on a very roundabout route or overcharging me.

Additionally, riding in taxis has enabled to practice my Arabic much more frequently as the drivers always engage in conversation with me as they always think that I am Arab initially.  I can now explain, quite well in Arabic, how I have liked my Jordanian study abroad experience.  This was certainly a slow process as in September I could only state to the drivers where I wanted to go and tell them right, left, straight, and here; however, now I can have actual conversations with the drivers for the entirety of the drive – even when they last for twenty or thirty minutes.  This fact even got me a free ride as one taxi driver would not even take my money on account of his being so impressed by my ability to speak the language.

Riding in taxis rather than buses also connects you with the city more as you are on the same level of the other automobiles on the road (save the Range Rovers, pick-up-trucks, and buses).  The only big piece of advice I would give for those riding in taxis in Amman though is keep your hands and elbows in the car!  It’s fine to roll down the window on a hot day, but Jordanian drivers frequently choose to ignore the lane markings on the road and often drive quite closely together.  Either way though, taxis are certainly an aspect of Jordan that have added to the enjoyment and productiveness of my study abroad experience.  

Tonight, I think I gained a true understanding for how much the government of the United States is really despised in this region, and also how hard of a task it will be to repair our image in the Middle East.  This occurred while my host father and I were watching BBC World.

When a clip about a bombing in an Iraqi marketplace came on the screen, it caused my host father to say that “this is all the fault of the United States.”  Now, I was fervently against the war in Iraq and blame my government for unleashing the chain of events that have lead to the country’s current chaos; however, I could not agree with the statement made by my host father.

In reply to his statement, I asked him how the Americans could be blamed for the violence occurring in Iraq when car bombs and guns used by either Arabs or proxies of Iran, not cruise missiles fired from American battleships, are now causing the vast amount of carnage that is consuming Iraq.  Having constantly been asking myself why Arabs do not protest against the Arabs that are killing their fellow Arabs, I was glad that this topic of conversation came up between the two of us.  My host father’s response to the question was “as long as America is in Iraq, it will be blamed for whatever is occurring in the country.”

In my eyes this answer was not good enough, but at the same time it allowed me to see and truly understand the Arab perception of the American government.  Because of its past interactions with the region’s politics, anything that goes badly in the Middle East is blamed on the United States, even if it is a Shiite militia funded by Iran that blows up a car bomb in a market populated by Sunnis.

A recent political cartoon in Al-Ghad, Jordan’s largest newspaper, illustrated well the Arab impression of America as it had the outlines of Iraq, Palestine, and Lebanon standing up individually with smoke billowing out the sides of them just as though they were the World Trade Center towers.

Now once again, I am not saying America has not had any hand in [messing] this region up.  It certainly has, and the anger I have seen in regards to America’s invasion of Iraq and its support of Israel has not surprised me.  I expected that and understand it.  What has surprised me though is the way that Arabs look the other way when Arab actors, whether it be Nasrallah in Lebanon or Baathist insurgents in Iraq, are the ones responsible for the current violence and chaos besieging many of the countries in the Middle East.

Arabs need to follow the lead of African-Americans by doing a gut check and begin denouncing “Arab on Arab” violence.