After this past week I now know that visiting a country as a tourist prevents a person from truly understanding the culture of the country that one is in.  The southern excursion not only allowed me to see the beauty of Wadi Rum and Petra, but also it gave me the chance to see the perspective that an average tourist visiting Jordan would have as these are the main areas that foreigners visit when traveling to Jordan.  Taking them through urban streets lined with shops and restaurants typical of any Jordanian community, driving them by rural semi-bedouin communities in the desert, the routes to get to Petra and Wadi Rum without a doubt give tourists a good glimpse of the people and culture of Jordan; however, these glimpses are only superficial ones as traveling to Jordan’s main tourist sites allows foreigners to observe but not interact with the Jordanian culture and people. 

For example, observing women outside on the street that are wearing abayahs provides a tourist with a first hand anecdote about the place of women in Arab society, but yet at the same time this sight -usually from a tour bus- can not allow a foreigner to understand the great variety of causes that compel women to don either the abayah or hijab.  In reality, it is no different than seeing it on TV through the lens of a CNN camera.  Getting past that state and gaining a real understanding for a foreign culture can only come through conversation and living the culture rather than simply visiting it.  Being in a foreign country is an amazing opportunity for anyone, and it should not be wasted by only visiting the most popular sites and restaurants.