Before I came to Jordan I met with a girl who had studied abroad in Amman. I met her because our mothers were friends and thought she might give me advice for my own study abroad experience. I didn’t take in too much of what she said because after talking to her I was pretty sure she must be a bit crazy. She told me that she was supposed to spend a semester abroad, but she had so much fun she extended her time through the summer and then into the next semester so that she ended up spending an entire calendar year in Jordan. I truly hoped that my own study abroad experience would be enjoyable, and at best I would be sad to leave at the end of it. But never in my life did it cross my mind that she was completely right- that after one semester it would be this hard to leave.
I remember asking her what she missed most about Jordan, and
right away she told me it was her friends. She said she missed the way people
acted and the entire culture that came with living in the Middle East. At the time
I nodded and accepted her words but mostly I didn’t really believe it. I mean, there are good and bad people everywhere
you go- right? Sure she could have been lucky enough to meet great people while
abroad and I could see why it would be hard for her to leave them, but
certainly this wasn’t necessarily a defining characteristic of Jordanian life.
JoEllen, I apologize now for not listening to every word you
said because you were completely right! As you told me, life in Amman is one
never-ending party. Fun comes before work, and having a good time is always
more important than anything else. I have never laughed and danced so much in
my entire life. I want to thank all of my friends here for everything they have done to make my experience in Jordan so wonderful.
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