Got my Iqaama…residence on Jordan Planet!

I’m so excited…I got that coveted email from Khalidah saying I am now a JP citizen! I suppose that’s not just an iqaama, but a passport.  After two years of commenting, learning, being challenged and just plain thoroughly enjoying the JP citizens, I am honored to be a part of the planet. Especially after only waiting ten days! Shu noah wasta 3indi, mish ?

I’ve written several times in comments that finding JP really made a difference in my quality of life in Jordan. Somehow, outside my church family, women who were my peers were just so focused the trappings of upper-middle class life and men so focused on leering I just wasn’t finding people who thought like I did. Thinkers who wanted to discuss what I wanted to talk about, who were willing to question the status quo and patiently  answer my questions. My husband wasn’t sure it was the greatest place to hang out, saying “Honey, aren’t these guys mostly shabaab…the kind that make you crazy at the mall?”. But finding the heart of the ’shab’ was easy behind a screen, and helped me not to write them off as Jordan’s national (pack) animal but understand the complexity and pressure of their lives.

Several JP ladies have become valued friends as well as cyber-gal-pals. Amazing minds, deep hearts, and some very funny ways of looking at life. Maybe it is your youth, but you can write about the frustrations of life without the cynicism and jadedness of my peers. You all can write about the joys of new shoes without making your identity wrapped around “having”.

You are ‘bridge people’, to whom I can send Western friends who are stuck in media stereotypes of just who those Arabs are. I hope you know how important that is, and it is really your calling to be bridges between worlds. My husband agrees. I thank God for you, and it is my prayer that I can be a blessing and encouragement to you all as some of you will go on to be leaders in of Jordan’s future.