I love our life here in Amman. Sure, it drives me stark, raving, lunatic bonkers at times, but I think I am addicted. There are times I think moving back to Mid-America would bore me stark, raving bonkers!
Where else can you wonder through ruins of three epochs of history in one afternoon? Or the remains of a home from the time of Abraham? Walk where prophets walked, worship in churches and be baptised in a place where the first worshippers met?
Where else can your kid run in an ultra marathon from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea? How many places offer desert camping or snorkeling in coral reefs within a couple hours travel time?
Where else can you run into the woman who ran for Parliament at the local kiddy play place? Where else can you join a group of women for brunch and yack with diplomat wives about raising kids cross-culturally? Or discover after six months your son’s buddy is the son of a major military attache or cousin of a queen? Or get stuck at a stop-light next to royalty? (if they don’t run you off the road first)
Where else would every person you meet have a cousin in every city you’ve lived?
Where else does everything stop the first rain of the season and even adults are seen drinking it in outside?
Where else is ‘pita bread and hummous’ a daily delight and not an expensive exotic delicacy?
Where else does one word of badly spoken Arabic elicit a roomful of oohs-aahs and encouragement to learn more?
Where else can you call for help from a creepy groper and have five men pounce on the wayward-handed one?
Where else can you walk by a neighbor you never met and they invite you for tea that minute?
Where can you get in a loud, heated argument over the prices of spices and walk away with a bargain both buyer and seller are happy with?
Where else can five cars do that graceful, double-laned left-turn backwards while three turn right, one makes a u-turn, and no one gets hurt?
Only Jordan, that’s where.
Love you forever, ya Urdun!
LOL @ the last one HAHHAHAHAHAH
KJ, I probably should have amended that to exclude Thursday afternoon, people DO get hurt pulling that stunt on Thursday afternoon.
:’( brought tears to my eyes.. this is touching kinzii.. love it!
you are sure enjoying Jordan.
I just had pita and Hummus by the way!
Hurrah! Jordan is fabulous and I miss it even more after reading that! (Although I don’t miss the extra poundage gained through point 11…!)
Woohooo! Great post.
”Where else can you wonder through ruins of three epochs of history in one afternoon? Or the remains of a home from the time of Abraham? Walk where prophets walked, worship in churches and be baptised in a place where the first worshippers met?
Where else can your kid run in an ultra marathon from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea?”
God isn’t fair, he hasn’t provided us with any of these luxuries up here in Sweden.
”Where else is ‘pita bread and hummous’ a daily delight and not an expensive exotic delicacy?”
OHH, I miss these delicious fresh simple and did I say delicious foods
”Where else can five cars do that graceful, double-laned left-turn backwards while three turn right, one makes a u-turn, and no one gets hurt?”
HAHA
Love you forever, ya Urdun.
Urdun love you 2.
Right on point as usual! Great job.
Love it. Thanks for these.
Yay, Jano! I’ll pass the Fine. Thank you
Ma3boos, I bet you paid $7.00 for it! There are parts I do hate sometimes, but for the most part, I am content. I should probably correct myself, with my family, I’d never be bored in Mid-America.
Layla, hurry back! I’d like to hear more about your research that brought you here.
MommaBean, I’m sure you see threads of conversations and shared experiences in it! I can say with surety that your presence in Jordan boosts my contentment level.
Nizar, no, God is not fair, but He is just and good and wise in His distribution of common grace. He gave Sweden snow-capped hills to ski on, an ocean to fish in, beautiful people, some great stuff! He also gave Sweden a bunch of Jordanians and Iraqis, ma a7sano!
Hamede, aw shucks!!! A certain Urdani taxi driver didn’t love me today, but for the most part, I did feel the love!!!!!!
Um Omar, thank you! Good thing I wrote that before hitting Mecca Street at 2pm @@.
Umm F, me too. It’s things like this that give hope when the going you wrote about gets tough. When we have to walk by faith for a better future.
Kinzi, that is so nice of you to see Jordan like this, I hope everyone else can see it that way too
”He also gave Sweden a bunch of Jordanians and Iraqis, ma a7sano!”
HAHAHA ^^
Kinzi Kinz
I say this is where you are meant to be!
By the way, I’ve made my blog private and wanted to send you an invitation. Can you email me your email addy?
paintergal92@yahoo.com
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now that i’ve read this it makes me miss it even more….
thank you for reminding me of how good it is…
Basel, it is bittersweet, being reminded of what we miss about home. Thank you for visiting with a fun comment!
although while living in jordan we always complain about it,middle class guys i suppose!it’s because we work so hard for such small penies,but now that im in the gulf,hehehe oh how i miss home
That was a lot of fun. When we went back to the US for a year after knowing JO very well, I definitely felt the boredom. While thoroughly enjoying living in an almost rural community in the Bay Area, I remember seeing moms walking their kids to school but ALWAYS holding that mug of coffee. I definitely made assumptions about some of them not doing much beyond that. But it really made me think of all the incredibly interesting and different things that I did and do now in JO.
Basel, oh yes, it is our nature to complain and compare, but contentment where we are brings peace. Welcome!
Hi KF!! Wasn’t it a fun ride? Yes, in spite of all that makes us crazy, there is good here. And there.
LoL.. I love it.
Where else can you drink coffee, tea and tang all in one visit?
I love Jordan for everything. 
MurElly, welcome and thanks for adding a Very Important Thing!!! Tea-Tang-Coffee….what a mix!!! I just made some Mango Tang for the kids today, what a kid memory.
Would love to visit.
This is a beautiful post, thanks for writing it! I have been here one and a half years and I can’t imagine going back to the states. I love absolutely everything about this kingdom and the people I’ve met are phenomenal. For instance, just tonight I was a Carrefour. I sometimes walk with a cane and tonight I was wrestling to get the trolley on the escalator. Suddenly from nowhere a boy came and got everything arranged for me. Sadly, this doesn’t happen much anymore back home but it seems to be the rule of the day over here. I hope you don’t mind I posted this article on my Facebook page and I am going to put your blog in my “following” list. Thanks again! Jim
I am an American Woman thinking of moving to Jordan. I have been married, for 12 years, to a Palestinian man who is originally from Jordan. I have lived in the USA all my life. My husband has lived in the USA for the last 13 years. We are currently considering moving to Irbid, Jordan. Do you have any advise/concerns about this move?
I am also an American woman who has met an incredible man from Jordan here in the US. We have deep feelings for each other, and have talked a lot about the odds being stacked against us for a longterm relationship (he is here on a student visa, I have been married before and have a child -the ex commited adultery, etc). He believes his siblings would love me, but said he thought his mother would not be accepting of our relationship. He surprised me today by saying he told his mother about us (I thought he was afraid to), and that it did not go well. I find it so sad and heart wrenching that if you are lucky enough to find someone you love, that the family could possibly end it. What are the chances we will make it through the cultural divide?
Hi Kristy! Welcome. There are some pretty incredible Jordanian men out there, indeed. I know lots of Jordanian male/American female relationships that are working, but it usually means the wife does the majority of conforming to the husband’s expectations and culture. Jordanian women generally work harder than Americans (probably getting myself in trouble here) and are used to making a man the king of his castle.
Western women are used to more rights, more freedoms, and a more leisurely life with higher expectations of personal and professional satisfaction. Families are more emotionally and financially dependent…you can find that a portion of your husband’s wages are helping a younger sibling or cousin get through college or buy a house or business, when you yourself don’t have that. This uncle or older brother may have done the same for him.
If you stay in the US, your chances are better if his mom is not accepting. Mother/son relationships here are very enmeshed, they often remain a son’s primary emotional bond with a female. That is very hard for most women to live with. Families are what make and break JO/US marriages (well, after broken Jordanians and Americans hurting each other). If the family doesn’t like you (most of the women in the family have been planning on finding his wife for him for years, you mess up the plan) only a VERY strong man can go against that flow. Especially when kids come…they ‘belong’ to the extended family, not just to the parents.
Your friend sounds like a good one: he is aware of the problems, knows his mother, and cares enough about you to be honest and even tell his mom. But, if it took him that long, that means the fear-factor of displeasing his family is his primary compelling emotion. It doesn’t look good.
Here are some factors that help all marriages:
Being the same socio-economic level
same religion and intensity of religious devotion (this is a biggee)
similar values and goals
Send me an email if you have any other questions. I’ll be praying for you.
Welcome Angie!! I sent you an email
I sure should not stay away from reading blogs. I haven’t read yours or any other for quite some time. The minutes I decided to do some reading I stumbled upon this delightful read. Very beautiful post, Kinzi!
Insh’Allah, I get to have some free time to read more of your posts. We started a one-week Thanksgiving holiday
This particular observation is classic and can’t be more true. “Where else would every person you meet have a cousin in every city you’ve lived?”
Hi Jaraad! Welcome back, have some virtual tea ma3 na3na3. Yes, these were the posts when I actually had time to compose thoughts and write them out more eloquently. I’m glad you enjoyed them and hope you will for others too. AND…blog some pics of fall in Middle America – and anywhere else you may have cousins