Living in Jordan an eye-opening experience
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The Middle East is the last place I expected to live. But here I am. And though many of the stereotypes and stories I’d heard are true, there is also the other side: peace and beauty.
I almost forget my previous perceptions of the Middle East because of my experiences this past year. Mostly, I associated it with war, but once the opportunity to volunteer at a school in Jordan through Foundation Outreach International arose, I began to see Jordan as separate from the chaos around it.
Yet it still surprised me how certain the Jordanians feel of their safety. They do not associate themselves with the Middle East conflict. Jordan is different, they say; surprised that anyone would link them with the unrest around them. Instead, Jordan is a safe haven for refugees.
Many locals are confused about the image of Arab people in Western media. They ask me why every movie referencing Arabs features camels, deserts and Bedouins. I don’t know, except that it’s intriguing to Westerners. The only camels I have seen are at the tourist areas and on the occasional camel farm. Jordan is a desert country, but it also has blooming mountainsides with streams of water and fields of produce. Bedouins are highly respected in Jordan and you can see their tents and herds scattered throughout the city and the countryside; but they are not the majority of Arab people.
Jordan is a country in the process of change, and one of these changes is a growing awareness of the environment and enjoying nature. One of the hiking groups that has sprouted through this change has introduced me to the incredible diversity of beauty. Large, bright pink flowers growing in sand and rocks, breathtaking views of old ruins on the highest peaks of Petra, rocks of every colour near the Dead Sea, and a newborn baby goat on the side of a rocky green valley. There are strangers out for a family trip to the fruit stand who offer you a ride home when it’s pouring rain and there are no taxis around, co-workers who show you around the city when you first arrive.
People say this trip will change my life, and I know it will, but the changes started long before that, in classes and working assignments in Loyalist College’s Journalism – Online, Print and Broadcast program. It not only gave me the skills to work on a documentary while I am here volunteering, it also gave me the confidence to do things I normally wouldn’t, and a critical mind to see and compare the good and the bad, through and outside my own cultural perspective – as well as the Jordanian perspective. In some ways, my time at Loyalist was what began to change my life, in ways I never dared to dream; ways that are still shaping my life and creating some of my most valuable experiences.
To follow Jennifer’s experience and to receive updates on the documentary when this trip is completed, follow her Facebook page at facebook.com/onceuponadayinjordan.
- Jennifer Bowman is a 2012 Loyalist College Journalism – Online, Print and Broadcast graduate.