Guest post #2: Roy "The Dad" Bruce

TRANSITION AND CHANGE

It is said that for a change to take place, there is an ending and a beginning and a transition period between the two. It is also said that every experience of life has an impact on us no matter how small - every sight, sound, taste, smell, and feeling. It is also said that you should never start a sentence with it. So here I go on my guest entry for Sarah's "Amman to You" blog. I am writing this from home in Raleigh soon after returning from our week in Jordan with Sarah. I am in the process of transitioning from Jordanian time to Raleigh time (7 hour difference) and from vacation experiences back to everyday life.

The challenge for me is to summarize eight days of travel and new experiences into a few meaningful paragraphs that others would find interesting enough to read. To help me on this endeavor, I have the aid of 555 digital photographs, a daily journal that I kept on activities and impressions, and a mind full of sensory experiences that did not make it to digital memory or paper - at least not yet. Rest assured that I will not address all the photos or the journal entries in this blog article nor all the experiences.

As I reflect on this past week, my sense is that change has taken place in me. Some things are apparent such as the impact of eating too much good food - much of it provided by Sarah's host family at two wonderful meals. Some of the changes are less apparent and remain unclear to me at this time. Yet I know they are there because of what I have experienced. This may perhaps be part of the transition time.

This trip brough to me a series of firsts and a series of challenges. For each of these I am grateful. The firsts included the first time to use a passport, the first time to venture away from North America, the first ocean crossing journey on a very long plane ride (12 hours from New York to Amman), the first time to be in a place where English is not spoken or written much at all, first time to hear calls to prayer broadcast across the land five times a day, and the first time to be in the Midd East. Many of these firsts also were some of the challenges. Other challenges included driving in Jordan (more on that later), surviving the climb in Mujib Nature Reserve (I had serious doubts about my making it) as we searched for ibex, adapting to the cultural norms of the area, dealing with personal perceptions/apprehensions, and communicating in general. Each of the firsts and the challenges has impacted me in some way.

I have decided to concentrate my blog comments in three areas that were noteworthy for me: religious history, culture, and driving. There is much more that I could write about; but, I think these are the ones that had the greatest impact on me.

Religious History

History is everywhere in Jordan. But the part of history that meant the most to me were the biblical sites that I had heard and read about throughout my life. We visited the baptismal site of Jesus along the Jordan River. What an emotional experience to be where historians and archaeologists believe was the site where John the Baptist baptized Jesus. I now have a different frame of reference when I hear or read that biblical account as I have seen the site and have touched the water. From here we could see the Mount of Temptation in Palestine/Israel where Jesus spent those 40 days/nights. We also could look into Palestine/Israel and see Jericho.

Another moving moment for me was at Umm Qais looking out into Palestine/Israel and seeing the Sea of Galilee where so many biblical events took place. I could imagine the overflowing fishing nets, the breakfast on the shore, and Peter's expression of adoration. I could visualize the multitudes being fed, the sermon being preached, the raging storm, walking on the water, the parables being told, and the solitude on the other shore. What an image to have and to hold. This was special for me.

We also visited Mukawir, the site of Herod's Castle where Herod ordered the beheading of John the Baptist following the dance of Herodias' daughter Salome. This is not a site on the normal tourist routes as it is a little challenging to find and to climb to the top of the hill. We had the place to ourselves and that was very special. This site is in the mountains south of the city of Madaba and overlooks the Dead Sea into Palestine/Israel.

Mount Nebo was another stop along the way as we stood where God brought Moses to view the Promised Land. To realize that this reluctant leader came so close to the goal, but had to rely on others to complete the mission. Unfortunately for us, the haze was heavy that day and our viewing of the Promised Land was restricted. We had better views of Palestine/Israel on other days.

At the end of our ibex hunt/hike in Mujib Reserve, we saw the pillar of salt that was purported to be Lot's wife by the Dead Sea. It is an interesting possibility. Throughout this hike, we had wonderful views of the Dead Sea and Palestine/Israel.

Each of these sites brought recollection of the biblical accounts and stories and provided a new framework for when those stories are recounted again. I am grateful to have had these experiences and their associated impacts on me - known and yet unknown.

Culture

I am not sure if culture is the right title for this portion of the blog or not. What I really want to write about are my observations about people. Certainly the people and their actions drive culture. Let me be more specific.

Everywhere we went, we were welcomed - not just at the tourist type places, but most everywhere. We stood out as being different and therefore, it was easy to identify us as likely tourists and certainly foreigners. But the people went out of their way to make us feel welcome. This was true for children, youth, and adults. It was as if there was a national program to make Westerners feel welcome in Jordan. For some adults they acknowledged this as their personal mission to enhance the public image of Jordan toward outsiders and particularly Americans. Even if it was a national effort, it was very nice to be warmly received and I believe for the most part genuinely warmly received. I know that I will view visitors to the US differently now since I have been a stranger in a foreign land.

I was not aware of just how much we stood out as different until Sarah took us on a tour of the University of Jordan. As you would expect, there was a large population of Jordanians on campus that afternoon and in the crowd I saw one woman of obvious Western origin. As she passed by in the other direction, I was very aware of her differences from others (in looks and to some extent in dress). Then I became keenly aware of us and how similarly different we must appear. First there was the age difference and then there were differences in dress and also there were differences in looks. It struck me in that moment and I felt somewhat out of place - not unwelcomed or threatened - just out of place. I am used to being part of the background and now I was different - standing out from the crowd - not on familiar ground.

At most tourist locations, we were part of the multi-cultural and/or multi-national composite that made up the visitors list that day. It wasn't until we reached Umm Qais that we experienced local Jordanians visiting their own tourist area. Various school groups were on field trips to the site. They added so much to the experience with their singing, clapping, and drum playing. Their presence made the experience so much more valuable to me than just the ruins and the beautiful views. This was similarly true at Jerash on the following day with groups of school children visiting this national heritage treasure.

Respect seems to be a fairly accurate word for what I experienced culturally in Amman. We had a couple of taxi drivers that were less than reputable and were preying on unknowing tourists. But generally, I found Jordanians to be respectful and welcoming of us foreigners in the land.

Driving

We opted for a rental car for four of the days in Jordan to better facilitate our desired travel plans. To say that driving in Jordan is different from the US is a major understatement. Traffic appears to be sheer bedlam; but in reality it is a well-orchestrated symphony of aggression, anticipation, and attitude. One cannot be timid in driving in Jordan. The expectation of your fellow drivers is that you are going to be aggressive when the time is right and that your attitude will allow you to yield when the time is right. Knowing the difference is the key to success.

Amman has numerous roundabouts and the Jordanians have convinced me that roundabouts are the best method of intersection traffic control. They move large volumes of traffic through numerous dual lane roundabouts without major congestion. There is an art to navigating the roundabout in an effective and expected manner. Once learned, they are not as threatening as they appear or seem as a passenger. At times the distances between vehicles are rather tiny as you negotiate through the Jordanian roundabout. But in the end you keep moving instead of waiting at a traffic signal.

Speaking of traffic signals; they are a whole different experience. What appears to be two through lanes with a single left turn lane is made into at least four or five lanes of traffic waiting to proceed. When the light goes green, you can have five vehicles moving forward towards the two lanes ahead. Likewise you can have two lanes of traffic turning left or two lanes turning right You have to be on your toes. And in Madaba, the locals use the "through on red" system if there is no traffic on the side street - so I did like the locals rather than become the source of many honking car horns during rush hour.

Out on the highway there is this obvious rule that slower traffic should pull over on to the paved shoulder or partway onto the shoulder to allow faster traffic to pass - we called it half lanes. So you can at times have four vehicles wide (two in each direction) on a two lane road. But you have to watch out for the roadside vendors, pedestrians, or vehicles parked on the shoulder. Many roads have no lane lines or edge markings at all and things are really interesting in these situations. You can see about anything on Jordanian roads, including goats, sheep, or donkeys. In urban areas, double parking is common and there could be a parked/stopped vehicle partially or totally in your lane.

In the US we have "reduce speed ahead" signs to announce the change in safe operating speeds. In Jordan, the speed limits change without notice. Sometimes, they use rows of pavement markers across the road like rumble strips to announce the change in speed. Or my favorite is the use of unmarked speed tables and/or a speed hump while traveling 80 kilometers per hour - now that puts added thrill in the ride for back seat passengers.

Then there are the temporary roadside police checkpoints. The police car is parked just off the should perpendicular to the road and the officer is standing on the edge of the road waiting to signal randomly selected cars into the checkpoint - no advance sign/warnings. The challenge is to know if the police officer is selecting you to stop or is waving you through. I think I ran at least one of those checkpoints by not understanding the officer's motions. Thankfully they did not send other police after us.

In the end, we lived through four days of driving in Jordan. It was somewhat less stressful outside the cities, but not by much. It was less intense for certain in rural areas as the traffic volumes were less. But in Amman, Madaba, and Irbid, it took lots of effort to perform driving in a manner that met the expectations of the other drivers; that magical mixture of aggression, anticipation, and attitude. In order to drive, you need at least four eyes - one for the left side/mirror, one for the right side/mirror, one for the rearview mirror, and one for straight ahead. I was glad that I had help from Carolyn and Sarah. Jordanians know how to maximize capacity and minimize delay in their transportation system.

Summary

So the journey is over. I hope that I have learned a few things along the way and will use that new knowledge in positive ways. I hope that the sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and feelings from Jordan have beneficial effects on who I am. I know that this is a lofty expectation from a one week vacation trip. But I feel certain that they will impact me even in small ways. I am glad to have had the experience of this past week. Now I need a transition nap.