"Welcome to Jordan"

Mansaf. The most traditional meal in Jordan. 

“Welcome to Jordan!” (If you know a Jordanian accent, please read this phrase again in that tone.)

I’ve heard this phrase too many times to count since I arrived. The most often is from taxi drivers. “Where are you from?” they ask. “America,” I say. “Ah, welcome to Jordan!” they reply. I have this conversation at least once a day, if not two or three times. Shopkeepers, restaurant owners and men, yelling out their car windows as they drive by or saying it behind your back when you walk by, are always saying, “Welcome to Jordan.” Sometimes it’s annoying and sometimes it’s a bit harassing, but most of the time it’s friendly. When it’s annoying I roll my eyes; when it’s harassing I say to myself, “It’s about time! I’ve been here three months already!” which always makes me feel better and when it’s almost always friendly, I nod my head and say thank you.

The phrase has also become something of an explanation or catch phrase amongst our group. When something goes wrong or something doesn’t work or something is running 20 minutes late or something seems so illogical there can be no possible explanation, we sigh and say, “Welcome to Jordan.”

When your curfew is 11 on a Thursday night (which is like Friday)? “Welcome to Jordan.”

When the internet suddenly stops working just when you really need it? “Welcome to Jordan.”

When you get in a taxi only to have him stop so he can grab a cup of coffee? “Welcome to Jordan.”

When you're walking through a market and salesmen want to get your attention with the only English they know? "Welcome to Jordan."

Perhaps one of the best examples of this came just this week. This is our last week of Arabic classes and most students will have finals on Sunday. But on Tuesday the Prime Minister announced that Sunday would be a national holiday. Labor Day, in fact. In Jordan, Labor Day is May 1. Now, you may be thinking Sunday is not May 1 and if you are, you are in fact correct. Sunday is April 29. So why is May 1 a holiday? Because they wanted to have a three-day weekend of course! I’ve asked so many Jordanians to try to explain this to me. None of them ever remember the date of a holiday changing like this. But are they surprised? No! Things like this are typical! Can you imagine what would happen in the States if the President declared tomorrow was a holiday and every business, school and store had to be closed?! It would never happen! We Americans have places to be and things to do! So this sudden change in plans was frustrating; now when would we take our tests? Of course everything was switched around and in reality it’s not that big of a deal. But the sheer normalcy by which every Jordanian took this change in plans made me throw up my hands and say, “Welcome to Jordan.”

My time in Jordan is coming to a close; I’ll be in America in 21 days. But I have no doubt, that as I leave this country, my taxi driver will be saying, “Welcome to Jordan!”

My friend Emma is in a choir here that is a mix of expats and locals. They had their performance last night and it was SO much fun. They sang a variety of songs from different musicals like The Lion King, Les Mesierables, Pirates of Penzance, Mama Mia and even a song from Glee. But they also sang songs from Arab musicals which was really fun to hear too. 

Singing Mama Mia