My America in Jordan

No matter how much I love this country I can’t help but get homesick. New York is my home and I obviously have spent almost all of my life there so it is natural that I miss it. It’s funny, the things you miss when you leave. I find myself missing small things like taco bell, the greenery, malls, or supermarkets.

I try to hold on to America as much as I can while I am here, it keeps me sane in a lot of ways. Sometimes my sister and I go food shopping and just buy American brands, we get excited to see pop tarts even though we rarely ate them back in the states! Having her here really helps because she is my America, we can talk for hours about what we used to do and different things we miss.

This weekend I had my America in Jordan and it was PERFECT. It started last night; I was invited to a going away party at the American Embassy for a guy who is probably one of the coolest guys I’ve met. He has been in Jordan for over a year and now he is heading back which really sucks and he will definitely be missed. So 2 girls and I went to the party and it was amazing. One of the negative things about Jordan is you constantly have to be aware of the impression your making, especially as a girl. At the embassy I felt like I was back home, none of that stuff mattered. People danced with their whole hearts, not caring about how bad it made them look, people were laughing and enjoying their time. We had a great time watching Americans in Jordan. It really is a beautiful thing to see them mold with the culture, the party was mainly American’s but there were Arabs there as well. As you look around you could see the Americans kissing hello on the cheek, smoking argillah, and dancing to Arabic music that played, the culture had rubbed off on them. For the first time in a long time I felt like I could have pure fun without being judged or watched and it was freeing. It was also special because even though I only knew a handful or 2 of people, we all shared a bond at that party, we were all Americans living in Jordan. We were all out of our normal element and living somewhere completely different, and we were all enjoying it, at least for that night..

After an amazing time of talking, dancing, and hanging out we called it a night.

This morning 2 friends and I decided to go out for breakfast. We went to a place called Bake house. This place is an Arab version of an American diner. Breakfasts consist of sausage (Beef of course) and hash browns and omelets and pancakes and AMERICAN COFFEE!!

As small and simple as these things sound it really affects me in big ways. It reminds me of home and where I came from. Even though I am Arab in an Arab country, I do not really belong here, I am different. I love it and I do not mind but this weekend I did not feel like the strange one, I felt a piece of home here with me in Jordan..