from Lebanon...to Jordan.. with Love...

In the past, the word Jordanian meant nothing to me.. it wasn’t more than a word written in my passport and a direct answer to the question: what is your nationality?

All what I can recollect from my childhood about the "Jordanian spirit" in our house is that my late father, God bless his soul, used to watch the Jordanian TV a lot, and a weird accent he and some men used to speak when they meet or speak over the phone.

With the passage of time, I started to become curious to know more about Jordan, excited to learn more about our family there. And the only way to satisfy this curiosity was to go there and find out myself.

We used to hear remarks about the Jordanians being closed-minded, old school, very conservative people. Some people even warned me from going there expecting that my family there wouldn't like the way I dress and force me to wear hijab, or may oblige me to marry one my cousins and stuff like that... I admit that this kinda freaked me out, yet didn't change my mind about visiting Jordan as soon as I had the chance to. It wasn't before the year 2001 that I finally made up my mind to go.

I set off on a chilly day in December 2001.. a day that I vividly remember. It was the first time I leave Lebanon; the first time I travel a long distance all alone. It's not a long distance travel between Lebanon and Jordan you know but back then, to me, it was. I felt a bit uneasy, but the excitement feeling was more overwhelming. When I arrived, I was showered with love... I can't tell you how sweet and caring my family in Jordan turned out to be. They are anything but closed minded and old school! It was Ramadan, and despite being very exhausted and sleepy, I stayed awake until after suhur. We had a big family gathering at suhur, and it was one of the most exciting and the most unforgettable nights I've ever had.
I spent the Eid there too. And what can I tell you, Eids in Jordan have a different taste. All the family gatherings, rejoicing, laughing, joyful conversations and great times... all were new to me. I've never thought that I had such a big happy family, and I felt very sorry that I missed all that fun in the previous years of my life.

Now, see, things became totally different. Jordan now holds a special place in my heart, Jordanian is not just a word written in my identity card, not anymore... it's now something deeper and more meaningful. Jordan is the beautiful country, the good people, the big family, the feeling of being protected and surrounded by loving, caring people. It's the place where I met my husband, where I had both my engagement and my wedding parties. The place of the most beautiful memories. The place where I had the chance to meet great people and great friends like: Rana, Ola, Areej, Weddo, Amjad, Qais, Raeef, Dina, Maher, and my best online friend Simsim, and a few more...

I'm glad that I had the chance to blog about Jordan, I thought at first that I won't find anything to write about since I don't live in Jordan. The post is personal more than anything else, but hey, at least I tried. Of course I have to thank Qwaider for coming up with this great idea :)