Jordan April 10

April 10

Today has been the most enjoyable day of my visit to Jordan.

As I mentioned, when I was touring the Roman ruins at Jarash, I met a couple of lovely young ladies, who wanted a picture with me. We talked and I found out that they were university students in Irbid, where I was headed in a couple of days. I asked if they could send me a copy of their photo, and I gave them my email.

They forwarded the photo the next day and invited me to spend some time with them in Irbid.

I gladly accepted, and we were together for most of the day.

Both their families came from Syria, originally. Reem was actually born in Halifax, and has a Canadian passport. Her family now lives in Saudi Arabia. Nour's family now lives in Kuwait. 

They are both students at the university in Irbid, Reem in premed, Nour in Nutritional Science.

They both speak excellent English, so it was easy to have a conversation.

They both are firm believers in Islam, but they have an open mind about other people's point of view. 

They answered a lot of my questions about the Arab world, and its cultural practices. It was a very open back and forth 

We went to a mall, my first in Jordan. Very Western, although you had to go through a metal detector to get in. Most women wore the hijab, the scarf that covers the head and chest. Aside from that the dress varied from tight jeans to full dress. I asked Reem and Nour, and they were comfortable with the hijab. They liked it because they didn't have to worry about hairdos. They also said that the modest dress was helpful in discouraging unwanted male attention. I guess males are the same everywhere.

I was impressed with their mature attitude and belief system. It was so nice to see this side of Arab women. 

They had a fun time trying to teach me some Arabic words. I am a hopeless case when it comes to languages. I am probably the tourist that has seen more countries, without ever learning a single word of the local tongue.

They also introduced me to Syrian ice cream. I think it's the best ice cream I have ever tasted. It is very elastic, almost like gum, but rich and fantastic flavour. I was also treated to lunch at a very nice restaurant.

As I said, it was my most enjoyable day. With young people like that there is hope for all of us.

I wish them the best of luck, Shukran

Ralf