Global Crossroads Study Abroad Blog

I wanted to make a post yesterday, during my layover in Amsterdam. But I had no time! My trip over here went amazingly fast. I’ve never had a better flight than the two I just experienced, if you’ll believe it. I rode for 9 hours overnight from Minneapolis to Amsterdam, and slept just the right amount. Then I booked it to my next flight at 11am in the Amsterdam airport (4am Mpls) for a 5 hour flight. After getting bamboozled by the randomness of Jordanian streets, my taxi driver finally dropped me off at my hotel, 9pm Amman time (1pm Mpls).

I met some amazing people on the way. Look at me, I don’t even step foot in my destination and I’m already making friends! The first was the man sitting next to me on the Amsterdam flight, a businessman returning to his home in Holland. We talked every once in a while, but mostly it was just nice to feel a mutual comfort with each other. We shared gum, had a great strategy for bathroom breaks, and talked a little here and there about where we were from.

My favorite part of that flight? After a few hours of uncomfortable sleep, I saw that others were awake, so I opened our window. Below us were endless rolling hills, all green, with small groupings of ant-sized homes here and there. When he saw it, my Hollander said to me, “that’s where you’re going.” It was Ireland. It was gorgeous. I had woken up to a moving map of where I would be in 7 weeks. No clouds, either. After seeing Ireland from above, I was sold. My trip to Ireland after my studies in Jordan is going to be absolutely lovely.

Then came the Amman flight. Next to me was a Jordanian man and his colleague. He travels a lot on business, he said. His home is in Belgium with his family, and his trip to Jordan was one of many he makes throughout the year to see other relatives. This man, I tell you. What a great person, and what a character! He is at least octo-lingual – English, Dutch, Arabic, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian… He spent the flight joking with me about my trip, the US government, and airline protocol. But most importantly, he gave me fantastic advice about Jordan. What to eat, where to exchange money, the weather, the people to meet, essential Arabic phrases. Then after the flight, he and his friend helped me find a cheap taxi, whose driver was a life saver when it came to finding my tiny hostel. My Jordanian-Belgian world guru made me comfortable with this city before I’d even seen it. I can’t thank him enough, specifically because I didn’t have any time to thank him before he and his colleague disappeared from my sight!

The last 30 hours have taught me a lot. Here are just a couple lessons.

• Hollanders drive on the right side of the road, just like us!
• Delta Airlines has a really really corny safety procedure video now.
• Overnight international airline food? Not bad. Not bad at all.
• Lots of pockets are GREAT for a plane trip so you’re not always looking through your carry-on…but HORRIBLE when you’re going through a security checkpoint.
• Learn the metric system fast, or fear constant ridicule by fellow travelers.
• The topic of Jordanian conversation always starts with politics. When you get bored of that, you talk about food.
• Felafel. Hummus. Felafel. Hummus. Felafel.
• “Amman, it’s a unique place. The only city in the world where you see a Hummer and a donkey on the same street.”
• “And they’ll milk the donkey right there in the street! Very nutritious milk, by the way.”
• Amman is called the “seven hills” because it’s at the crux of seven different mountains. And boy are there hills. How do people drive here!?
• “The best way to learn Arabic is to get a Jordanian boyfriend.”
• Need to find a money exchange? Call a boy “Habibee” and he’ll find every one in the city for you!
• And finally: DO NOT PUT OFF PRACTICING YOUR ARABIC OVER SUMMER BREAK. I am so rusty, and so useless! Good thing that’s all I’ll be studying here!

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