A Week of Celebration

Once a year I have a birthday and once every ten years I get to enter a new decade. I just happened to have both those millstones take place while being in the wonderful nation of Jordan.

I will admit, it was interesting being away from home for my birthday.  My sister did make me pack a card that she, and some friends and family, made and signed. She also gave me a little collage of family pictures and some Reese chocolate! (Thanks Julie!).

I tried to get a hold of my family to say hello but the time distance and lack of strong internet connection made that difficult. Two classmates were very kind to come with me to an internet café after Arabic class so that I could make calls over Facebook. We all shared one chocolate muffin to justify being able to sit and use their internet. It was essentially birthday cake and a party. 

Even though I was not with my family, I still felt very included in Jordan. Some classmates sent some nice text messages on my Jordanian cell phone. (The fact that there are only nine buttons to text with made it all the more special). The Program Director, Dr. Doug, treated the group to homemade ice cream that was served with chocolate cake. The cake also happened to have fire work styled candles on it… so that was cool. Dr. Doug also read me a Dr. Sues book about birthdays. It was read in a very participatory fashion, so that also made the birthday more special.

The party also celebrated two others. One of them experienced their birthday on the day of their flight. So with the way that time zones work, she actually had shortened birthday. I hope the Dr. Sues story made up for it.

My Birthday was great, but I think I had even more fun at a local party in the neighbourhood.  The party was essentially a family gathering, but they also welcomed twenty North Americans (the whole MESP group) to be a part of their party.

The party was an opportunity to participate in Arab culture. It was a chance to see some Jordanian traditions, taste incredible food, listen to accordions, and watch dance. After a while of accordions and dance, the kids at the party started playing soccer. Naturally, I migrated to that section of the party as well. The kids were welcoming to me and very excited to teach me about Arabic soccer terminology. It was also fun to talk and relate about which soccer teams and players that we personally liked.

Dance and soccer seem to be two things that are present in many cultures. My experiences in El Salvador had a lot to do with both dance and soccer. With both my month in El Salvador, and my first week in Jordan, I was overjoyed and honoured to experience ordinary fun events. What made those experiences possible was how welcoming and inviting people have been. It has not been an everyday occurrence in my life to see a family host an extra twenty people that they have never met.

Those twenty people are pretty awesome though. I have not been here too long, but meeting people my age who have a passion to come to the Middle East and display a willingness to learn about a different society and culture is incredible.