Welcome to Jordan

As I arrived in Jordan, I was filled with a mix of excitement and unexpected apprehension.  

Immediately the Arabic signs caught my eye and the traditional dress attire (it is not everywhere but given it was my first time seeing it in person it did not escape my attention).  The guards in military attire.  The prayers over loudspeakers.  I found myself feeling initially uncomfortable and I was not expecting that.

As we made our way through customs and the airport we (three female travelers) were greeted with nothing but respect and politeness.  This continued as I checked into the hotel alone.  As I met my friend’s family and was welcomed into their home with the most warm hospitality and traditional offerings of coffee and sweets.

I was caught off guard by this feeling of needing to be on guard and I did not like it.  This was so out of alignment with what I was expecting.  As I thought about it I was taken back to learnings from the yoga sutra’s regarding thoughts – right knowledge, wrong knowledge, sleep, imagination and memory.  Specifically it brought me to right and wrong knowledge.  Right knowledge is derived from direct first person experience involving our 5 senses, inferred by evidence and prior knowledge or second hand information from a trusted, credible and reliable source.  Wrong knowledge stems from incorrect understanding, an example I have seen provided more than once is mistaking a rope for a snake.  I realized that I was reacting to wrong knowledge – while I was growing up it was a turbulent time in the middle east and US media portrayed the region in a not positive light.  I had no direct knowledge or experience to rely on, only this media created understanding and the associated feelings I had experienced observing this portrayal throughout my life.  This brought me a level of clarity and relief and created a desire to truly find out more for myself.

I have now many times each day heard the prayers and instead of finding it haunting I find it inspiring that a whole city/country values prayer and incorporates it into their daily life.  While prayer is not my thing, I can liken it to affirmation and meditation.

I have observed nothing but hospitality, kindness, interest and politeness in all my interactions with men and women alike.  There have been entertaining interactions with informal tour guides offering big stories for a small fee and inquisitive interactions with our retreat tour guide discussing the state of America today and how it is not unlike so many other things we have seen throughout our lives. This then moved on to a discussion about life journey’s and the perpetual quest for satisfaction and comfort in our work. English is quite widely spoken and interactions are easy.

I will take my time to share my discoveries of Jordan – I am so grateful to get to spend 12 days in this beautiful richly historic area.