September started off with a bang! Classes started, new students, and I had to leave Saudi in order to renew my visa. I am fortunate that I was able to renew in Jordan.
Jordan was a welcome change. The people there are warm, friendly, kind, and polite. There is no gender segregation, so I actually flirted for the first time in months. After being in Saudi, I sincerely thought that I had lost it. Nope! Alex still has it!
Folks it gets better... there are liquor stores and movie theaters. I didn't see a movie, but I did frequent the liquor store. I did not have to wear an abaya, and women have the right to drive. Did some sightseeing and ate at some really good restaurants. I had Armenian Food for the first time. That restaurant was awesome. I was quite comfortable there, but it was business and not pleasure, and getting my visa and heading back to my students and my belongings weighed heavy on my mind.
I am happy that I did make it back after nine days, but while there I realized all that I was missing. I miss my freedom. I miss the unalienable right to be me. The ability to "hang out with the girls" without thinking about my gender or my nationality. While there, I met a gentleman who used to live in Philadelphia. He is Jordanian and owns a restaurant-"Planet Hollywood" in Jordan. Surprisingly it wasn't the fact that I met someone who used to live in Philly that tickled me. What tickled me, or what touched me the most, was that I was able to have a conversation with a male without feeling that I was being judged or that being addressed by him was a necessary evil that he had to endure in order complete some task or another. I felt human again. I was somewhere where my intelligence, my smile, and my desires all mattered. I mattered.......and that my friends gave me the strength to endure.
Until next time,
Alex
Jordan was a welcome change. The people there are warm, friendly, kind, and polite. There is no gender segregation, so I actually flirted for the first time in months. After being in Saudi, I sincerely thought that I had lost it. Nope! Alex still has it!
Folks it gets better... there are liquor stores and movie theaters. I didn't see a movie, but I did frequent the liquor store. I did not have to wear an abaya, and women have the right to drive. Did some sightseeing and ate at some really good restaurants. I had Armenian Food for the first time. That restaurant was awesome. I was quite comfortable there, but it was business and not pleasure, and getting my visa and heading back to my students and my belongings weighed heavy on my mind.
I am happy that I did make it back after nine days, but while there I realized all that I was missing. I miss my freedom. I miss the unalienable right to be me. The ability to "hang out with the girls" without thinking about my gender or my nationality. While there, I met a gentleman who used to live in Philadelphia. He is Jordanian and owns a restaurant-"Planet Hollywood" in Jordan. Surprisingly it wasn't the fact that I met someone who used to live in Philly that tickled me. What tickled me, or what touched me the most, was that I was able to have a conversation with a male without feeling that I was being judged or that being addressed by him was a necessary evil that he had to endure in order complete some task or another. I felt human again. I was somewhere where my intelligence, my smile, and my desires all mattered. I mattered.......and that my friends gave me the strength to endure.
Until next time,
Alex
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