When we landed in Amman on August 30, 2011, I stepped off the plane and into what initially felt like a different existence. It was a similar feeling to being a brand new missionary, but with a significant difference: when I was a missionary, I was in a semi-familiar environment (having served in Long Beach, California) and the "new world" feel was resultant from a role change I personally had made. Coming to Jordan there were things that I had to change about myself, but this time the new world feeling was almost exclusively coming from external sources. Having never been out of the United States until about two weeks previous to our arrival, I was operating on a ridiculously limited frame of reference when I had imagined what it would be like here. I'm sure that in future blog posts I will discuss some of the things that are different than what I thought they would be like.
After we arrived, we waited for enough people in our program to fill the bus that was waiting for us and then we drove through the night streets of Amman. I felt like a child - completely dependent on Josh and the other Arabic-speakers with us to even know what was going on. I had the window seat, and I opened the window and let the new air flow in. I looked around as we drove to our apartment. Of course the signs and billboards were in Arabic, but there were some that had English on them too. I haven't seen it since, but a big white lighted billboard caught my attention as we drove by. I don't have any idea what was being advertised, but it said in large, clear black English letters: "Welcome to Jordan, Where Life's Good." I just glimpsed it long enough to read it, but it has remained imprinted in my thoughts since then. My racing mind settled as I thought on that and let it seep into my heart: Life is going to be good in Jordan!
After we arrived, we waited for enough people in our program to fill the bus that was waiting for us and then we drove through the night streets of Amman. I felt like a child - completely dependent on Josh and the other Arabic-speakers with us to even know what was going on. I had the window seat, and I opened the window and let the new air flow in. I looked around as we drove to our apartment. Of course the signs and billboards were in Arabic, but there were some that had English on them too. I haven't seen it since, but a big white lighted billboard caught my attention as we drove by. I don't have any idea what was being advertised, but it said in large, clear black English letters: "Welcome to Jordan, Where Life's Good." I just glimpsed it long enough to read it, but it has remained imprinted in my thoughts since then. My racing mind settled as I thought on that and let it seep into my heart: Life is going to be good in Jordan!
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