So it's finally here. After months of preparation, and a week or two of nervous headline watching.....
I arrived at Queen Alia International at around 4:30 UCT +2.
I have to say, the last couple weeks have probably been the longest I've ever experienced. It began with finalizing all of the packing, all of my flight details, and picking out a gift for my homestay family (I got them scrimshaw coasters with images from New Bedford's whaling past on them) who I'll meet this Thursday.
Then came the visit to Bates the weekend before my departure, which was filled with a lot of friendly faces, some who had been abroad and were back for second semester and some who were about to go and were up for a visit. I got to perform with the Crosstones at Winter Carnival, which I was glad I was able to pull off, and spent half a week in my, now former, suite. Then there was Friday, which I really don't remember.... and 90's dance for my last full day. Saying goodbye to everyone this time was pretty hard, harder than the end of last semester. It was a pretty lonely drive home, but I knew I was feeling that way was because I have so many close friends who I won't get to see for quite a few months.
Next came the situation in Egypt, where we were supposed to go on a weeklong excursion in March. What started as large demonstrations following the revolt in Tunisia quickly became a veritable Revolution of its own. Now as if my parents weren't nervous enough for my trip, what seemed like the beginnings of a pan-Arab uprising certainly didn't quell their fears... and the thought of my parents being nervous made me as well. When I went to have dinner with one of my best friends before leaving and we were walking around his campus, he said hi to a friend and mentioned that I was going to Jordan. He replied... "wow it's going to turn into a democracy while you're over there." In any event, it'll be an incredible time to be in the region.
I watched the State Dept. website daily for any issuances of travel warnings, hoping we'd still get to go. I found myself in the same dilemma all the foreign policy talking heads were discussing. I'd want to support a popular uprising by a downtrodden people against a decades old dictator... just as the US supports the people of Egypt's "Universal Rights," but even if Mubarak stepped down the country would likely be too unstable for our trip... mirroring appealing role of the regime as a stabilizer, and important partner in the Arab-Israeli peace, and an ally of the United States, which a popularly elected government (particularly with the strength of the Muslim Brotherhood) might not so conveniently match. Anyway a travel warning was issued, and the Academic Director for our program told us tonight that we'll be looking at other options, with a leading contender being a trip to Syria if we can work out the Visas.
Obviously it was sad when I had to say goodbye to my parents, but when the Logan express pulled away I finally started to feel relieved, because FINALLY the whole thing was getting into motion.
The flights all went well, I didn't lose any baggage, although my friend from Bates, Dave, did. The Royal Jordanian Airbus was pretty nice, and I slept for a few spurts of a couple hours on the way out. I'm so tired right now that I'm pretty sure getting on the proper sleep schedule won't be a problem.
It was pretty intense being at the Jordanian airport, and finally being surrounded by people from Amman, and the people from SIT who met us at the airport and at our hotel (which is pretty swank) all seem pretty interesting and dedicated. Tomorrow we start orientation, and a bunch of stuff will get thrown at us, so I'm going to hit it.
