Umm Qais

Yesterday, Jacqui took her class on a field trip up north to Umm Qais to see the ruins of Gadara (pretty much the only thing to be found in Umm Qais). None of them, despite many having lived their entire lives in Jordan, had ever been there before. A funny thing about Jordanians is that they live in a country with multitudes of ruins, parks, and gorgeous landscapes, but never go to see them (I guess that’s not actually so surprising–most New Yorkers never bother to visit their city’s landmarks). Jacqui wanted to take me along, but for reasons involving personal politics between her and her boss (who apparently decided that I was a “security concern”), I wasn’t allowed to come on the bus with them.

Arrival

Queen Alia International Airport is a far cry from JFK; rather small, somewhat dingy, and not a little chaotic. When I arrived at the terminal, I was momentarily shocked to see people smoking around the baggage claim, until I remembered that I was no longer in the United States and that smoking in public places is not only legal here but de rigueur. (Incidentally, there was a “No Smoking” sign hanging from the ceiling, but nobody seemed to pay it much heed).

Thank you for flying Royal Jordanian

A million years ago, on Wednesday…

Ana and I got some takeout Thai food and my mother came over.  We ate a bit and left in a taxi at about 7:20.  I was worried about being late, but there was, surprisingly, almost no traffic on the way to Kennedy.

Standing in the line to check my bags at Terminal 4, my mother said to me: “Don’t you feel like you’re in a different world already?”  An employee asked us if we thought were in the line for KLM.  ”No,” I said, “Royal Jordanian.”  He looked surprised; we were, after all, perhaps the only non-Arabs standing in that line, so you might say we stood out a bit.  Still, you’d think I would have noticed if I were standing in line to check in for a flight to Amsterdam with so many people who do not look very much Dutch.  I turned to Ana and my mother and said, “Hey, I just got profiled.”  I was amused.