I think that today, of all days, is an important time to post my first update since arriving here in beautiful Amman, Jordan.
September 11, 2001 will forever be etched into our memories as a day of destruction, anger, grief and fear. Eleven years later I find myself in the region where these attacks originated -- the Middle East. The place we have seen on the news almost every day since the end of 2001. The "Middle East" conjures images of war and messages of hate and anger - because that is all we have heard or seen for the past eleven years.
So, here I am. In the Middle East. In Amman, Jordan. Am I in the middle of a war? No (Thanks be to God). Do I see people walking around carrying guns? No. Are people yelling angry messages at me and about America? No. Not at all.
This is not the Middle East I have heard so much about.
This begs the question: Do I know anything about this region at all? Has the news been misleading?
The problem is not a lack of information -- it is a lack of the right kind of information. If all we see and learn about through the mainstream media in the United States is how dangerous and hateful a place is, that becomes the only thing we have to base our opinions and, in some cases, policies on.
What I see in Jordan is life. As simple as that. People get up in the morning, take their kids to school, go to work, get coffee and talk with their friends, go to the gym, stop at the grocery store on their way home, call their mothers, and watch the soap operas at night before heading to bed. There is so much life around me it is hard to get a break from it all!
In closing: I was walking to class today with two other girls, one American and one English, and the American said, "I still don't feel like I am in the Middle East. I just feel like I am, I don't know, somewhere. But not the Middle East." We both agreed.
This is not the Middle East we had heard so much about.
This is Jordan.
September 11, 2001 will forever be etched into our memories as a day of destruction, anger, grief and fear. Eleven years later I find myself in the region where these attacks originated -- the Middle East. The place we have seen on the news almost every day since the end of 2001. The "Middle East" conjures images of war and messages of hate and anger - because that is all we have heard or seen for the past eleven years.
So, here I am. In the Middle East. In Amman, Jordan. Am I in the middle of a war? No (Thanks be to God). Do I see people walking around carrying guns? No. Are people yelling angry messages at me and about America? No. Not at all.
This is not the Middle East I have heard so much about.
This begs the question: Do I know anything about this region at all? Has the news been misleading?
The problem is not a lack of information -- it is a lack of the right kind of information. If all we see and learn about through the mainstream media in the United States is how dangerous and hateful a place is, that becomes the only thing we have to base our opinions and, in some cases, policies on.
What I see in Jordan is life. As simple as that. People get up in the morning, take their kids to school, go to work, get coffee and talk with their friends, go to the gym, stop at the grocery store on their way home, call their mothers, and watch the soap operas at night before heading to bed. There is so much life around me it is hard to get a break from it all!
In closing: I was walking to class today with two other girls, one American and one English, and the American said, "I still don't feel like I am in the Middle East. I just feel like I am, I don't know, somewhere. But not the Middle East." We both agreed.
This is not the Middle East we had heard so much about.
This is Jordan.
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