By allisonray94
Hi!
So this blog entry is kind of weird because I am not actually in Jordan. We have another break. I was actually planning on traveling to Palestine, but the violence has escalated recently. Instead, I'm backpacking through Germany on a bit of a whim. I could just go through and list all of the attractions and cities I've seen, but that would just sound like bragging. I would like to discuss cultural transitions, since this is my first opportunity to see how living in Jordan has changed me.
It surprised me at first how I couldn't just revert back to American Allison. I've learned habits and norms in Jordan that I can't just turn off. For instance, I'm used to speaking in almost 100% Arabic. I don't speak German. I do, however, look German (i.e. pale). People here will approach me speaking German; then, they realize I don't understand and start speaking English. This happened at McDonald's. She asked me what I wanted in German and then English. I responded with a puzzling, "mumkin biddi...," which, you might guess, is Jordanian Arabic. She looked confused, so I tried to clarify, "Ureed...." Modern Standard Arabic. Finally, after a couple seconds of thinking, I managed, "Chicken and fries." Obviously this means the Language Pledge is working, but it's awkward to say the least.
Other experiences have further highlighted how Jordan is changing the way I think. In Jordan, it's not a great idea for women to look strange men in the eyes. Especially on the bus and in the streets, you avert your gaze. You also just generally keep a distance from the opposite sex. In Germany, I've been staying at hostels with mixed gender rooms (they're a lot cheaper). My first night here, a man was staying in my room. He was nice, courteous, and altogether a great roommate. I didn't look him in the eyes once. In fact, I avoided talking to him or being near him at all. It didn't hit me how strange my behavior must have been to him until later.
Finally, and hopefully I'm not getting too personal by mentioning this, there's the bathroom quandary. The first time I used a restroom in Germany, I looked around for a trash can. There wasn't one. I didn't know what to do. In Amman, you cannot flush toilet paper because the sewage system can't handle it. In America, of course, that's not the case. But what about Germany? I had no idea. I just sat there in a state of panic wondering if I should try flushing the toilet paper or not (I actually still don't know what the deal is here. It's not something you can ask any stranger on the streets). This struck me as funny because three months ago, it wouldn't have even occurred to me that you couldn't flush toilet paper. You don't realize how many little things are culture-specific (and importantly so) until you embarrass yourself in your ignorance.
Not much else to report here. I'll be back in Amman next week, so hopefully then I’ll have more stories in which I embarrass myself with my limited cultural knowledge of the world.