Hello everyone. It's been over a month since my last post but rest assured it is not because I've been in any life threatening circumstances. I have been preoccupied with times of transition, the occasional head cold, an identity crisis or two, and travel.
As of right now I am sitting in a flat drinking coffee and appreciating the dreary weather that lays outside the window opposite my seat. That's right, I'm not in Jordan at the moment but rather my home-away-from-home: Airdrie Scotland. The visa I have while in Jordan can procure me a stay up to 6 months, after which I have to leave the country and then come back to restart the visa process. I knew this when I came out and where I should spend this hiatus was immediately clear to me. Somewhere that was familiar, outside of the ME culture, that I could travel to and in on my own, where I could find rest...Scotland of course.
Wednesday morning I began my journey to visit my old stomping ground. The first leg of my journey constituted a 4 hour bus ride up from town to the capital. Once there, I stayed overnight with my friends Sarah and Jen. The second part of my excursion involved flying out of Amman to London which on the surface seems simple enough; but leave it to me to overlook those slight details such as when my baggage check in ends. At about 3:20 it became know to Jen (who was going to drive me to the airport) and myself that my baggage claim closed at 4:10. The airport is about an half hour away from Jen's flat not counting the time it would take to fight the traffic in the big city. We quickly threw my bags in the car we had rented earlier and sped off. I am happy to say that I got through the baggage check in at 4:08 and all crises were averted. Afterwards it was a smooth five hour flight to London. I cleared security and customs by 10:30 that night and went about searching for a place to lay my head for the night. My next baggage check in opened at 5:50 am and, so as to not to make the same mistake twice, that night I slept in Gatwick Airport. Sleeping in an airport is much less adventurous than it sounds. The bench I choose was situated lamentably close to the doors. The combination of the perpetual cold, the stiffness of the bench and the movements of the other travelers around me all combined to give me one of the worse night's sleeps I've ever had. At 3:30 am I gave up the hope of finding rest. Since I was in the neighborhood, I got to the baggage check in early at 5:30 am which the airport workers did not mind. After another passage through security, I wandered about the airport shops, stopping at Starbucks of course, and killed time. At last it was time for the final flight that would take me to my journey's end.
Scotland is just as I remember it. Even now it is raining and cold outside; I would not have it any other way. Its people though have change a bit. I have not seen most of my friends here for two years and it is fascinating how we all have changed. I include myself in that because I know I have changed as well. Two years is a long time and much has happened. I think back to when Kara and I crossed the boarder between Jordan and Israel: the boarder patrol lady who handled my passport looked from me to the picture a few times. "You've changed' she said to me. It's an undeniable fact. My identity crisis that I mentioned in the beginning is not really to do with the question of "Who am I?" so much as with the question "Where am I going?" After I go back to Jordan my stay will be no longer than three months after which I return to the states and my calendar goes blank. "Where am I going" and "What do I do with this experience?" are the main questions on my mind these days. Sometimes I feel like Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean 2; when he can't get his magic compass to point him in the right direction because he has no idea what he wants but he's desperate to find it none the less. Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not comparing my walk with the Lord to a magic compass, rather I'm comparing my sense of direction to the spinning needle of that compass. Don't feel sorry for me, this is just life. All of these questions are now put on hold though, this week is going to be just one of rest and decompression. Well now I'm off to drink coffee and eat bacon!
Happy First Day of February
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