A Jordanian Friend

If you want to learn about other countries first-hand in a big hurry, spend some time at The University of Akron.  Many of the students who attend UA come from other countries and they joke that they chose UA because, "It was at the top of the list in the alphabet." 

One young woman came from Jordan.  This was unusual.  I think in all my time at Akron, she was the only one who had come to study at UA from this country. 

She used to work in our our small four-station computer room and she was employed in the department across the hall, or that's my recollection.  We all knew her.  One day she arrived with a thick wad of pictures and told me she had some to show me.  Her pictures were of home and included a number of scenes from the Jordan River -- which she knew had significance to a Christian. 

She showed me the area where Jesus baptized John.  She pointed out other key areas from the Bible.  She had a very good understanding of the Christian faith and had respect for it.

I imagine that she was a Muslim but I am not at all sure.  She was well spoken, funny, and very intelligent.  She told me one day that when she saw people, she saw an aura around them that told her much about them.  She said she saw an aura around me, but I was a little afraid of what she might say.  I didn't ask and now I wish I had.

She was one of our Fulbright Scholars, I think.  At least that sounds right in hindsight.  And I know her career aspiration was to finish her degree and get a job at the United Nations.  She would have been perfect there!!  I know she did get her MBA from Akron.  Maybe I'll ask someone in the College of Business if they hear anything from her.  She was one of the brightest spots, someone we would all remember.

There was another thing I remember about her time with us at UA.  She had hospitality!!  She showed me her family's house.  It was brick or stone of some kind and three stories tall.  There were some trees and such around the home but it was fairly plain.  She told me that if I ever wanted to visit her in Jordan, just let her know and she would love to have me come.

Isn't it funny that we tend to frame our impressions about a place by who we know who came from there?  It is impossible not to.  She put a human face on a country that I'd only seen on a map.  Suddenly, Jordan was a real place but a place that had history going back beyond 2,000 years.

She was a confident, caring person who had some charisma.  She was a sharer, a giver.  Weren't we lucky to have had the chance to get to know her?

Well, I've been bad!  Forgetting to do my blog for a couple of days now.  Strange how a habit that you've had for two years can just disappear!  Maybe that's a sign.

Well, take it easy.  We had another snowy week coming in the forecast.  And one night with really cold temperatures.  And yet, we did hear the birds singing the other day.  I know that was an omen of better times to come!