traveling back from amman yesterday, our friend kevin (or was it emily?) asked if we had thought about what we were gonna blog about. i hadn't. it always is so difficult to capture the true essence of experiences on paper. and then, a moment later, as we waited in line to proceed through the third security checkpoint in amman, i decided to write about airports.
airports, afterall, are the literal gatekeepers to new countries and cultures. well, lets just recount our experiences at the amman airport. first, we arrive ridiculously early, like three hours early (in our defense, we were told it would take longer traveling on saturday). apparently, this is two hours and twenty-seven minutes too early. upon entering the airport we are faced with an immediate security checkpoint. the guard tells us it is too early for our flight, we must wait outside until 11 am. we oblige. at 11:10 am we return. nope, he says, wait 30 more minutes. as we begrudgingly return to our seats, another airport employee tells us we can proceed to check in. thank you nice lady.
we check in, go through our first luggage screening, and immigration. next, onwards and upwards for some food and coffee (choices included starbucks, kfc, pizza hut, and world cafe. i chose the later of the bunch). after mingling in the duty free shop for a few, it was time to board. we must proceed through another security screening at the gate. well, it may be a vast overgeneralization to call them security screenings considering the security officer didn't look at my passport or ticket, and probably wasn't watching the scanner either. you may be interested to know that following this checkpoint all women must proceed to a separately partitioned room to be screened/frisked out of the sight of men. interesting indeed.
ok, but let me back up a minute. so, this security checkpoint line gets long and chaotic. quick. luckily we made near the front of the mahem. well, for a few minutes. and then, out of no where comes this family. mother, father, and four children who convienently position themselves right in front of us. now, i'm not a fighter (i'm a lover), but i was close. i wanted to ask them if they had ever learned the middle school lunch line lesson called wait your turn. another one of my fellow travelers, who shall remain nameless, remarked, "they must be kuwaiti." yep. (disclaimer: kuwait is vastly different than the surrounding gulf countries. just think of it as being from beverly hills when strolling through long beach...)
now, now, i know that you are thinking this could happen anywhere. and it could, and it probably does. but seriously, it is this sense of entitlement, that i am better than you that i, frankly, cannot stand. some of you know that i am anxious to return home. and i am. the heat here is bearable, the boredom even tolerable, but the sense of entitlement is, well, frankly unacceptable.
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ok, on a happier note, here's some pics from the trip...
street in amman.
floating in the dead sea.
you know what these are.
at petra.
traditional masks.
the whole crew (l to r: emily, cory, me, jill, kevin)
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