So it's day 2 of being back in the states and jet-lag has yet to hit me. I have spent every minute since I've been back working on compiling the video from the trip and I'll just say that it is quite spectacular. It's been great to work on all the video because it has allowed me to skim through all the places we visited really quickly, and it is just incredible how many sites we were able to see in our short time.

On the flight back from Jordan, I was able to request the very last row in the plane, and happily people-watched from my back seat for a good portion of the flight. Throughout three-quarters of the trip, one Jordanian kid entertained himself by walking up and down the aisles non-stop. When flight attendants would serve food, he would follow behind them. At night when people were sleeping, he would pretend to sneak past everyone in the dark. When people slowly began waking up, he picked up the speed and threw in a few sprints up and down the aisles. He was having a blast and was able to entertain himself for 12 hours in a plane.

As I sat there watching him race through the plane, I couldn't help but think that a kid is a kid, no matter what country or culture they grew up in. And their top priority is to have fun. When we were visiting a lot of the ancient ruins, we would frequently come across kids trying to sell postcards or rocks to the visitors. It was sad that these kids had to spend their days trying to make money from tourists, but then I watched more closely. And despite the fact that these kids were caught up in the tourism of their home, they still made sure to have fun. The little boys selling donkey rides in Petra would race back and forth on the dirt roads, laughing with one another as they went. As we walked by one of the many side stands selling jewelry, a mother and her 1 year old daughter sat to the side. The daughter was fascinated with the blue stone jewelry and kept trying different pieces on. She was by far more interested in it then many of the tourists, yet she probably spent most of her days sitting at that same stand looking at the same pieces. Driving from town to town, we saw numerous pick-up soccer games taking place on the side of the road, yet none relied on an actual net or ball. At a rest stop outside of Amman, three siblings were determined to mount an unusually tall see-saw in a little park. After numerous failed attempts, they resorted to the metal slide. Climbing up it backwards with their bare feet, we were amazed that their feet didn't burn.

And kids in Africa played the same games. In Australia and Jamaica as well. Kids are consistently kids, it's a nice common comfort when traveling between different cultures.

Perhaps I notice that kids are consistent because I've been one. I haven't exactly reached adult yet and I'm still finishing up being a student. Perhaps it's easier to pick common traits out after you've gone through that stage. Regardless, it's nice to know that there are still traits that can unite cultures. Sometimes it feels that people, or perhaps Americans, don't take the time to really understand and appreciate different cultures. It's easy to ignore parts of the rest of the world because we are isolated by oceans and make do in our own little section of earth. Yet Jordan was a completely different scenario, with so many countries surrounding its' borders, Jordanians had to have an understanding of many different cultures. I know that for me before the Jordan trip, I knew very little about Middle Eastern culture, it's amazing what 2.5 weeks in Jordan did.

One of the neat things about college today is that many of your friends end up traveling and studying in some other country. Although traveling to every country in the world would be an awesome accomplishment, the odds are slightly unlikely, so it's so nice to have friends report back and share about their experience. Share about the dress and the food and the customs and sports. To bring back pictures and stories. In doing so, I have been exposed to more cultures and countries than I would have ever guessed before coming to college. The next step is to take the lessons and appreciation learned from various people's travels, and apply them to our own lives and people within them. But that's another blog post...