So as we travel around the country, we continue to run into locals. As in trips past, the locals are always so incredibly friendly. Today we arrived in Madaba and after dinner, Leah and I had the chance to quickly walk around the city. As we walked past the shops, the majority of the locals on the side of the street would wave and say welcome to Jordan. They always ask how our stay has been going and offer us tea or coffee. But it doesn’t come across as if they only want business from us, it appears to be more that they are concerned with how we like our stay in Jordan. It’s amazing what a simple smile and welcome can do. It’s sad that America has such a distorted view of the Middle East, the people here are so friendly. Now of course there are those that are not the most welcoming, and those are unfortunately the minority that have begun to form the image of Middle Eastern countries for many Americans.

The other day we had the opportunity to visit a Date Farm and we were able to talk with the manager of the farm. Afterwards, he invited us up to his office and offered us dates and told us all about the company. When we asked for some of their soil data, he immediately called up the head technician and had him bring up any data he could find related to the agricultural production. It was awesome to see how willing they were to open up and teach us about their business because we were students. Talking to us hardly benefitted his company yet he was willing to go above and beyond to show us everything about the operation. There’s something about the people’s pride here.

I’ve been reading a book during the trip called “Out of Poverty” and it is about the approach a group called IDE, International Development Enterprises, takes to providing assistance to dollar-a-day one-acreage farmers. In the book, he talks about how the method he sees as being most effective to end poverty is by allowing poor people to buy their way out of poverty. Rather than have outside agencies donate money into the communities, he feels that poor rural people need to use their own money to invest in technologies and methods which allow them to increase their income. In doing so, they develop a sense of ownership over their business or farm. This ownership turns into pride and the individual is more likely to maintain what they have invested in and ensure that it lasts into the future.

That same principle can be seen here in Jordan, much more so than the US. Whether the person is a street-side shop owner, to a tourist police, to the guy who hands you your towel in the bathroom; everyone here is so proud of what they have built up and what they are able to do. It’s an interesting contrast to the US where many of us feel that too many jobs are beneath us. We always have the desire to have the corner office or manager position, that we overlook the jobs required to reach those positions. When we develop mindsets such as these, we also tend to overlook the people being placed in front of us because of the current job we have. For the street-side shop owner, that business allows him to interact with hundreds of people daily who walk by on the street. And from the way he welcomes each of us as complete strangers on the streets; it appears that he values that opportunity with the highest of responsibilities. I hope to take back this same mentality with me to the states.