There are a couple of angles I could take with this particular country wrap-up. One is: Jordan – the only country we’ve visited to be ruled by a former guest star on Star Trek (It’s true – King Abdullah is a huge fan of Star Trek and worked his connection to get an appearance on an episode of Star Trek: Voyager. Which episode? I’m glad you asked: Episode 36 – “Investigations“.
A Second Angle: Jordan, the tiny country that keeps getting bigger! Jordan borders on some, well, let’s call them “tricky” parts of the world. It has Iraq, Syria, Palestine and Israel for neighbors. When bad things happen in those countries – have you read the news in the past 60 years? – people come to Jordan for refuge. As a result it’s actually a little tricky finding a Jordanian in Jordan. There’s a constant influx of refugees so it’s sometimes easier to find an Iraqi, or Palestinian than a real Red, Green and Black Jordanian. Interesting Factoid – in 1947 Amman, the capitol, had a population of 35,000 people, today it’s 3 million – The Middle Easts pain is Jordan’s gain.
A Third Angle – Jordan, It’s Holy in three religions! It’s in the Torah, the Bible and the Koran. It’s geographically small, but full of places referenced in the Good Books of three major religions. Give yourself a week in Jordan and you’ll give yourself a refresher course in just about everything you need to know about Allah, Yahweh and JC.