Discovering love by discovering the world

aejo1991 — Tue, 8 Sep 2015 19:25:49 GMT

I come from a family lacking adventurous spirits. My parents had never traveled outside of the U.S. -- with the exception of Caribbean islands for resort getaways. So, to my mother, my desire to do an alternative spring break in Jamaica (teaching schoolchildren) and a month-long journalism study abroad in Amman, Jordan, was inspiring. To my father, it was crazy. But I convinced them to let me go despite their reservations and uncertainty, and it was the best battle I ever fought.
For one, because hopefully by broadening my horizons, I can broaden theirs. But perhaps more selfishly, because those were incredible experiences that ignited a passion for travel. There's nothing more captivating than stepping into a world outside your own -- meeting new people, getting immersed in a different culture.
You should choose me because that is the opportunity you are offering and I will appreciate it with every ounce of my heart and soul. In addition to having the desire to get to know Colombia myself, I would also love to tell the story of Bogotá and its people to others, and I have the experience to do the job well. I have a thing or two to learn about film-making but I am a born storyteller. It's been a part of who I am for my whole life and in my budding career as a reporter, I excel in interviews and thrive on meeting unique people and learning new things. You should choose me because I have a lot to offer and am eager to learn more.

A Bedouin wedding in the Badia

aejo1991 — Wed, 27 May 2015 13:24:27 GMT

It was a warm, sunny day. The perfect day for a wedding, or in the case of my classmate and I, to crash a wedding. We were on day two of our three-day stay with a Bedouin family in the Jordan Badia when our host father invited us to tag along to a local wedding. So, we dressed in our best (or at least most appropriate and cleanest) outfits, piled into Papa Bedouin's black, old car and headed out. We didn't know what to expect, but what we got was one of the best experiences of my month-long study abroad in Jordan.

The guests welcomed us with open arms, immediately including us in the celebration. The men primarily wore white floor-length tunics and bright red and white keffiyahs, a cloth worn as a head piece or scarf, and most of the women donned the traditional jilbab, a long, loose-fitting dress, and hijab, a veil or scarf-like head wrap — some wore neutral blacks and grays, some more vibrant pinks and purples. The men and women were completely separated. They ate in different outdoor pavilions and danced in different rooms. There was no mingling, so the Bedouin boys had to wonder about us American girls from a distance. And wonder they did. Everyone was curious about us, especially the children. Some took to us right away, offering up flowers for our hair and bringing us around like we were treasure they'd found. Some hid behind their mothers, who then gave us warm, apologetic smiles.

At some point we ate mansaf, a dish of lamb and rice cooked with spices and pita, served to us by the bare hands of a plump elderly woman from a massive plate which people grabbed chunks of meat off of as it was passed around. Then, we were brought inside a tan building to a black and white, open room to see the beautiful bride, who was dressed in a flowing white gown and adorned with elegant jewelry and makeup. She was sitting on a throne-like red chair watching the women dance to upbeat Arabian music. Then, we too, danced. Not well, but the women were patient and let us stay in their dance circle anyway.

I may not have left that wedding understanding how to dance to Arabian music, but I did understand a piece of the Bedouin culture and felt I had been fully immersed in it. Being part of a stranger's special day like that, welcomed as one of their own, was truly special. At that wedding, in the Badia, I may have been an outsider, but in that time, I lived as a Bedouin. I was embedded into their lives, just as that experience will forever be embedded in my memory.

White Wedding

Discovering love by discovering the world

A Bedouin wedding in the Badia