“‘Cause, baby, you’re a firework
Come on, show ’em what you’re worth
Make ’em go, “Oh, oh, oh”
As you shoot across the sky”
Katy Perry’s immortal poetry (*sarcasm?*) was running through my head all weekend, from my home in Amman, Jordan, as we experienced the very Middle Eastern version of a fireworks show that none of us wanted.
Fridays are the start of the weekend in Jordan, and this Friday, the 13th of June, started out like how most us prefer to start our weekends: Sleeping In! So, at 9:30am when my half asleep mind started hearing a siren, it took me a moment to realize what was happening. But once that happened, jump out of bed I did!
I walked out of my front door to the sound of what could only be one thing: an air raid siren. It was the first time I’ve ever heard one, even though this is the 3rd time that Israel and Iran lobbed missiles at each other since I’ve been in Jordan.
It was… disconcerting. The only response was to turn on the news to see what is happening.
Israel had been threatening to bomb Iran for a few days, and we had heard that the US had withdrawn non-essential staff from embassies around the region. This threat now became real.
I’ve described living in Jordan as being in the eye of a hurricane: calm, stable and easy in the midst of a hell of a lot of chaos. This weekend was no different, and there is no better example than to share what my weekend looked like, in between missile strikes.*
I had grand plans for the weekend, taking advantage of the car I rented, to get out of Amman and have some adventures. So waking up to sirens on Friday morning threw a bit of a spanner into the works (as we say). Would this impact plans? Should it?
Based on experiences from the previous times this happened, we knew that the risk of any direct hits in Amman was limited, the greater risk is falling debris. So again, should this impact plans?
In particular, on Friday, I had planned to travel to Umm Qais, which is at the very northern tip of Jordan, overlooking the Sea of Galilee, Syria, Palestine and Lebanon. It’s one of my favorite places, where you can wander around Roman ruins that are over 2000 years old and have a delicious lunch with a view, as a witness to the history, beauty and culture of this complex region.
Around 11:30am, the sirens sounded again, indicating an end to this phase of the escalation. We discussed and said, you know what, let’s try! If Jordanian officials stop us along the road, we will just turn around and head back home. What’s the harm?
And off to Umm Qais we went!
It’s about a 2 hour drive to and from, and we spent a lovely 4 hours traversing where the Romans walked, eating a lovely lunch with a cold beer and a view, and enjoying a perfectly temperate summer day.
As we were heading back to Amman, we received an alert that the airstrikes had started again. We arrived back at the house after 8pm, glued back to the news. Ok, there may have also been some sky spotting involved as well.
(Sky spotting = sitting in your garden or balcony watching the light trails of the “fireworks”)
And then I went to bed! Missiles flying overhead, sirens at alert, and I’m cozy in my bed, exhausted from the sun, walking and drive during the day.
I woke around 1:30am to sounds of explosions and the shaking windows in my room. I’m not sure if it woke me up, or if I was already half-awake before it happened, but no matter. I recalled this from the previous experiences, that as the Jordanian air force intercepts the missiles and explodes them overhead, it can cause a reaction on the ground.
Again, the risk isn’t massive, but there is a risk of falling debris. I walked out into the garden briefly, but as security professionals inform you, in cases like this, the safest place is inside away from windows. And it’s 1:30 in the morning, so back to cozy bed I head, sleeping through the rest of the night. What other option did I have (or at least that was the only option I considered).
Saturday started off quiet, reports that there was a pause in strikes, leading Amman to get back to its normal programming: running errands, grocery shopping, eating and doing whatever people do on a Saturday. For me? Friends and I decided, yet again, that it’s really not a bad idea to head closer to the border of occupied Palestine for a beer with a view at our local brewery.
Although we did not have views directly to Palestine, we had a gorgeous sunset, a few beers from the source (!), before heading back to Amman at around 9:30pm.
As we were driving back into the city, we received yet another alert of more strikes passing overhead, these ones threatening to be heavier and more destructive than before. Friends shared videos of the intensity of the most recent fireworks show, which was indeed appeared more powerful than before.
We received the all clear at around midnight, which gave us enough time to get to bed before it all started up again.
Living in this region is an experience, both in good and bad ways. It becomes easier to see how interlinked decisions made in northern capitals are to the direct day-to-day life of the average citizen. You experience feelings of surrealism, fear, complacency, and normalization – sometimes all at the same time! You become glued to the news, paying minute attention to any and all actions, press conferences, announcements. You hope for the best, but the realistic, evidence-based part of you focuses on the realistic and the likely.
And at the end of it, you have to make the decision – will I let this impact how I live my life? Should I?
For right now, at this moment in time, at least in Jordan, the answer is – I will keep living and moving forward.
Because what else is there to do?
*Postscript: even while I was writing this, at the cafe in my local park, the air raid sirens went off, meaning missiles are in Jordanian airspace. No one reacted. Desensitized already?
Angela was born and raised in the United States, but has spent the last 15 years of her life travelling around the globe as a humanitarian, responding to some of the world worst crises. She spent the last 11 years of her life travelling around the Middle East, supporting the humanitarian crisis in Syria. All of this work only spurred on her love of travel. Angela has now been to almost 50 countries, 8 of which are in the Middle East region. Yalla Habibti was born out of a deep love for the Middle East, and a desire to bring the beauty, history and culture of this region to encourage more women to visit! Angela still works full time as a humanitarian as well as providing advice and recommendations here on Yalla Habibti.
