I continue to learn.

Last night I sat outside with a Jordanian who is visiting his home country. He has given me many detail about what his neighborhood was like when he was growing up and how he perceives it today. He is very sad about the way Amman has grown and has become like the United Nations. He hardly recognizes any native Jordanians any more.

We took on an endeavor while watching the chaos of automobile drivers. He won't even drive in the country because it is too scary and unsafe. We decided to look for those drivers, especially taxi drivers, who wear eye glasses. On our rough estimate, one out of twenty-five drivers wear glasses. He says that they are a symbol of weakness to show that you cannot see well. No wonder why they don't drive well. They can't see and it is not like they are wearing contact lenses. Maybe making eye glasses more universally will be the start of solving the problem.

We also noted that no one seems to have an idea of going into reverse. Cars make sweeping turns onto side streets to reverse directions, but very few will actually put the car into reverse. You might as well remove the rear view mirrors from cars because no one pays attention to anyone who is behind the. All that matters is moving forward. I wonder how this type of thinking factors into processes of reconciliation or peace-making efforts. No wonder Jesus said, "Blessed are the peace makers." They are rare indeed.

The other unusual thing I learned is that families marry their children off. Civil government does not get involved in marriages, but families draw up contracts and the signing ceremony (if one can call it that) is done in the home. Afterwards people will go to a hotel for a party. However, divorces need to proceed through the courts. I can see why divorces are so unacceptable because it means breaking apart two united families.