“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
This is my friend Mike, getting encouraged by a downtown salesman to show off how to properly wear a traditional Jordanian kufiah in the winter time.
Throughout Amman, I keep finding pathways. Shortcuts. Openings between buildings that can barely fit a human body. Stairs leading to somewhere, or sometimes leading to nowhere. No one else but me takes them.
Of course, I know I’m not the only person who knows these paths exist. I see hints and traces of previous travelers. I find empty potato chip bags and crushed soda cans, I glimpse a wiped-clean wall that still holds traces of vulgar or overly political graffiti, and I even notice that ancient doors with dusted-over locks line the shadowy passage ways.
What do those doors lead to? Why has no one opened them for so long? Why do these pathways feel so empty and unknown? The mystery of it entices me to continue walking along their silent trails.
I prefer taking them over the main roadways. Stepping down the quiet alleyways, hearing my own steps perfectly echoed along the cracked walls as if I’m wandering through a cathedral, I feel like I know the intimate details of Amman. I feel like I’m getting to know the raw, bare, loving, familial, prayerful soul that makes the city so characteristically special.
My love for walking along these pathways reminds of my love and yearning for making a unique difference in the world around me. Call it the American tendency for rugged individualism, but this urge to improve people’s lives using my interests and skills is the main motivation for why I’m here in this city. I keep thinking and wondering how I can possibly create a beneficial change with a combined love for geology and Arabic.
Well, here I am, studying Arabic and getting ready to embark on a nine-month long research initiative to better understand the seismic history of the region. Well, I suppose, if I want to make a truly unique, positive impression, I can’t expect the path to be entirely clear. I need to discover it, realize that it’s a possibility, and take the risk of going down it.
