What You Wish For: A Jordan love story

CHAPTER 1: Page 1

It was a peaceful Saturday evening and Elle loved it.

The orange skies over Amman reminded her of the quiet evenings she spent in Boston, sitting next to the harbor, wishing she had someone to spend those moments with.

"For a country filled with deserts you'd think it would be a bit warmer" she grumbled to herself as she picked up her jacket and bag and headed out the door.

Tonight was the Karama Human Rights Film Festival and Elle was looking forward to it. Her six month "adventure" was halfway over and she still hadn't done much with her time here beyond going to her beginner Arabic classes every Tuesday and Thursday.

As she stepped out the front door of her Airbnb, her phone vibrated with the number of her taxi flashing across the screen. She decided to let the phone go to voicemail as she locked the door and secured her jacket and bag on her shoulder, to her, as long as she knew the driver was outside waiting for her, the next time they speak should be face to face in the next sixty or so seconds.

Her taxi driver was an older man who looked to be around fifty years her senior and a foot shorter than she was. "Salam" she said with a polite smile as the driver opened her door for her and she slid into the car that looked to be almost as old as she was.

"Salam Ms. Elle" the old man said, closing the door behind her. Elle knew that Jordan was a safe country, however she wished she had someone to share the festival experience with, especially as this would be the latest she would be outside her Airbnb since she first landed in Amman three months ago.

Her taxi driver recited the address to the festival and with a nod of her head they were off.

To her gratitude the driver barely spoke. Elle silently looked out her window of the car while getting lost deep in thought, her favorite activity to do. As they got closer to the city center the car passed billboards of the King and the Crown Prince; Elle could not help but feel the butterflies in her stomach flutter with every twelve foot pearly white smile she passed of the the Crown Prince. It had been years since she had been envisioning herself as the future Queen of Jordan and now that she was in the land she had under her figurative rule for the past three years the gravity of possibilities twisted her stomach into knots.

The architectural designs of the buildings outside her window began to change so she knew they were getting closer to the city center, then the emptiness hit her. She hated that she had nobody to share tonight with but she hated even more that she would not be sharing the night with the Crown Prince. She secretly wished that the prince would be at tonight's festival, however she was certain she would have overheard at least one person mention it throughout the week if he was set to attend. As she got comfortable in her imagery of the prince smiling down at her from the festival stage a sly smile spread across her face, drawing the attention of her driver who had not spoken until now.

"You in Urdun long?" he asked with his broken English and crooked smile.

"I guess so. A few months." Elle replied in half sentences hoping the man would understand her.

"Why Urdun?" the curious man asked, his thick accent coating each word.

"School." Elle said with a smile. Her stay in Jordan was actually a vacation, however she decided to extend her stay to gain some culture and take a quick course course in beginner Arabic. In her eyes, the man did not need to know those little details; Elle convinced herself that if he believed she was in Jordan for university rather than a vacation he would have second thoughts about scamming or kidnapping her. She hated that she thought this about the seemingly harmless old man but as a young woman alone in a foreign country she would rather be safe than sorry.

"America?" the man asked excitedly, but that question only brought Elle a stab of loneliness. Elle had not felt at home anywhere she had lived so no matter her answer she knew her gut would consider it a lie.

"Yes, America. I'm going to the theater festival tonight, I'm hoping to learn more about Jordanian culture before I go back." She babbled, hoping to take the man's attention away from her life and focus it on his own. Jordanians love giving foreigners advice on places they should visit and this driver was no different. For the remainder of the car ride the driver filled her with his recommendations of restaurants and historical sites he proclaimed to be "very good!"

Elle kept a polite smile on her face as the man shared countless stories of his trips to these places as a child, all the while being grateful that he did not turn out to be a creep. He may not have been her prince, but his company was appreciated.