Marhaba.....the Magic Word

Growing up we're taught that 'Please' and 'Thank You' are the magic words. (As I'm typing this, I can hear a song from Barney about using 'please' and 'thank you', in the back of my mind) But, I have recently learned that while 'please' and 'thank you' may be the magic words back in the states, they don't cut it here in Jordan. Here, the magic word is....."Marhaba"

"Marhaba" is just one of the many ways to say 'hello'. Arabs are really big on greetings. ANd you can never just use one, you have to use at least 5 before you can go on to have an actual conversation. It's one of those things that can get rather frustrating to Americans/Westerners, since we're all about being direct and getting down to business right away. One of my professors said that in one of the conversations he'd had, the greetings alone took 5-7 minutes. Anyway, the point is, 'marhaba' is just a greeting, and it is one of the most common ones to use, even tourists can pick it up if they pay attention. 

So, yesterday was Friday, which meant it was like Sunday, so I had church. I go to church up in Irbid, which is about an hour away from Amman. I go up there with 5 other students and we get a ride from one of the missionary couples. Yesterday we went with the Youngbirds. Brother Youngbird was driving (oh, here's a background note, Brother Youngbird is probably in his late 60s to early 70s, and he looks it. His hair is thinning and graying, he's got glasses, and really does look like a grandpa), and we're just going along the highway, when a cop motions for us to pull over. Now, we have never been pulled over before. We had 9 people in an 8 person car, so we were a little worried. Brother Youngbird rolls down the window, and the cop walks up to the car, the first thing Brother Youngbird says is, "Marhaba". The cop looks at him for a second, then nods and waves us off. We all relaxed and didn't think much of it.

Coming back, we all were really tired. We had just eaten a ton of food at a member's house (again, Arab hospitality means that they stuff you full of food, and then have you eat some more), so we all were quietly slipping into "food comas". Except for Brother Youngbird, since he was driving. Well, we were on the road for probably 15-20 minutes, when a cop motions us to the side of the road, again. So, Brother Youngbird rolls down his window and greets the cop with a "Marhaba" (granted, this definitely is with an American accent, so it's kind of like a white person trying to speak Spanish). The cop nods, says "Go ahead", and waves us on. Now, we all were awake and thinking, twice in one day? What are the odds of that? We started making jokes about how 'Marhaba' was like saying "These are not the droids you are looking for", but instead "this is not the van you are looking for". (That was a Star Wars reference, for those who didn't get it) Someone said that he should try using that instead if we got pulled over again. Well, we go along for another 15-20 minutes, when we see two cars pulled over, each one with a cop talking to the driver. One of the cops sees us, steps away from the car, and motions to us to pull over. The cop goes back to talking to the driver again for a minute before waving him on. This time there were two cops, one was in uniform, and the other was a plainclothes cop. So, we're sitting there waiting, and I looked out the front window (I get carsick, and was already sick, so I kept my eyes shut and was trying to sleep most of the time), and I could see the uniformed cop, and he did not look happy. He just looked really cranky. So, the plainclothes cop walks up to Brother Youngbird's window. Brother Youngbird rolls down his window all the way, and the cop comes over and puts his hands on the car, on the window sill (I guess is what you'd call it), and isn't really leaning in, but just standing there. And then Brother Youngbird says, "Marhaba, what can I do for you today sir". The cop looks at him, glances inside the car, then nods, steps back from the car and says, "Okay, you can go" and waves us on. As we drive past the uniformed cop, he smiles, waves at us and nods his head. It was just so flippin' weird. 

A few minutes later, we're back in Amman, and someone says, "look, that guy has an earpiece, he must be a guard or a cop". I looked over, and there was this black, Dodge Charger with three Arab guys in it, they were in suits and they had the earpieces in, just like bodyguards or security agents do. Then we passed them and now we were next to a couple on a really nice, classic Harley Davidson motorcycle, it was really obvious that the Charger was following/accompanying whoever was on the motorcycle. We couldn't really see who was on the motorcycle, since they actually had helmets on (even though a lot of people don't), but there really aren't that many people who are important enough to warrant guards like that. So, could it have been King Abdullah and Queen Rania, out for an afternoon ride? Yeah, it could've been them, I'd like to think that they're able to spend a little time doing something normal.  

Anyway, so, somehow we defied the odds yesterday. Getting pulled over three times and each time being waved on. Moral of the story is, 'marhaba' is the real magic word. ;)