A BYU Jordan Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a very "American" holiday. But, everyone seems to know about it or at least has heard about it. Unfortunately we didn't get a long Thanksgiving break like everyone back in the States, but this year's Thanksgiving was extra special.

This little guy has nothing to do with anything. I saw him on my way home from school, he was so small he would've fit into my hand, and he was so fluffy I was going to die (name that movie) anyway, I thought I'd include him because he's so  adorable ;) 

First off, we had two Thanksgiving's. Really, how many people get that? And going to multiple Thanksgiving dinners doesn't count. Our first Thanksgiving was on November 15th. This also happened to be the Islamic New Year, so we did get school off that day. Well, alright we still had class, but it was only one class. For the afternoon, Dil's wife and the other wives organized a Thanksgiving dinner for all of us and the 4 missionary couples (two of them just arrived here within the last month). It was a blast. One of the guys here, Scott, isn't actually taking classes. He's doing research for one of the other professors at BYU, and does a lot of filming for documentation. So, during the dinner, he went around and asked everyone what they were thankful for and put it into a film, whose link I included so you can watch it.

BYU Jordan is Grateful For....

**There are a lot of inside jokes that are mentioned (like my comment), so don't worry if you don't completely understand everything

In case you didn't notice the date of our Thanksgiving, this was the weekend when the mass protests were going on in Jordan and Hamas and Israel were bombing each other. So, for the weekend we at first were just on "city lock down", meaning we couldn't travel anywhere outside the city or the places where the protests were happening. Then, after we found out that some people had been killed during one of the protests (in a different city, I think. But there were people injured in Amman) we were put on total lock down. This meant that we couldn't leave our apartment unless we were with a guy and were allowed to go to each other's apartments and to the nearby stores, only. This also meant that church on Friday was cancelled. So, we had a long weekend (and we were supposed to go up to a place called Umm Qays) and we had to spend it in our apartments. It felt like one of the longest weekends in my life. But, I do understand the seriousness of what was going on, and why we took such extreme security measures. However, that doesn't mean I had to like it.  

Our second Thanksgiving was yesterday, the 22nd. This one wasn't big and fancy, there wasn't a turkey or any huge meal, but it was an amazing Thanksgiving. Last week's Thanksgiving was "the fun Thanksgiving", but yesterday's was the "serious/real Thanksgiving". 

I've mentioned the anti-smoking puppet show (just a few times) and I've posted the video for it in one of my other posts. Well, we were asked to do another puppet show, one that was just as, if not more, important. This puppet show wasn't on smoking, it was on hygiene  more specifically it was about germs, and the importance of washing your hands. We were asked to perform this puppet show for the children in the Zataari camp for Syrian refugees. Because people are living in such close quarters and in very primitive conditions, disease abounds in the camp. The camp directors and the Ministry of Health people thought that the puppet show would really have an effect on the kids, and they were the ones who really needed it. So, the missionary couple working for LDS Charities came to us and asked us to do this show as well. Of course we agreed to do it, why wouldn't we? Actually, no one hesitated in saying 'yes'.

 I was in charge of this show again (since the last one had gone so well). This time, we needed two groups, since the plan was to have two shows going on at the same time (since there are so many children, the camp overall has at least 40,000 people). The show also was a lot more involved and complicated in terms of speaking parts. So, I had to pick 10 people (5 for each group) from a list of 14 people who said they wanted a speaking part. It was really hard, and I felt like a horrible person for not being able to give everyone a speaking part. Anyway, we met, and rehearsed a lot.

 The Sunday before the show (the 18th), Dil announced in class that we weren't going to be able to go to camp Zataari. I was devastated, we all were. It turns out that there had been riots in the camp, and it wouldn't have been so bad, except that the riots were also happening at the school and kids were bringing knives to school and one boy had been stabbed several times. They don't have enough security personnel for the camp itself, and a group as large as ours would be (there are 30 students and most of the wives wanted to come, in addition to Dil, LB, and the missionary couples), they couldn't guarantee our safety, and even though we have more guys than girls, they wouldn't be enough. So, Dil said we weren't going, but that they were trying to get permission for us to go to one of the smaller camps. We kept practicing, and on Tuesday (the 20th) Dil sent me an email saying that we would be going to Cyber City, a refugee camp of about 1000 people (400 of which are kids). 

These kids were all in grubby second hand clothes, that didn't necessarily fit them. There were patches and holes in them and in some cases were pretty dirty. At least one family lives in a small room in some office buildings that had been converted into shelter for the refugees. The bathrooms don't have toilet paper, and you can't flush it down the toilet because it will clog the pipes, since the pipes and sewage system isn't very strong/good. This camp is a lot smaller than Zataari, so you never hear about it and they don't get assistance like Zataari does. They don't really have any kind of supplies for hygiene, so we brought little hygiene kits that we passed out. 

It truly was an amazing experience. One that I will never forget. Since the camp is older and smaller than Zataari, it is much better organized and looks better. They had a huge tent set up (like the mess hall tent in MASH), which is where we performed. The show was a huge success, the kids absolutely loved it. (Scott recorded the puppet show, and once he's done editing it and puts it online, I'll post the link) They loved the puppets themselves and after the show, the puppeteers went out among the kids with their puppets, playing with them. I was helping with some other stuff when I looked over and saw a big group of kids around my friend, Logan, who was one of the germs in the show. The puppet was "eating"  the kids, and really just playing with them. It was such a great feeling when I saw those kids smiling and playing. And I almost cried when I heard them laughing. 

Me and the girls in Group B
L to R: Pat, Sarah, Alex, Me, Emily, and Lucy
*I forgot to get a picture of me and Group A, but I'll find pictures of everyone at some point 

It seems a little silly, me getting emotional and near tears just from hearing kids laughing, but there's a few things you need to understand. These kids all have virtually nothing. Their homes are most likely no longer standing. They don't even have their country anymore, they didn't do anything, they just were caught in the crosshairs, and their well being wasn't thought of. They're just collateral damage. All of these kids know at least one person who has died, have at least one family member who was killed. A good amount, if not all, of them have witnessed the deaths of at least one loved one. They have seen people be killed and they, in turn, know how to kill. Some of the stories I've heard, are so horrific that the average person can't even imagine it. These children have seen more death and destruction in the past two years of their young lives than most people see in a lifetime. These kids have been permanently scarred in some way. So many things have gone wrong in their lives. They have lived through so much devastation and sadness, we cannot comprehend it. Knowing all this, having those horror stories in the back of my mind, I went to the camp and before the show, all the kids were relatively quiet, they weren't really being wild or rambunctious, but after, I was able to see them acting like regular kids, and hear them laughing. I didn't realize how much hearing that would affect me.

There was one little girl, who was probably about 3 years old, who was very shy and stood a few feet away from the back of the group, but you could tell she wanted to get closer. I saw her and prompted one of the other puppeteers to go see her specifically. When the puppeteer got her attention and the girl saw that the puppet was there to see her, she smiled so big and her face just lit up, and seeing that, I couldn't help but smile too. 

As we got onto the bus to leave, the kids kept waving and saying good-bye, since they really didn't want us to go. As the bus started pulling out, one little boy, who was probably 8 or 9, stood next to the bus and was waving at all of us. Once the bus started moving, he did too. He started out walking, then jogging, then all out sprinting alongside the bus, waving at us the whole time with a smile on his face while we waved back. He eventually had to stop, but I can still see him in my mind. 

We only spent the morning at the camp. I know we all wished we could've stayed longer. But, it really set the tone for the rest of the day, at least for me it did. It made me realize just how fortunate I am, and how many things I don't appreciate, but should. It wasn't really a big, fancy Thanksgiving this year, but that's ok, since I don't think there's any other way I would've wanted to spend it.