A woman ushers me into her home, insisting that I have to take something to drink, fighting me until I relent. Many experiences in Jordan have felt new and different to me, but this perhaps felt the most like home; it felt like a sweet southern lady wanting to show as much hospitality as possible. As soon as we stepped into the house of one of our supervisors, his mother did not stop entertaining us with delicious food, coffee fortune telling, and dream interpretation. She was an eccentric character, one would have to be to name a kitten ‘Putin,’ and having guests to entertain lit up her face for our entire stay.

I felt like a member of this tight knit family as we all sat around as she shared stories of the prophets. To me these were the Bible stories I had heard my entire childhood, from similar sweet ladies teaching me Sunday school. She recounted the stories of Joseph and Jesus, and even took a detour at one point to share her thoughts on the Lord of the Rings trilogy. At this moment the idea of similarity really began to speak to me. I feel as though most people from my small town of 2000 at the very best see Muslims as a people far different from themselves, and at the worst embrace racist and xenophobic beliefs. This idea of incompatible difference completely crumbled to the ground as this woman shared the same religious history and convictions towards kindness and hospitality that had always been emphasized to me growing up. 

My whole life I was taught to believe that Muslims, especially those in the Middle East, are so vastly different from me, but nothing could prove these statements more wrong than the kindness and friendship of one sweet Jordanian woman. As humans we like to divide ourselves into groups, because it makes the world easier to understand, but the truth is that we are all complexly interconnected and its beauty is worth the complexity. Hopefully I’ll remember this interaction and realization next time I see a news headline about Putin, or on my next viewing of the Lord of the Rings.