I went to Jordan in March of 2021 as a favor for a friend. I was Albania at the time there was Toyota commercial shoot coming up and he was unable to get Jordan due to covid. I had never worked on any thing to do with filming, but if you know me I am down for any new adventure. I had been in the middle east off and on for a few years, so there was no culture shock.
I call Mohammed and told him I was there. He said walk outside and he would meet me. I stood there for a few minutes and I was like where is this man? He comes running up and my first impression is dude you could have shaved and he was shorter than I thought but, he had a lot of energy. I was thinking what I had gotten myself in to. I think he wanted to hug me, but this was a very Muslim based country and any type public display of affections is very much frowned upon. So he grabs my bag and said lets go. We throw my stuff in the car and we take off. Then I see all the guards with m16s pretty much every fifty feet. I have never seen an airport so secure and I have been to war zones.
We leave the airport and continue to see a huge police presence. I am asking questions why such a huge military and police presence. He says it is for security. Jordanians see Israel as enemy though there is a peace treaty that has stood for 25 years. A lot of the differences has to do with land rights, water rights and the treatment of the Palestine’s. After spending time in the country I also feel that the presence is to make the government remind the people who is in control.
According to the Fair Observer since 2011 Jordan has been facing many issues with political, economic, security and military mainly to do with the refugees from Palestine, Iraq and Syria. The other concern is the Jordan currently appears fragile on many levels and this leads to greater security risk.
So I am leaving the airport with Mohammed and he pulls over on the side the road and was like your very pretty. At this point I am really thinking this is getting really awkward. I am like thank you and I quickly change the subject and ask where we are going? He replies we are going to eat. I am thank the lord something normal. I know you might think I am bit crazy at this point. Jumping on a plane and proceeding to get in to a strangers car but I have always been a bit of an adventurer. Boy oh boy was I in for an adventure. So we go eat some really awesome lamb and the best tea I had ever had. We finish up eating and he said we are heading to the hotel. I am thinking I am going to be so happy to get to my room and rest after two days of traveling. I was in for a bit of a surprise we were sharing a room. The hotel was fully booked.
So I start asking questions like is this legal in this country? I did not want to be taken out back and stoned. Being in a Middle East an extreme Muslim country you must think of these things. I have been in four Middle East countries so I do have an idea what to except. Going back to the room situation. I was thankful for separate beds. Sometimes you just have to deal with things as they are. I was there to do a job. The military taught me to adapt and overcome, but little did I know this would mean a great deal on this trip. I had never shared a room with anyone of the Muslim faith. The first night I did not sleep well because I just pretty much in aw what is really happening but on the second night it was not so bad. The first full day of work. I had so many things thrown at me. Like the director is coming in and we need to make him and his daughter comfortable. Then there was a checklist of things that needed to be done. Get sim cards for everyone and oh yea find a 12 foot trampoline in Jordan. Let’s get one thing settled the most Jordanians do not know what a trampoline is and how to find one. I sent many pictures to my fixer but he was lost. I decided I need to find this myself. Logic told me to start with toy stores. Stores here are not a shop all stores like Walmart. It is more a bit of luck. I found a toy store that could get one from outside Amman and have it delivered to the hotel. You heard me right the hotel. I was like ok. Not to many other choices. I did get the job done and it was delivered and all parties were happy.
It was now time to leave Amman and head to the Wadi desert. I really had no time to research these places but I was excited to see the desert. The drive from Amman to the Wadi desert is 300 km so takes about three and half hours. The terrain is dry and rocky. The weather in Jordan is spring like. Some days cold and others mild. I slept most of the way. I was really tired at this point.
So it was time to go off road 4x4 ing l.. We turn off the main road and head into a village where we will meet a cleric. The group of seven us will have tea and share a meal. This is a great honor to be invited in to a Bedian cleric home. The Bedian whiskey is very sugary yummy tea. Yes I loved it. The meal consisted of meat goat or lamb, rice, Arabic salad, and Arabic bread. It is very common to smoke with the group so I did. Normally I don’t but in this country is the standard. My fixer smoked seven packs in one day.
We left the dinner and we head in to the desert. There was a beautiful sunset and we would stop to take a chance to take some amazing pictures. I had never seen a desert be so reddish orange and pretty. I could only be thankful for being there, but we need to practice driving for the commercial shoot. So it was time to have fun with the 4x4’s and drive with a need for speed thru the sand dunes. It was also a great ice breaker to get know everyone.
We headed to the Bumble Hotel. It looks like you are staying on mars. The dome shape rooms with the structure being completely round. Each room was spaced a 100 feet apart and each had its on deck and sitting area.
I found the people to gracious, friendly and open to conversation. At the same time there was a lot of different opinions about religion and political affairs. I really tried to avoid these conversations. Once someone hears I use to be in the US Army they want to know if I killed Iraqis and my simple answer was that was not my reasoning to be there. I had a different mission entirely.
I was here to shoot a commercial and I played so many different roles. I honestly do not even know what my job title was, but at times I felt like the manager, the bookie and the peace keeper. At one point in time a was carrying around a backpack full with 750,000 Jordanian dollars . That is about 1,057,827.00 US Dollars. This is an all cash society so this where I felt like a bookie. Every night I would be in my room breaking money down into envelopes to pay people the next day. I still cannot believe it to this day .
There were so many perks to the job. I was able to work along so famous photographers, drive some crazy vehicles, make so crazy new friends and even was able to see Petra without a single sole in it.
Petra became on the seven wonders of the world in 2007, but it is rich history.
Thousands of years ago, between 400BCE and 106CE, the now-abandoned red-rose city was thriving as a trading center and the capital of the glorious Nabateans empire. For hundreds of years, the buried gem of Jordan was unknown to the West, until a European traveler disguised himself as a Bedouin and secretly infiltrated the city, and revealed its mystery to the world. The Nabateans inhabited Petra since 312BCE, long before the emergence of the Roman empire. At that time, the Nabateans controlled the trading route which stretched from the West Bank to Jordan and onwards to the northern border of the Arabian peninsula. They occupied the largest part of the Levant, and left behind transport and irrigation technologies that can still be seen in full function today. Being able to visit it with just the crew was beyond stunning.
This was Gabaah my fixer. My side job was to keep him on task. I took this task on like a military mission, because at times he would only listen to me. I can be direct so every day I gave him a task list and yes I reminded him a million times a day to get stuff done and most days it was successful and others I went bat crazy. One day he said we need to go dig a whole in the middle of the canyon. I am like why and he said for the water shoot tomorrow. I am like isn't there a tractor or something to do it. He said it didn't show up. He takes six of us out there to this spot and says start digging. I am like this not in my job description and i was told it is now. Thank the lord a tractor show up shortly. The next morning we are out before dawn getting ready for the shoot and the hole was completely filled in. The locals filled it in over night . Lets say the water shoot did not happen there. Still a funny story to this day.
This was the dug hole but this lady in the next picture popped up out of no where. She scared me to death because I had no idea what she wanted. Gabbaah said she is local pay her no mind. Maybe I should of paid her some mind.
After the shoot was finally over a few of decided to do some sight seeing. Gabbaah took us all over the country but the very last place he took us was to a refuge camp Zarqa Camp Zarqa camp is the oldest Palestine refugee camp in Jordan. One of the four camps established in the country to accommodate the refugees who left Palestine as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, it was set up near the town of Zarqa by the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1949. It originally housed 8,000 refugees in an area of 0.18 square km.
I found this to be a very sad place. I had seen many of the same situations in Iraq. These people are just stuck in a middle of war with no end. I am still surprised he even took us here.
I have been asked if I would return to Jordan? I have been offered jobs since leaving, but I have turned them down. It was an over all great experience and I have many friends there but there were down sides. That is normal for most things in life though. I can appreciate the opportunity I was given .
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