The War in Iraq from Jordan

It did not take long for Annamarie and I to experience the great difference between the effects of the war in Iraq from Jordan--a country a that borders Iraq--as opposed to America, a country 6000 miles away. Although both Iraqis and Americans continue to die every day in this war, in the States it seems that after three years, as a "news story" it has mostly faded into the background. It has in a sense become like a fan in the summertime that runs continually. It's noisy at first, but after a while it just blends in with the rest of the noise and becomes part of your life. You notice it only if everything else is quiet, or if it gets turned up one or two notches above its usual setting.

Here, though, it is impossible to avoid the war, whether it be in the daily news or in every day experiences. For example, an organization called the Jordanian-Iraqi Resettlement Project is not far from our new home, and black-robed Iraqi widows--sitting cross-legged on the pavement while selling cigarettes, tissue or other small items--are an ubiquitous presence in many market areas.

In our own small way, however, we experienced the impact of the war in Iraq while scouring Amman for an apartment. As we wrote in our previous posting, various sources indicate that around one million Iraqis have fled to Jordan over the past three years, and as we searched the city for a place to live, the influx of such Iraqis was a constant refrain from nearly every person we spoke to. First, our ex-patriot friends warned us that rental prices for apartments had increased because so many Iraqis--many of them wealthy or at least middle class--had come and rented or bought apartments. Then our Jordanian friends gave us the same information. At the same time, we found it difficult to find an unfurnished apartment because so many landlords were setting up furnished places in order to rent to those coming from Iraq. Such people are, perhaps, hoping not to stay long.

More concretely, though, we experienced the impact of the war as we came across Iraqis on our apartment search. One time, for instance, after ringing the front door of a building to ask about potential vacancies, we were greeted by a young Iraqi man whose large family lived on the first floor. They were indeed moving soon, he said, but the apartment was furnished, which we did not want. Another time we actually found ourselves in competition for an apartment with a group of Iraqi men. We just happened to arrive to ask about a certain third floor apartment five minutes before they did, and they waited patiently on the street while we looked at it with the landlord. We had a friendly chat with them afterwards, and then they went up to see it. Whether they rented it or not we don't know.

Finally, just a few blocks away from this building we stopped at another building to ask about vacancies. This time we were greeted by an elderly Iraqi doctor who said he had come to Jordan to escape the violence in his homeland. He and his family were actually moving again the next day to a place that was being built, but as usual, the apartment they were leaving was furnished. He had come to Jordan with his sons--we're not sure about his wife--but he left his daughter at home so she could finish university. To make her leave, he said, would cause her hard work to go for naught. We chatted about the situation in Iraq for a few more minutes, during which time his countenance dropped and his voice grew sad and resigned. He said he had hoped that Iraq would become like Europe after World War II, which was equalldevastateded but grew again with America's help. Iraq, though, he said, was instead getting worse, as the hopelessness in his voice could attest to. "It is civil war," he said. We told him we were sorry for what was happening in his country.

At this point it was getting late, and after a few more minutes we told him we needed to go. He bid us goodbye, and invited us back for tea the next morning. We could not come, however, as our search for an apartment would need to continue. As we learned, though, because of the impact of the war, it was a search that many were undertaking along with us.