"Leaving Early: A Photo Essay" by Sutton Amthor
When Jordan closed its borders because of COVID-19, most of the students in my cohort were recalled to the US by their universities. Only eight of us stayed, hoping to ride out the lockdown and eventually return to our normal lives in Jordan.
After two weeks, it was clear that “normal” was a distant dream. Just speaking for myself, the combination of worrying about my family, not being able to clearly communicate with anyone in my host home, and not being able to go outside made me more than a little crazy. It was a blessing when we got the email - Qatar Airways and the US Embassy were working to arrange a flight for US citizens to get home.
In the end, all eight of us elected to leave on the flight. We filled out a series of forms, made several phone calls, panicked a lot, and, eventually, had the weirdest travel experience imaginable.
