"Behind the Ministry of Finance"

I have lamented before about the lack of addresses in Jordan. When one is invited to a party one is usually given a map with landmarks and no street names – we happen to live near a bank and mosque which helps people find us.

I was assigned this week to develop my department’s guest list for an upcoming party and was asked to provide addresses. I started gathering names and realized that in our office’s online shared address book – we don’t record addresses. As I looked at my collection of business cards, I saw that Jordanian business cards rarely have an address and even then only have a PO Box although very few things of importance (and this includes party invitations) are sent via the mail. The lone exceptions were the business cards I had for companies in the shipping business who must contend daily with the lack of addresses. In true Jordanian style as I started filling in the address field of the guest list some of my addresses were “above the fast food restaurants near the Kempinski hotel” and “behind the Ministry of Finance.” For some places, like the Ministry of Finance I just wrote “Ministry of Finance” which I am sure the drivers (who will deliver the invitations) know – because otherwise how would they deliver things to offices that are behind the Ministry of Finance.