To enter the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Amman, Jordan, we had to pass our luggage and handbags through the x-ray screening, walk through a metal detector and then submit to a body search by female security guard holding a wand. Every time we come into the hotel, we undergo these procedures. Even if you have to run back in for a sec because you forgot something. These are vestiges of a terrorist's vicious bombing a Jordanian wedding party a few years ago that killed many and seriously damaged the hotel. While driving on the roads, our taxi drivers are frequently stopped by police to have their credentials checked. As one of our scavenges, we had to approach but not try to cross the Allenby/King Hussein Bridge from Jordan to the West Bank. Taking a photo was out of the question. The access was patrolled. We asked a taxi driver if he had ever been to Israel. He said "No. I would love to go, but I refuse to sign a paper where I ask the Israeli government for permission to visit as a tourist, when it is my own country".
But overall, the politics and the strife in the Middle East were a mere footnote to our wonderful experience visiting Jordan.
The country is beautiful and everyone I encountered was friendly, smiley, and helpful. It is a definite virtual hug when someone asks where you are from, you reply "USA" and they respond with a warm grin an emphatic thumbs-up. We even got this response many times from the highway police who stopped our taxis and leaned into the driver's window to see who is in the back seat.
I like this country.