I recently traveled to Jordan. There were three of us. It was a 4-day budget trip, so we didn’t go too far—mostly just exploring the Amman area.

Whenever one of us wanted to go somewhere, the others had to tag along to split the taxi costs. One of my friends suggested visiting the Malaysian welfare association there. It made sense since he’s active in a similar association in Saudi (where I’m studying).

So, we ended up sitting down at a table together. One person started talking about student issues, another offered collaboration ideas, and so on.

Me? I mostly just nodded and agreed with whatever they said. I thought the plate of Arabic rice in front of me was a lot and would take a long time to finish, but their conversation went on even longer! Luckily, I sat at the end of the table, or else they might’ve caught me dozing off, hahaha.

On the way back, I complained to my other friend:

"That conversation was so boring, man. They talked for way too long, and I didn’t understand a single thing."

He just replied casually, "Haha, just relax."

Not long after, we visited an art gallery featuring local artists sharing their work. As soon as I walked in, I was mesmerized. I stopped at almost every booth because their artwork was stunning. I loved the place for two reasons:

1. They were creating art.
2. They were selling it.

These are two things I try to do myself, so seeing people like them felt like a glimpse into my future.

At one booth, I lingered for a while. The sellers were siblings. The older brother was the artist, and his younger brother was promoting the work. I stood there for quite some time.

The older brother, who was the painter, asked,

"You like what you see?"

"Yeah, a lot of these are beautiful. I like how your outlines have a unique personality," I replied.

"Exactly, I intentionally made the outlines stand out. You’ve got a good eye—you must be an artist too, right?"

"Not really. I can’t draw well, especially on paper. I’m more into digital art and graphic design, so I can relate a bit. How did you know?"

"Only an artist recognizes another artist."

Wow, I was taken aback. No one has ever called me an artist before. People sometimes call me creative, but that's usually just before they ask me to design a poster, haha. Anyway, I ended up buying one of his paintings as a keepsake.

A little later, my two friends caught up with me, looking incredibly bored. As soon as they saw me, they exclaimed:

"Finally, we found you! What were you doing for so long? There’s nothing here. SO BORING!"