AMMAN — Home is where the heart is for Natalia Papadopoulou,
a social media influencer of European origins.
Papadopoulou, also known as “Ajnabiyeh” (meaning “foreigner”
in Arabic), is a 23-year-old content creator living in Jordan alongside her
Greek father and Polish mother. She moved to Jordan with her family when she
was a child because of her father’s job, but never had the chance to learn or
speak Arabic because of the societal “bubble” she found herself in. Although
her friends at the American Community School were all of Jordanian origins,
they only spoke English.
اضافة اعلان
Papadopoulou, who has over 2 million followers on
TikTok,
enjoyed living in her new home but she faced a few problems regarding the
cultural expectations that she said Jordanians have about foreigners.
“I had to
face this whole stigma that people have against foreigners that I did not know
they had,” she said. “I had to experience the whole thing firsthand.”
Papadopoulou moved to London in 2016 to pursue her studies
but soon discovered that she had an unbreakable bond with the country in which
she grew up. In an interview with
Jordan News, she said that she felt “homesick
the minute she boarded the plane.”
Knowing that she wanted to stay in Jordan, Papadopoulou
realized that she had to improve her Arabic — which is why she turned to social
media. In order to learn how to properly speak the language, she developed a
strategy.
“Something that really helped me improve my Arabic was that I made
sure to post all of my content in Arabic,” she said. “Even if I make mistakes,
I have fans and friends who are always correcting me and helping me out.”
Soon enough, she grew a large following on TikTok and
Instagram who enjoyed helping and correcting her linguistic mistakes.
Eventually, she went viral for her efforts to learn the language and the deep
love she displayed for Jordan.
Growing up, Papadopoulou was very self-conscious and
suffered from stage fright, but creating videos on social media helped her gain
confidence and overcome her anxieties. She found a source of happiness in
connecting with people and is always motivated to craft more content, she said.
The young influencer is already planning to set up a few
businesses in Jordan in the future, but she has not launched any of them yet.
She hopes to implement ideas that serve the local community, such as supporting
small businesses in Jordan, creating local products, and employing women in
impoverished areas.
She used to volunteer at Jerash Camp, a Palestinian refugee
camp. However, “I never really publicized my humanitarian work,” she said. “I
always felt like it was something personal.”
Empowering women is another mission in which the young
influencer wishes to invest her time.
“I would like to be of help in employing
women in smaller areas of Jordan,” she said. “I also want to help empower
women, because I feel there is this stigma around girls taking risks and
speaking about what they believe.”
“Do not be afraid to
take risks,” she said. “You might get hated on and people might say things that
are untrue about you, but if you keep on going and don’t let that affect you,
you achieve amazing things in your life.”
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