What I Learned About Jordan

Bashir and Dima at their farm

People are friendly

“Welcome to Jordan!” We heard it from everyone we met, our hosts, taxi drivers, shop-keepers, the man who made the pizzas at the bottom of our street. And Jordanians truly mean it. They are very proud to serve you and show their hospitality. Our hosts, Dima and her parents Bashir and Abla, took us into their home like old friends, driving us all over the place, translating when needed and cooking fantastic food for us. When our guide’s car got a flat tire, every car that passed asked if we needed help. We found that people go out of their way to be generous.

Jordan Ladies do lunch

Full plates and lots of laughs

I was thrilled to be invited out with Alba to her regular Tuesday ladies’ lunch. They rotate between houses and spend a couple of hours drinking tea, eating amazing home-prepared food and talk about, what else, children, husbands and recipes! Not so different from home except for the animated discussion about maids. Couldn’t really participate in that one!

With our lunch host

Beauty not Burqas

Very few women are dressed in full burqas in Jordan but, generally, Muslim women here cover their hair and wear modest or traditional clothing. So for us that meant wearing pants below the knees and long-sleeved shirts. Melissa, very reluctantly, had to put away her short-shorts and tiny tank tops! Needless to say, teenage girls here, like everywhere, like to push the boundaries so we saw a lot of students wearing skinny jeans and tight long-sleeved tops. But the women certainly show off their visible assets with lots of make-up, jewelry, shoes and purses!

 Alhamdulillah

This Islamic phrase is used all the time. It literally means “Thanks be to God” but it is said whenever one feels blessed to ensure that Allah knows you are grateful for what you have been given in life. So it is tagged onto the end of almost every sentence – remarking on the beautiful morning, getting driving directions from a stranger, talking about your children. People here seem much more grateful for what they have than us westerners!

Driving is nuts but it works

In Jordan, they don’t even bother putting dividing lines on the roads. The main streets in Amman are very wide so cars can zigzag along as they please, jockeying for position, honking to let others know to get out of the way. But there’s a kind of order to the chaos. Heading into traffic circles, no one gives way until you move right out and assert yourself at which point the guy next to you magically gives way and you pass through a sea of cars and emerge out the other side. I can’t figure out how it works!

Going to the dogs

Jordanians just aren’t dog people. In Islam, they are seen as unclean, especially their saliva. It’s ok to have a dog to guard or herd livestock but otherwise they are kept at a distance. Stray cats, on the other hand, are everywhere – perched on dumpsters, lying on tops of walls and hiding in bushes. In Islam, cats are to be cherished but still, most people don’t own them because they like to keep their houses really clean. The kids befriended a couple of stray kittens that showed up at the house and wouldn’t leave. They were so adorable and ended up being adopted by our host so we know they’re in good hands!

Clean Inside, garbage outside

In stark contrast to the sparkling interiors of Jordanian’s homes, the streets and beautiful countryside of Jordan are marred by a sea of garbage. As a joke, Jordan’s national flower (the black iris) is said to be the black garbage bag. There is no recycling or composting and all residential garbage is thrown in dumpsters on the street (great for the cats – see above!) So coming from such a waste-conscious society, it was really hard for us to throw everything in one bag and see people tossing trash out their car windows.

All in all, we loved Jordan and the culture shock was far less then we expected. We made fantastic friends who we hope to see in Canada when they come over to visit their relatives!