People We've Met

The people in Jordan have been warm, inviting, and eager to meet Americans.  Women and men unselfconsciously come up to us and want to talk.  Young people learn English in school from primary school, but it’s not common to meet people who are fluent in English, even in tourist places. Our guide Nabil took us to his house to meet his wife, Rayda and she needed to be dropped off at an engagement party. 

Their home was spotless and very ornate.  She was gracious and offered us tea and cookies and she spoke no English. I was also quite surprised when she lit up a cigarette!   As we dropped off Rayda  at  the engagement party, we passed the tent where the men were gathering.  The house was a villa with a bright balloon wreath on the door.  Nabill explained the engagement process to us.  When a young couple decides they want to marry, the young woman talks to her mother, who arranges coffee with the mother of the young man.  If all is well and the bride’s mother thinks he’s “a good guy”, plans for the engagement move forward.  The engagement party has the men from both the bride and groom’s families meeting in a large tent that is set up for the occasion to get to know each other.  The women of both families meet in a family member’s house. 

The women were walking into the party with long black robes and hajabs (the scarf head covering).  As one woman walked by, her robe opened to reveal—momentarily—a very short skirt and spike heels.  As the women enter the house away from the men, they are free to remove their robes and wear anything from tight jeans, mini skirts, or in the case of Rayda, a form fitting long black rhinestone studded dress with a plunging neckline.  This is a whole family affair, children are everywhere. 

 

 

Yesterday, during our sight seeing to various Crusader castles and Roman cities, Nabil took us to a former co-worker’s house for coffee.  It was a family house of a mother and her two unmarried daughters.  Next door lived her sister-in-law and on the other side, her cousin, who joined us.  First we had a minted lemonade, then were each presented with a plate with a banana, an apple, an orange and a kiwi.  Next Turkish coffee and cookies.  We left with a 5 gallon jug full of home made olives and kumquats from their tree.  These women were friendly, outgoing, and smoke almost no English.  The younger woman who was Nabil’s friend worked as a waitress in one of the hotels in Amman.  Her mother and cousin  thought she was an accountant, and being a waitress would bring shame on her family.