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Popular Local Customs | Other Local Customs Tips | All Tips (63) If you are invited for a meal, one usually takes a small gift for the household. Take something like flowers, chocolates, biscuits or Arab pastries. Remember that it is not really polite to take something that the household would consider as being very expensive.
Hand over your gift as soon as you possibly can murmuring "this is for the house" or something similar. However much your gift is appreciated you are unlikely to receive more than a polite thank you. This is normal.
In many households people take off their shoes when entering, so wear slip on shoes or sandals in case.
If you are invited to a meal, almost certainly a spoon will be offered, don't hesitate to accept it. Everybody may eat from a common plate, take the food immediately opposite to you only. Somebody will certainly pile up "your" sector with the choicest pieces, eat what you can. When you are full, say so (no need to burp!). Water is offered at the end of the meal, drink it down quickly and hand the glass back!!
After a meal, coffee will be served, probably tea also after a short interval, or perhaps soft drinks. . In general, an invitation to supper is not necessarily an invitation to spend the evening, so after this, you should offer to leave; you will be pressed to stay, it is for you to decide how sincere this is - roughly base yourself on how animated the conversation has been, how much you are enjoying yourself, how much you think THEY are enjoying themselves
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Men should wait for a Arab woman to offer her hand and women should similarly wait for a Arab man to offer his. Many women prefer to avoid touching a man they do not know well. Many men avoid touching a woman at all if she is not related to them, in that case they may offer an elbow (!) which you should try to shake more or less as if it was a hand. I know that this sounds funny, but do it anyhow! Leave a Comment
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If you are offered coffee by anybody Bedouin related, in which I include the whole population of south Jordan, you should "shake the cup" when you give it back. Not doing so is considered to mean that you want some more! Just tilt it two or three times, slightly and quickly from side to side, holding it between finger and thumb.
When you arrive somewhere in response to an invitation or at an official reception of any kind (in which I include weddings and so forth), you will probably be greeted by a senior member of the household (or as senior as is free at that particular moment), offering you coffee. In this case, the coffee is very strong and bitter, and is just a few drops in the bottom of a handleless cup. Drink it down in one gulp (yes, I know it's also very hot!) and hand back the cup, shaking it as described above. Later, you will probably be offered "normal" coffee, but this is the welcome to the household. Very occasionally you might meet this welcome ritual in a hotel. Leave a Comment
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A woman's "capital" is the gold that she owns. She can be given small pieces when she is a girl, but usually a serious collection of gold jewellery starts when she gets married.
She receives gold from her husband as a "settlement" and often gold from her family as well. This is given at the betrothal ceremony and more is offered at the wedding.
A reasonably prosperous man will offer his daughter a gold necklace or sometimes even a collection of gold jewellery: a necklace or even two, a bracelet or several and probably ear rings and rings as well. All this she will wear at the wedding, as well as the jewellery the bridegroom gave her at the betrothal ceremony. A popular girl from a reasonably well off family will go to her bridegroom fairly dripping with all the gold she owns. This is a mark of their status.
She will almost certainly receive more from her new husband and his family. This gold and the money she receives are her personal property and it has been held a cause of divorce if a husband should take any of it without his wife's agreement. Leave a Comment
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Drinking tea : this is all over! It is polite to accept a second glass: if you don't want it, then you should smile and have a reason for not accepting. You can refuse a third glass if you want to, put your glass back on the tray, and when somebody prepares to pour you some more, place your hand palm down flat over the top of the glass. Leave a Comment
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Smoking the waterpipe (narjile) is very popular in most Jordanian bars. You can smoke plain or apple-flavoured tobacco.
The smoke is very light and cool; it's a very relaxing practice and some waterpipes are really nicely decorated handwork.
Usually there is a guy who helps to light it and replaces periodically the burning charcoals. Typical price is 1.5 €. Leave a Comment
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It is very important to remember that men and women do not touch each other unless one is the parent or the spouse.
Some people have taken on western ways, but it is the custom that a woman not shake hands when meeting a man.
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One day my driver, Jihad, a Muslim with a very obviously Muslim name, asked me if it was ok for him to take a detour, because his child had called in sick at school and he needed to be picked up. I said sure. The school was near Amman, out of the way in the countryside. As we approached it I felt it looked strangely familiar. As we entered the school gates I realised why: it was a Christian school.
"This is a Christian school", I said.
"I know", said Jihad, smiling.
It turns out that half the school is Muslim, and half Christian. All the kids, Christian and Muslim, were standing around wearing red hats and singing along to Jingle Bells in Arabic.
I stayed in Madaba, which has the largest Christian population in Jordan. Everyone I met, Christian and Muslim, was keen to point out that they all got along famously, and it did seem to be the case. While events elsewhere, in Israel and the rest of the Middle East, can work to drive a wedge between the two communities, they seem to want to live together as Arabs, rather than apart as Christians and Muslims.
Walking out of my door at 5am and hearing the calls to prayers from the Mosques, while opposite me was a shop selling alcohol and next door to that one selling sexy lingerie, told me that this wasn't a stereotypical Muslim country. Leave a Comment
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When you visit in Jerash the South Theatre is a great experience to hear the music play from this Jordanian-Scottish band. They play classic musics and Jordanian ones. It is a great experience to try the wonderful amplification of the theatre!!! Leave a Comment
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Despite all the tolerance that is its landmark, Jordan is a muslim country, where many people defend the religious restrictions and cultural uses. Mixing with other tourists is common behaviour, sometimes with a discreet reserve. But that's not hard to accept and respect. Leave a Comment
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