Jordanians

It occurs to me that I haven't really described Jordanians very much. The population on the streets is mostly men, typically dressed in jeans if they're under 30, otherwise in slacks. I've seen very few galabiyyas (the dress-like garment traditionally worn by Middle Eastern men), except for last Friday, and I'm not sure if that was in deference to the holy day, or because it was particularly cold and they were just another layer. In Egypt, there were quite a few men wearing galabiyyas all the time, although usually they were 30 and up. Women on the streets, as far as I've seen, wear at least the hijab, and I've seen quite a few variations of face veils as well, although only once or twice is everything, including the eyes, covered. Women's dress is a little bit harder to judge at the moment, because it's winter and everyone is bundled up in coats. I haven't seen anything that bares more than the hands and face, but again, that could be winter. Some women do wear tight clothes though, particularly very tight jeans. Everyone, women most notably but men too, is very fashionable. That was something that I was expecting from my experience in Egypt. Arabs in general (I think) make a big distinction between inside the house and outside. Appearances are very important. When I was in Egypt, my host sisters and mother had indoor clothes and outdoor clothes. The outdoor clothes were much fancier, of course. I don't know if it's the same here, but there is definitely a lot of thought put into appearance by everyone.

Jordanians also seem a lot quieter than Egyptians. During orientation, Allison cautioned us not to stand out too much, which included talking and laughing loudly in large groups. I didn't think much about it at the time, because as a rule Egyptians are much louder than any group of Americans, although we are certainly loud too, and I assumed it would be the same. Not so. When there are women on the street, they don't really talk, or if they do it's very quietly. Men talk, but also not very loudly, usually. There is plenty of horn honking though.