I have a confession to make…or maybe a few confessions.
- So apparently getting out of a cab from the driver’s side is not allowed. After trying for a solid 2 minutes to open the door on the driver’s side, my roommate and the driver both looked at me and corrected my error.
- Going out with wet hair here, is a big no-no. People in Amman, especially young adults attending the University of Jordan take pride in their appearance and going out with wet hair no matter how tired you are to dry it is not allowed. So I will not start changing my habits of drying my hair in the morning, but I will be reminded not to leave it down.
- The culture here tends to keep women and men--even if they are the same family—in separate rooms. I was sitting in the kitchen talking to my roommate and my host mother as my host dad was on the enclosed porch with a friend. I said goodnight to my host mom and my roommate and they looked at me with slanted faces and told me I have to wait till my host dad was finished with his friend before I could walk past them to go to bed.
I am sure that there will be plenty of other incidents. I’ll keep you posted!