Posterous theme by Cory Watilo

A note on housing in Jordan

When Mohammed was going to get his ID to take us on his friend’s bus back to Aqaba, he dropped us off at his  cousin’s home, who also worked on site in previous seasons. The houses in Jordan are almost all stuccoed, colourful one story buildings, but almost every building also has rebar sticking out of the top. I feel like perhaps the law here is similar to in Greece, where there are lower taxes on incomplete buildings. Nevertheless, these homes are very different from Greek ones on the inside. They have a front room for receiving guests, closed off from the rest of the house where the women can walk around freely. It was really interesting to watch our host’s daughter, a small two-year-old, scurry between the threshold of the public and private home areas. Every time she went back into the house, we could hear her speaking to her mother, but never saw her. It was definitely a moment for noticing difference. Nevertheless, we had the sweetest hosts, with such generosity as I’ve rarely seen before. A truly enlightening time :)