Third Entry in Jordan
As a teacher, one of the things that I was really curious about in Jordan was their education and school systems. We got to visit several universities, a private school, and a school for teaching and training teachers. I even went to a class for English teachers, which was quite useful for me, because everyone was speaking English! Students in Jordan start learning English and their foreign language as young as first grade.
Schools
One of the schools that we got to visit is the Amman Baccalaureate School, a private K-12 school with about 1000 students. Everyone on Jordan has to go to school through at least tenth grade, but many students finish high school and go on to university - in Jordan, Britain, the United States, and more places!
Books!
Of course I had to find out about books in Jordan. Here I am visiting the Book Mobile in the King Hussein Park. You can see that lots and lots of families came, and kids were constantly in and out of the truck, getting new books. I even bought a few of the popular Arabic books when I visited the main Jordanian children's book store later in the week.
Clothing
There is a wide variety of clothing and clothing styles in Jordan. Because it is a mainly Muslim culture, people tend to dress more conservatively - that means that men always wear pants (no shorts) and women always wear long pants or long skirts, and often wear long sleeves too. Children, however, often wear shorts or short-sleeves in warm weather. People do not wear tank tops.
Many women also wear a headscarf when they go out in public. Many headscarves are bright and colorful, but plain black and white are also very common. Some women wear an outfit called the burqa, a black dress over all their clothes, with a black headscarf. Some also add the niqab, which is a piece of fabric that covers the nose and mouth, so just the eyes are showing (see the pictures above and below). Other women do not wear headscarves at all. On one of our first days in Jordan, we all bought headscarves (see mine below), but we only wore them in the desert (to avoid sunburn) and when we visited the mosque (to show respect).
Bedouin men traditionally wear a long white robe with a colorful headscarf called a keffiyeh. The traditional Jordanian keffiyeh is a red and white pattern.
Many women also wear a headscarf when they go out in public. Many headscarves are bright and colorful, but plain black and white are also very common. Some women wear an outfit called the burqa, a black dress over all their clothes, with a black headscarf. Some also add the niqab, which is a piece of fabric that covers the nose and mouth, so just the eyes are showing (see the pictures above and below). Other women do not wear headscarves at all. On one of our first days in Jordan, we all bought headscarves (see mine below), but we only wore them in the desert (to avoid sunburn) and when we visited the mosque (to show respect).
Bedouin men traditionally wear a long white robe with a colorful headscarf called a keffiyeh. The traditional Jordanian keffiyeh is a red and white pattern.
My first headscarf - and headscarf store
Traditional Bedouin robes and aud
Policewomen with and without headscarves
One girl is wearing the full black burqa, while many others have colorful scarves.
Jordanian kids at a local zoo
