Valentine's Day in Jordan

Jordan doesn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day like we do in the US. Here, you will see a few people wearing red on the holiday, and men will try to sell you roses on the streets, but for the most part it is a normal day. Having a significant other is forbidden for the majority of people and I suspect that the only reason I even saw some Valentine’s Day decorations for sale is because I am in Amman.

My host dad had invited me to a party the night of Valentine’s Day and despite the steep price tag – about $50 – I accepted because I thought it would be an excellent cultural experience. The party was hosted by my family’s church so the 250+ attendees were Christian. The party was at The Meridien Hotel, with a Jordanian singer, excellent dinner and dessert buffet, and dancing. Two of my friends, Linnea and Amanda, joined me for the evening and we all dressed up (still conservative of course). The party was slated to begin at 8:30pm.

The Meridien Hotel

Sidenote: I have come to note that time in Jordan is not like time in the US. A meeting a noon may begin at 12:30. Classes are the only thing you can really count on starting on time. Everything else is usually late.

Back to my story. The party was slated to begin at 8:30pm. Pre-dinner dancing began around 10:15pm and dinner was served a little after 10:30pm. We didn’t end up leaving until after 1am.

There was another family seated at the table with Linnea, Amanda, and me. They were Iraqi, having moved to Jordan seven years ago. The four children were also in attendance, as well as a cousin who had grown up in the UK and was now working in Amman. When they first sat down, I was seated next to the cousin. And I could tell I was assimilating to Jordanian culture because my first thought was, “I feel strange sitting next to a stranger who’s male.” That realization was weird. Not in the realization itself, but the fact that that’s how I thought after only being in the country for a month. Men never sit next to women they do not know here.

Dinner was lovely. I had salad, coleslaw, lamb, rice, pasta, bread and hummus. Dessert was two different types of chocolate cake, two different pastries with pistachios on top and Jell-O (Jell-O is strangely popular here – The Meridien is a 5-star hotel and they served Jell-O for dessert!).

Dinner

Dessert

After dessert the dancing began. The daughter of the family at our table was teaching us how to dance Jordanian because it’s quite different than the dancing we are used to. Jordanian dancing is slightly slower, and your arms are more flow-y and you use your shoulders and hips more. The music itself was good. There were Iraqi and Egyptian songs in addition to normal Jordanian songs. Towards the end of the night I had flashbacks to prom because they played one slow song in English that I felt was very out of place. Overall, it was an excellent night and well worth my money.