Taxi Time: Rice Standard Article

Here is a recently published article I wrote for the Rice Standard on my past month in Jordan. I used - or perhaps I should say, tried to use - actual experiences in taxis to discuss the broader meaning of studying abroad:

http://www.ricestandard.org/taxi-time/

And here are a couple photos that aren't really related to the article, but are interesting nonetheless:

A wedding taxi :) The decorated car that the groom drove from his family's house to the bride's house to take her to the wedding hall. I attended this wedding with my host family on October 1, and the groom was a cousin.

Driving in the car caravan from the groom's house to the bride's house. When we arrived, the women went upstairs to sing and dance in the bride's family's apartment, and the men stayed downstairs and drank coffee to wait for the bride to come down. Then we caravaned again to the wedding hall.

The bride and groom preparing to enter the wedding hall. The guests stood along the entrance and sang and clapped with music. The bride was from a more conservative Muslim family and has covered her hair and face. The wedding took place in two gender-separated rooms, so we saw the bride in the women's hall.

Waiting for the bride and groom to enter the women's hall. The groom spent a little time in this hall, where he and his bride danced for a couple songs, and then cut the cake. Then he went to the men's hall, until the end of the wedding when he came in again to take photos, and other male relatives were allowed to come in to congratulate the couple and give them money, as is tradition.

Another cousin in front of a giant, cheesy photo of a bride and groom that was on the wall near the entrance (see picture above). In general I avoided taking too many pictures of the actual wedding itself to respect the privacy of the other women.