This week I went to a traditional Circassian wedding — Jordanian style.

Weddings in Jordan are a pillar of cultural tradition and family. The celebrations are also a chance to share the unique traditions from the bride and groom’s country of origin with their family and friends, and the occasional student studying abroad.

The Circassian wedding I attended served as an example of the specific traditions that make Jordanian weddings special. Given that almost half of Jordan’s population are of Palestinian descent, and many more have Arabic heritage, wedding culture is a way for Jordanians to show their pride in their heritage and being distinctly Jordanian.

My language partner, who invited me to come with her to the wedding, explained that one Jordanian tradition is the bride and groom’s entrance song will always be a traditional tune from their country of origin.

Dancing is a big cultural aspect of weddings in Jordan. The wedding I attended began with the bride and groom entering to their traditional Circassian song, followed by three different dances that are commonly known by Circassians.

Like most other weddings in Jordan, the Circassian bride and groom had signed their marriage papers in their house a few days before the ceremony. With no exchange of vows, food and dancing became the center of attention.

While the wedding was absolutely beautiful and a wonderful experience, there is a side to marriages in Jordan that I couldn’t ignore, an idea I first came across while doing research for a social policy class.

In Jordan, as high as 63.7 percent of marriages were between blood-related people.

A 2009 study by BioMed Central on reproductive health in Arabs and consanguinity, or a relationship between two blood related people, shows that most incestual relationships in the Middle East happen between cousins.

According to the study, maintaining family ties, financial advantages and easy marriage arrangements play a large role in marriages. The High Health Council of The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan released a national strategy for the health sector that included increasing pre-marriage tests, which “is important in Jordan because of the high percentage of inbreeding.”

In addition, child marriage rates have risen in Jordan, both in the citizen and refugee populations. According to a recent article by The Jordan Times, about 13 percent of Jordanian citizen marriages are early marriages.

Young girls are often given away to marriage at an early age in order to ease the financial burden on their families as well as protect them from harassment within the communities they live in.

By no means do all marriages in Jordan fit this model of relationships. However, it is an example of how a signature event in my host country’s culture can have many facets.

After living in Jordan for over a month now, I have had the opportunity to have dozens of wonderful experiences that have so far shaped my study abroad experience and broaden the lenses through which I view the world.

However, for every good experience, I experience controversial and eye-opening moments. These are the moments that have pushed me to research my host country and community more, which I think is a way to immerse yourself even more into your country’s culture.

Katelyn Faubel is a junior newspaper and online journalism and international relations dual major. Her column appears weekly in Pulp. You can email her at kmfaubel@syr.edu.

Published on September 26, 2016 at 9:03 pm