"Irbid" a Irbid Travel Page by AldenM1

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South

Irbid Saved My Sanity

Irbid is one of Jordan's largest cities, way up in the very north. It's often used as a base for trips to Israel (through the north crossing), Syria, or local sights like Jerash and Um Qais. Irbid itself has virtually nothing to offer the tourist, and very few reputable places to stay (in fact, I would ONLY recommend the al-Joude hotel off University Street). Sometimes we would see tourists wandering through town looking confused. :)

Irbid was about fifteen minutes by bus from my village, Bayt Yafa. I was in Irbid fairly frequently, to shop, visit friends, stroll aimlessly, or check my e-mail. In fact, while we were there Irbid was ranked the city with the highest number of internet cafes per square mile in the WORLD. They were the cheapest in Jordan, too. (If you're looking for them, they are all clumped up on University Street across from Yarmouk University, and some of them are sketchier than others.)

Irbid has a lot of Christians, who mostly live in one large, nice neighborhood on the north side of town. It therefore has several sweet old churches, both Catholic and Greek Orthodox. For the most part, Irbid is a nice city, although there are seedier parts. The area of the market (Hossain Street and Eidoun Street) is probably not someplace to be late at night, if you can avoid it.

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The Souq

Got Fruit?

It took me a surprisingly long time to discover the market district of Irbid. Once I found it, however, I shopped there all the time. Not only is everything half the price that it is anywhere else in town, but I just really like the masses of people... the hawkers screaming, the smells, and the sensation of being so totally not in the United States.

This section of Irbid sold fruit and vegetables. If you wanted to be super cheap, you could buy bruised fruits and vegetables (good for pies). Mostly it was hundreds of people selling whatever was in season -- in other words, hundreds of people selling exactly the same thing!

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The Clothes Market

Used Clothing

So you have a nasty old t-shirt from your family reunion with Aunt Edna's picture on it. You never wear it, so you do the socially conscious thing and donate it to a charity. What you may not know is that pieces of clothing that don't sell or aren't nice enough get packaged in bulk and sent to underdeveloped countries. Ditto for donated shoes, underwear, and toys.

Used clothing is a hot commodity in Jordan. You can buy it in more select boutiques, where a given item can cost up to $5, or in the rummage-through-the-heap stands in this picture (where a tshirt goes for 25 cents or less).

Clothing is laden with cultural values that don't always translate correctly into a new culture. I remember a friend holding up a woman's thong and asking me, "Now why would you want to wear this?" And periodically I would encounter a cocky young man strolling down the street in a t-shirt emblazoned with a phrase like "New Haven Girl Scouts Jamboree 1998." :)