July 18th, 2012
We spent most of the day at
the Institute getting settled back in. Jason
and Eva were recovering. Jason felt
nauseous too yesterday, but never threw up.
In the afternoon we went to the Malls.
On the way Eli pointed out this sign:
Hopefully he’ll forget about
it or we’ll start getting Little Caesars requests for dinner!
Since the Romans (or at least their cultural
influence) were here 1600-2000 years ago, it’s kind of funny to see them
reduced to pizza pushers!
For those who
are curious, the prices are about twice what they’d be in the States.
There are two main malls we
go to in Amman, and they’re about a block away from each other. First we went to Mecca Mall and Eva convinced
me to let her buy something at Forever 21.
There were lots of sales because Ramadan is about to start. It kind of feels like any major holiday sale
in the U.S., except that they can really expect lower revenues for the next
month so getting an influx of money now can be pretty important. Eva bought a t-shirt for 5 JD ($7 USD), and I
made her go pay for it herself. She did
really well. Then she tried to pocket
the change rather than give it back to me.
Sneaky!
Eli is complaining that we
always let Eva buy stuff and never let him (Hello....Jesus Pack anyone?), so we
went to a toy store as well.
He ended up
with a Sponge Bob button making pack.
I’m a sucker for craft activities and he knows it.
Even when they have Sponge Bob on them,
apparently.
What really interested me in
the store, however, were the Fulla dolls.
Fulla is an alternative to Barbie.
While the original concept for Fulla was developed in 1999, she didn’t
go into production until Saudi Arabia banned Barbies in 2003 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulla_(doll)).
Very prominently displayed was the Evening Prayers Fulla, who is perhaps my
favorite of the versions we saw. There
are also Fulla trading cards, Fulla bubblegum, a Fulla magazine and Fulla
kinder-egg type chocolates with a toy inside.
The dolls are quite expensive, with the cheapest at about $24 USD and
most being closer to $40 USD. As a
result, while I don’t have a doll, I do have some of the other Fulla
items. Eva says I’m obsessed. I happen to think Fulla is a really
interesting response to and example of globalization. I like how she relates to local culture,
though I’m sure there are parents here who find her too conservative.
She’s also got a really cool house. Quotes from the box include, “Listen to the prayer upon entering the House” and “Doll prayer mat included”. I really can't justify spending the money on such a large piece of plastic that would be a total pain to ship home, but wouldn't this be cool set up in my office? I'd even let Eli play with it when he visits work:
As you can see from this doll
display at the Carrefour grocery/department store, Fulla is one of many options
for kids (okay—for girls—the aisle is clearly marked ‘girls’ and at the toy
store the helpful clerk kept trying to get Eli to look at the Bakugan and
Pokemon toys instead of the Fullas). Fulla
exists right next to Barbie and Cinderella and Moxie Girls and even Jasmine—who
is, by the way, showing more skin (especially abdomen and shoulders) than Fulla
would ever be allowed to. There are also
these pinypon toys. Anyone know what
they are? They’re crazy expensive here: http://pinypon.com/. The ones on the top shelf in this photo range
from $75 USD to $100 USD!
But I digress a bit, because
between the first two Fulla photos and the third, we went to City Mall. That’s because we forgot that Mecca Mall
doesn’t have a big grocery store. This
after about two hous of getting lost in Mecca Mall, which is the most labyrinthine
mall I’ve ever been in. We always get lost in there. So we drove down the hill to the other Mall
and went to Carrefour. Image the grocery
store shopping insanity that comes before any major food-related holidy in the
U.S. Now add them all together and you
still won’t have a sense of what it was like. Remember that we’re talking about
a full-month of fast-breaking meals/parties.
When we finally got ready to check out, the kids and I went out into the
Mall to capture this photo of Jason in the midst of it. You can see him right in the very
middle. Luckily I managed to find a
photo where he didn’t look too exasperated.
I will admit that I got in trouble with Carrefour security for taking
the photo, though once I explained it was to show my friends back home what
it’s like to be in Carrefour right beore Ramadan (there was only one full day
of shopping left before it began), he said fine, go ahead. I didn’t mention that I’d also been taking
Fulla photos!
After the extended Mall experience, we
went home and the kids worked on crafts.
You can see one of the craft kits we brought with us here. Eli made a Pegasus:
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