THE TREE IS DECORATED, BUT IT IS HARD TO FEEL THE FESTIVE SPIRIT IN JORDAN
▶ Subdued seasonal celebrations are no surprise in town of Fuheis, but pandemic has made things a lot less merry
A touch of festive cheer came to the main square of Fuheis this week as teenage labourer Hussam spray-painted baubles on a Christmas tree.
The artificial tree in the Christian-majority town of 25,000 on the outskirts of Amman is one of the few signs of Christmas in Jordan.
The festival passes relatively unheralded in the country, unlike in neighbouring Lebanon, where it is celebrated enthusiastically.
Shopping centres in Amman put up trees to attract end-ofyear business, while some of its cafes sell Christmas cookies and upmarket grocery stores sell stollen, the German Christmas cake.
The main Christmas market at the Intercontinental Hotel was cancelled this year because of the coronavirus.
But Fuheis, nestled in a valley west of the capital, has several Christmas trees in public places, owing to the presence of many Christians in the town and their municipal influence in a country where they make up only 2 per cent of a 10.4 million population.
The community in Fuheis was united in its determination to put up Christmas displays, but divided over what colour the decorations on the tree in the square should be.
Hussam, 17, has had to paint its ornaments three times in two weeks after the municipality changed its mind.
“They first told me to use gold, then to paint blue over the gold, and yesterday they reverted to gold,” Hussam said. “Apparently blue looked too dull when the tree was lit.”
It did not bother Hussam, who is happy to have found work at $30 a day for a few days.
Jordan’s harsh economic climate and widespread unemployment worsened this year because of the pandemic.
Hussam lives in the refugee camp of Baqaa north of Amman, home to 100,000 Palestinians and their descendants, most of whom have Jordanian citizenship.
“In Baqaa there is no work, and when there is, it pays less,” said Hussam, who studied until the ninth grade.
Traffic around the usually busy square in Fuheis was sparse and even Mujahed, a renowned specialist of Jordan’s popular kunafa dessert, had no customers.
The only noticeable business was at a fast-food joint that sells a shawarma meal with fries for about $3.50, and at a bakery for traditional taboon bread baked in a concrete oven.
The old part of Fuheis down the valley was almost deserted. A couple of grocery shops were open, as well as an art gallery.
“It is busier at night,” said an employee at the art gallery, pointing to a row of restaurants. But these have to shut their doors before residents have to stay indoors between 10pm and 6am because of the coronavirus.
The restrictions have forced a subdued Christmas on Jordanians. A staff member of the Saint Gregarious Orthodox church said all churches had agreed to bring forward midnight Christmas Mass to 6pm on Thursday.
A notice at the entrance lists coronavirus measures to be followed by all churches. The number of worshippers is determined by the size of each church and there is a strict ban on intimate greetings.
For funerals and weddings, no more than 20 people can be inside a church, regardless of its capacity.