Mother's Day in the Village!

Just a warning: this one is going to be long! I am still on a high from having such a wonderful day! Today was the first day of Spring, aka Mother's Day in the Arab world. My language teacher, Nevine had invited me and my supervisors to go with her, and her 2 daughters and her mother to her grandparents' village. Their village is about 1.5 hours from our city. (Let me clarify the term village...most of the people in the village all shared the same last name. And all the homes are concrete and they do have indoor plumbing (but can either have a squatty-potty or Western toilet, which I discovered!). And all the homes we were in had either a decent tv or a computer with internet in their sitting room.)

I love Nevine's family! They are so much fun to hang out with. I never feel awkward about making sure I am doing whatever is culturally appropriate with them! They are loud and we exchange kisses in greeting and leaving! We call each other "Habiti" (beloved) and laugh together! I got really good Arabic practice in throughout the day. I enjoy playing with her girls, who are 7 and 4; they say it is the true test of your Arabic if a child can understand you!

This country is so ancient! I mean, did you have ruins of an ancient temple as your backyard playground?! ANJAD! (really?!) And we can climb all over them, cause they are sooo common here, that they are not protected. They have lasted thousands of years, what else could we do to them anyway!

Cultural lesson: as long as it is an observable fact, it is culturally appropriate to comment. For example, I think that Nevine's aunt mentioned at least 7 times, that she thought that one of my supervisors was a guy, because her hair was short! We were both told that if we lived with them, we could lose weight! (Well, duh, they live on the side of a mountain, so are carrying groceries up the mountain daily!) I was offered advice for my the acne which has broken out on my chin, since moving here. But at the same time, I was told countless times, just how beautiful I am! And the same aunt that made most of these comments, wants me to come back and marry her son! So, they don't mean any of these comments in a negative way...they are just mentioning observable facts!

Lunch was wonderful! We sat on the floor around a tablecloth. We had french fries, salad, (another meat-rice-ish dish that was really tasty!) and bread. Of course we were not served anything to drink with the meal. But we had all shared sips of the water-filled pepsi bottle before lunch. And after lunch were served a very small class of tea, so who needs a drink, right? :)

After lunch we went up the mountain a bit to explore and take in a gorgeous view of the whole valley! Creation is amazing!

We gave our hosts, Nevine, and her mom, Mother's Day gifts. We gave them each a small plant and I made them each a picture frame of a picture of each of Nevine's daughters. (Last week, I went to the mountains with Nevine, her daughters and my school and had some gorgeous pics of her beautiful girls!) They loved the pictures! Pictures are a big deal here. They don't have many pictures to display in their homes, but the ones they do hang or set out are of their fathers, grandfathers, or political leaders. This was such a great gift, cause they loved having pictures of the girls. And across each frame I had written Prov.31:28 in Arabic.

It was a little heartbreaking that we did not know that grandma was blind, or had very bad vision (and missing all her teeth) until we got there, so she was not able to enjoy the gift as much. But everyone who comes to her home now, can praise her for her beautiful great-grandchildren! Grandma was so sweet. She recited a poem for us, that I think she might have made up on the spot in our honor. She definitely is loved by her family, who take care of her.

Okay, since it was Mother's Day, Nevine's aunt was given a new sweater set and scarf from her kids. She liked the set and the scarf was beautiful, but she made the comment, "you did not have to buy me this, you should have just given me money for cigarettes." You would never ever hear that in the States! Remember this mom, when next mom's day I just get you money for cigarettes, and say I hear it is what moms really want!

Okay on the smoking note, I do have a confession to make. The people here are chain smokers, who have no reason to make excuses for chain smoking next to you in small rooms! I did take some tylenol while we where there for the headache that I got from it all. Arguile (or you may have heard of it as Hubbly-Bubbly) is also apart of this culture. My language teacher smokes Arguile every night. And it is fruit flavored, the most common flavor is apple. And it really smells good, extremely good when compared to cigarette smoke. I have turned down Arguile and cigarettes countless times here. Today though, as I was sitting next to Nevine who was sharing an Arguile with another girl, she asked me "you can try." Which in her broken English is "Try it." Because when she tells me to what I am supposed to say in Arabic, she says "you can say." And I guess all my D.A.R.E. training failed me at this point, because I did have one puff, I confess. What can one puff really do after all the hours I have spent inhaling secondhand cigarette smoke anyway? And just cause I know you are wondering, I was surprised how good it was. It was apple flavored and nice. But I had pleased my teacher and she did not ask me to do it again.

I promise to post pictures of this glorious day, soon! Thanks for letting me share!