Thursday night my friend A invited Lucy and I over for dinner at her sister's home. Here is the email account I sent shortly afterwards:
So tonight A's sister, I*n, had Lucy and I over for dinner. It was us two, A, A's mother, M*a, A*i, and I*n's husband. Their family is so wonderful - so funny and enjoyable. And like any good Arabs, very hospitable.
We arrive and meet everyone, are seating in the living room and given tea. They tell us about the Iranian way to drink tea, where you hold the sugar cube under your tongue while you drink. I tried it after dinner.
Their housemaid was putting the dinner out on the table, and it was served family style. The dishes were mostly Arab, but maybe some Asian thrown in there. I*n's husband didn't eat with us, but was in the tv room with their sons. During the meal we all talked and laughed and ate, and A*i told a story about when Michael Jackson was here.
After dinner, I*n gave us a tour of their elaborately decorated house, which she said is filled with things they went to China to pick out and ship back. But funnily enough, they put some of furniture together themselves. The master bedroom has a "prayer room" in it, which it yet to be decorated. During the tour, I*n noticed we weren't wearing socks and gave us some house slippers - which she insisted we keep when we left!
After the tour, we sat in the living room again for tea, coffee, and cinnabons that M*a made, which were delicious. I*n's husband joined us and per the usual, the conversation veered towards Jesus and other things. We talked about a variety of issues that I can't entirely remember - but I did get to talk about Jesus' death, resurrection, commission to His disciples to tell others about Him, His ascension, and the first three thousand followers. They told stories about the Israelites, about Moses, Mary, Ishmael and Isaac. They also explained the evil eye to us ("hot eyes"), when they 'knock on wood', and other things I can't remember - there is just so much! I really enjoy A's mother, and communicate with her through broken Arabic (neither of us are very good, she speaks mostly Farsi) and A's translating. They all kept insisting that Lucy come back with Jack and Emet, and invited us several times for lunch (which they do really big). A*i seems to think he will be able get us into Saudi, but knows it will be hard as he's heard me explain the difficulty on a few occasions. He said that he and M*a are visiting Mecca after their three-week honeymoon to Malaysia.
Upon announcing our departure, they of course insisted that we stay, but it was nearly midnight so we left. A*i offered to drive us out to the main road, but drove us all the way back to Manama!
So tonight A's sister, I*n, had Lucy and I over for dinner. It was us two, A, A's mother, M*a, A*i, and I*n's husband. Their family is so wonderful - so funny and enjoyable. And like any good Arabs, very hospitable.
We arrive and meet everyone, are seating in the living room and given tea. They tell us about the Iranian way to drink tea, where you hold the sugar cube under your tongue while you drink. I tried it after dinner.
Their housemaid was putting the dinner out on the table, and it was served family style. The dishes were mostly Arab, but maybe some Asian thrown in there. I*n's husband didn't eat with us, but was in the tv room with their sons. During the meal we all talked and laughed and ate, and A*i told a story about when Michael Jackson was here.
After dinner, I*n gave us a tour of their elaborately decorated house, which she said is filled with things they went to China to pick out and ship back. But funnily enough, they put some of furniture together themselves. The master bedroom has a "prayer room" in it, which it yet to be decorated. During the tour, I*n noticed we weren't wearing socks and gave us some house slippers - which she insisted we keep when we left!
After the tour, we sat in the living room again for tea, coffee, and cinnabons that M*a made, which were delicious. I*n's husband joined us and per the usual, the conversation veered towards Jesus and other things. We talked about a variety of issues that I can't entirely remember - but I did get to talk about Jesus' death, resurrection, commission to His disciples to tell others about Him, His ascension, and the first three thousand followers. They told stories about the Israelites, about Moses, Mary, Ishmael and Isaac. They also explained the evil eye to us ("hot eyes"), when they 'knock on wood', and other things I can't remember - there is just so much! I really enjoy A's mother, and communicate with her through broken Arabic (neither of us are very good, she speaks mostly Farsi) and A's translating. They all kept insisting that Lucy come back with Jack and Emet, and invited us several times for lunch (which they do really big). A*i seems to think he will be able get us into Saudi, but knows it will be hard as he's heard me explain the difficulty on a few occasions. He said that he and M*a are visiting Mecca after their three-week honeymoon to Malaysia.
Upon announcing our departure, they of course insisted that we stay, but it was nearly midnight so we left. A*i offered to drive us out to the main road, but drove us all the way back to Manama!
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