I tried to teach my Arabic teacher to say that with an Australian accent this week. She’s going there for the summer to visit her parents. Unfortunately for her, my Australian accent isn’t very good. Fortunately for her, she wasn’t taking me very seriously.
This was a good week. The week before I had the flu. Compared to having the flu, not having the flu is FANTASTIC. Everything seems all shiny and good.
I saw a video today of people putting popcorn kernels between two cell phones. When both cell phones ring together the kernels pop. – the point is that there is so much radiation (ug!) Is this really possible? I was at the house of Arab friends and popcorn’s not really a staple here so they didn’t have any on hand to try.
It was really fun hanging out at their house today. My friend’s mom even force-fed us in a very relaxed way (it’s just so shameful not to give your guests 3 meals worth of food at once). Actually now that I think about it, it wasn’t that relaxed. I think her exact words were, “If you don’t finish all the food on your plates my single daughters will never find husbands.” I just hope fantastic husbands find them soon so my inability to make it through my 3rd plate of food doesn’t come back to haunt me.
At least what I was able to eat was totally delicious. The dish on the table that I had never eaten before was potatoes stuffed with ground meat (yum). We’re considered enough part of the family that we eat in the kitchen, but not enough part of the family to help in any way with dishes etc…oh well 😉
Another first was going to a hair salon here. I got my hair blown out, which was fun. I guess Friday evening (a day off here, with Saturday) is a good time for a hair cut because the shop started really filling up right when we got there.
Ways it was different from any time I’ve gotten my hair done before: one of the hairdressers was kneeling in the middle of the floor for evening prayer when we got there. She was wearing a special head covering and skirt for prayer, but as soon as she was done she put it away and revealed the stylish western outfit she was wearing underneath. Also different, there were heavy drapes over the windows so that women could uncover their hair without any men who might be outside seeing them.
Tomorrow: giving a training on Understanding Cultural Differences to help prep students for an exchange program.
Going to be talking about this:
http://www.doe.in.gov/lmmp/pdf/iceburgofculture.pdf
among other things…
Thanks for reading and thinking of me!
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