Ashley's Arabian Adventure

Iftar is the breaking of the fast at sunset every night during Ramadan. Families get together just before sunset and have the table set and they are ready to eat right when the call to pryer sounds. Usually the ladies of the family have been cooking all day long, but never eating or drinking anything.

Last night the family down the hill invited me over for some taco salad before iftar. When we heard the call we decided to take a walk. It was almost creepy how still and quiet it was outside. Even all the guards in our neighborhood had disappeared to go break the fast. All we could hear were the forks clinking on the plates as people were eating. Also, the temperature is wonderful right at sunset. It was the perfect time for a walk.

I have heard stories about what iftar looks like in a restaurant. Everyone has their food a few minutes before and they hover over it with fork and knife in hand, ready for the call. Sometimes they even have a cigarette ready to light. Tonight I am going to go check it out for myself.

Last night I went to my first Arab wedding and it was so much fun! Other than trying to figure out the greeting kisses and old ladies speaking Arabic super fast like I could understand them, it was really great. As you can see in the picture here, it was pretty cheesy and reminded me a lot of prom. Well minus boys, I suppose.

So here's how it went down. It "started" at 5:00, so we showed up a little before 6 and the bride and groom showed up a while after that. They stood outside of the girls' room while the ladies of the family all danced in front of them in this circle. Then they came inside and went on the stage and sat on this throne-like thing. At some point they did the rings, but it wasn't really like announced or anything. Then they danced with the smoke and all that jazz. After a while everyone joined in and they went to sit down. They went and sat on the stage and then came back to dance again several times and when they weren't dancing all of the ladies were. After a this went on for a while the groom left and most of the coverings came off. The ladies were in everything from prom dresses to jeans. I saw my roommate's language teacher's hair for the first time and I was really surprised at how pretty she was when she wasn't in her abaya and scarf. I got dragged out on the dance floor by her and her mom several times. I showed off some of my belly dancing skills and was later informed that her whole family was looking at me. I'm glad I didn't know that at the time!

After a while the guys came into the room and all the coverings went back on. They wheeled in this massive cake with nine or ten tiers. The best part was that it also had sparklers on it. The couple then had to cut every tier with a sword. We ate some cake and then there was some awkward dancing with the guys in the room. Girls can only dance with guys they are related to and it was a bit awkward to see brothers and sisters dancing like that. When we were ready to go we had to go congratulate the bride and groom. That was where the awkward kisses came in. I was not warned ahead of time how that works and I was trying to figure it out and speak Arabic at the same time. It didn't work out so well, but I guess that's when it's good that I am obviously a foreigner!

There are a few more pictures from the wedding on fb if you want to check them out.

A couple of weeks ago I decided I should go ahead and get LASEK since it's so much cheaper here than in America. I had the surgery today and everything went well, but I experienced a lot of Arab-ness along the way.

When we discussed prices it turned into a negotiation. Silly me, I figured this was one of those things that had a pretty set price. Then we discussed what I would need to do for the surgery. The doctor told me over and over that I would not be able to do my eyebrows for a while so I needed to go have them done the day before surgery. Apparently eyebrows are serious business around here. For my checkup appointment right before surgery she told me to come in after lunch. What time is that exactly?

Today was full of even more Arab culture experiences. The doctor told me to be there at 8:15 and was pretty insistent that I be on time. I was even early. That was dumb. I waited for her for a while. As the waiting room kept filling up, it was like a game of musical chairs to make sure a woman didn't have to sit next a man she didn't know. Definitely cultural. When we finally went back, she was the only one with good English and she wasn't really around. The nurses were telling me to do things in Arabic and I was pretty much guessing about what was going on. Then when it came time to pay, it went down like a shady drug deal. I went in this tiny room with one of the murses and he took the money and scurried away. I was later asked if I would like a Valium. Um, sure. It ended up making me sick and I passed out after the first eye. But when I came to, I was answering in Arabic. Holla!

So many ridiculous things have happened to me in the past month that I don't even know where to start. But this is my attempt to recap some of the things that I probably should have blogged about.

There was the time that I almost got run over by the Prime Minister and his entourage. Apparently we live in the same neighborhood.

Then there was the time I was asking for the bathroom in Arabic (hamam) and instead asked where a similarly named terrorist organization was.

What about that one time when I was trying to go in the grocery store and they wouldn't let me and I couldn't figure out why? The security guard was making hand motions and pointing at my stuff and speaking Arabic. I later figured out that if you have bags with you, you have to check them in or get them sealed before you can shop.

My favorite is probably the time I got kicked out of a taxi on the side of this major street because it was about to break down. I had a bunch of groceries too. To keep it short, the meter read 1.15, so I thought I was being generous in giving him the 1 since I never actually made it to my destination. He disagreed and yelled at me about the rest. I gave him the last .15 while yelling "Are you kidding me?" several times. I have since learned how to say that in Arabic. I'm sure an opportunity to use it will arise.

I have also learned that it is not wise to buy decaf coffee unless it is from Starbucks. Maybe decaf means super espresso in Arabic. I'm not sure.