I have a few posts to catch up on with what we have been up to lately, but I thought I would share this story with you today….

Last week I got invited to a birthday party for my American friend & her local friend. It was really fun and a great cultural experience… Here is what we did:

– Arrival: typical greetings… “hello, how are you? what’s your news?” (in Arabic 🙂 ) with hugs & kisses from cheek to cheek . After this a girl started talking to me in Arabic… and I sort of looked at her strange (because I didn’t understand) and then she said “how long have you been studying Arabic because I don’t think you understood me…?” –or something to that effect… in Arabic, but I did understand that part. I responded with 2 months only! And then she started laughing because my friend, on accident, told them before I came that I had been speaking Arabic since I was 3!! What she meant to say was that I had been dancing since I was 3! Ha- minor details right! Glad I could clear it up with the confused look on my face!

• lesson learned from this: Arabic is hard & easy to say the wrong word for things…

– Coffee or tea?: Next we were offered coffee or tea- good thing I love both, because this is offered at most visits.

– Party time: Next they lead us into another sitting room where they had the lights off with firecracker candles burning on top of the birthday cake… next we sang “Happy Birthday” in Arabic (in which they say… “Happy Birthday! Hey Beautiful!… I like this version 🙂 ) and then we sang it in English. After a little singing we all sat down and enjoyed a feast. They had so much food prepared and all of it was delicious.

the only pic I got all night!

– The dancing: After the food was eaten and the cake was cut the music came on… and of course since they learned that I have danced since I was 3 they were telling me to stand up and start dancing! – ha… I just sat there for a minute not wanting to do a solo until one of the girls pulled me up to dance! It was a blast- believe it or not these girls love to dance! I kept thinking about my sisters and how much fun they would have at this party. I hope to get to go to more dancing parties in the future.

– The goodbyes: After the dancing was over we moved to the other sitting area and had a really great discussion (most of which was in Arabic, but it seemed good 🙂 ) and then they brought out the incense (or BaKhor in Arabic)… I have heard about this tradition but never had it done to me before… here is what they do:

• The put frankincense (which is grown in this area) in an incense burner and as it is smoking they walk around to each girl and put it under their shirt and skirt and wait for the smoke to billow out… not really sure what the tradition behind this is yet, but I will find out…
• Once everyone has been “baKhored” (as I am calling it now) they pass around fancy designer perfume & everyone sprays themselves with it…
• I have heard that once the perfume and baKhor is brought out the evening is over and it is time to go. They are so polite in this culture that they would never ask you to leave, but I think this is their nice way of saying thanks for coming, but you can leave now, now you smell good. 🙂

It was a great night. I am thankful for my experiences here and the conversations that I am getting to be part of. I am humbled each day by the hospitality of these people & their kind hearts to invite you into their homes to share all that they have..