The Visit

Yesterday was a long 13 hour day.  A couple friends and I went to visit some of our language teachers and their families.
Let me first say this about visits: It's something that one does here, but I don't necessarily love it.

Everyone invites you, and they are honored to have you in their home, and it's a honor for you to visit them.  During this holiday everyone visits everyone, and what's great about these visits is that they are meant to be short.  Ilhamdulilah.  Because seriously, sometimes you end up at someone's house for HOURS.  And while yes, it's a fun inside to a person's life, it means A LOT of food, A LOT of speaking Arabic, and A LOT of conversation and small talk.

Introverts such as me....well...it pretty much takes it out of us.

Let me also say that I usually have to do these visits alone...something that my married female friends will never understand. I didn't bring my husband to converse with the male side, I didn't bring my children to offer a conversation starter or distraction from REALLY talking.  While the woman that I came to visit is running around the house, getting tea ready, preparing the desert, I'm left by myself in the formal sitting room getting stared at by either her husband, her sister, her mother, her nieces and nephews, her cousins.  You name it...the family congregates and there I sit...attempting to talk with them. So. Much. Pressure.
Then finally my friend returns serving tea and I finally get to talk to her a bit..I mean isn't that I why I came?
But yesterday was a breath of fresh air for many reasons.  I went with a couple of fellow students.  We all have the same teacher and we were excited to drink our coffee, eat our date cookies(what you HAVE to serve to visitors on this holiday) and eat our chocolate with her. It was great to go with people, to not have to carry the conversation all by myself.

I also love visiting my teachers because I love meeting the people I hear so much about, story after story.  I know it all.  The family's deepest darkest secrets.  Who loves who, who hates who, who is the strict one, who is the funny one.  And so I put faces to the names, and I smile inside, because I know all about them and they have no idea.

I also love it because they are SO PATIENT with my Arabic skills.  I've been here two years, one would hope they could master a language in 2 years.  But for Arabic you can hope for that mastery after 6.  It's hard, it's confusing, and its humbling.  But when I sit with my teacher, I feel at ease  and I'm not as shy to try to explain something, ask a question, or talk.  So yesterday was quite fun!

After all afternoon of visiting and talking I was mentally tired and pumped up on sugar...but so thankful as it was refreshing for my soul....

Happy Date Cookie eating!