So, we had our first authentic iftar the other day. Here's how it went:
One of our bus drivers, who we have been spending lots of time with because of running here for a blood test, there for a security check, somewhere else for ID photos, invited us to his brother's house to eat that night. When we arrived, we were greeted by the family: 8 kids, 2 parents, 1 grandparent, 1 cousin, and 1 uncle. Everyone was incredibly nice, and the baby was adorable! It was a beautiful evening, so we sat on cushions on their patio. The main dish was one huge plate of chicken and rice, with some kind of sticky dough underneath and a yogurt sauce to drizzle over top, which was pretty tasty. They were nice and gave us separate plates, but we wouldn't have minded digging in with the rest of them. They also set out some bowls of cucumber and tomato salad, which was absolutely delicious (Darren ate a whole bowl by himself), and some slightly spiced noodle soup. There were also stuffed grape leaves and stuffed squash. A little while after the meal they brought out tea and fresh grapes, and we sat and talked for quite awhile. Then the girls asked Amber to go inside and help prepare dessert, which turned out to be a less than stellar idea because they asked so many questions she almost burned what she was supposed to be watching. In the meantime, we all had coffee - yes, they do tea followed by coffee - and then the goodies were ready: little balls of fried dough which we had never seen before, but tasted similar to funnel cake. After talking a little more, we left for home.
On the way home, he invited us to his sister's house for post-iftar tea in a couple days. That time, we took Amanda and Stella with us. After meeting more of the family, we picked fresh apples, figs, and grapes at their house and drank tea and 2 types of coffee: Turkish/Arabic coffee = not so bad and Bedouin coffee = not so good; we were thankful for small cups. Once again, the family was incredible, and they insisted that we let others know that Arabs are nice people and treat us Americans like family, which they certainly did! They would have kept us all night, but we finally got home about 1am.
Tonight was another school-sponsored iftar, with teachers and students. It was about like last time, but with some exceptions: we got to invite Amanda and Stella along, we know some of the staff better now so we didn't sit alone, and we didn't have any coffee.
On Wednesday, the last day of Ramadan, we should be having one last iftar, but we don't have many details yet. We will see...
