Arab Hospitality

Lately I've been making new friends here in Tierra Seca, and that means visiting homes and eating at nice local restaurants. Both of which mean lots of food!

2 weeks ago I had my first real Arab restaurant experience- we reclined on cushions at a table that was less than a foot off the ground and had to remove our shoes before approaching. We shared a large plate of rice and chicken, which we ate with our hands, and drank yogurt to wash it down. And of course, as an "honored guest" I was not allowed to pay for any of it.

Twice in the past week or so I've also been invited to homes where we've spent hours eating, drinking tea and coffee, talking about religion and philosophy, and sharing music. I got back home from dinner the other night at 1:45 am! That's life around here, though, and I love it. Food, friends, good conversation, more food, and music!

New Haircut

I decided to get a haircut today, just to have the cultural experience and to clean up my look a bit. I went in, hoping I could communicate what I wanted, but it went bumblingly and stumblingly more like this:"Maybe little bit off here, maybe not so much here, sorry I doesn't know word, um, yeah I doesn't with me a picture either. Okay."

But this guy was a real professional. I think he used about 10 different "tools" in the process and spent at least 15 minutes on getting my hair perfectly coiffed like I was about to attend the most important business meeting or newscast of my life. 

Here are the results, ladies and gentleman: