Getting to Know Arabs

When I was first invited to co-blog here, I was somewhat apprehensive. I love writing in all of its sense but I mostly feel comfortable if I knew what I was writing about. I guess that would mean the same for other writers.

I am thankful though that Humanist gave me this opportunity. It made me read up a little more, study a little harder and think a little deeper.

I don't know many Arabs to be honest. I know a few, but none really on a personal level.

I was once invited to a lunch at the Saudi Ambassador's residence when I was on holiday in Geneva. When I say on holiday, it means I had a study break, and when I say Geneva, it was where my dad was working at that holiday break in time.

Anyway, my mum was active with the United Nations' Women's Guild and the ladies there would rotate entertaining luncheons and other get-together activities.

The lunch was really grand, and so was the residence.

Firstly we were stopped at the entrance with all the ither invitees and were chauffered from the gate to the house, troop by troop. That was a weird experience. I am pretty sure I could have walked.

The lunch was great though. There was plenty to eat and the food was awesome masha'Allah. Never have I enjoyed food like that. The walls were lined with salads and yoghurts and all sorts of yummies with cream. There was plenty of bread and a lamb at the end of the aisle. I love lamb. I love food. Now I know I love Arab food. LOL

The hostess was a sure one of the mostest. When I first met her in public, she was dressed as her comrades were dressed - modestly - in black and observed the full hijab. Just in case there are men reading this, I will not mention what she was wearing when we were there, but she looked gorgeous and worth a million dollars.

In between stuffing my face with all the goodies, I tried not to talk to the other ladies. I was not being rude or anything, but at that age... sitting there with your mum's buddies, let's just say I would rather eat than talk about the weather.

The usual questions flew by though... where are you from? How long have you been here? How do you like it in Geneva? How old are you? That was directed to me obviously.

However, I noticed two ladies at the end of our table who were doing even less talking than I was. In fact, they were just talking to each other and barely eating. I wondered if it was because they were both blonde and white, whereas the other participants at the table were Asian, African, Middle Eastern even, and many of us were Muslim.

Then a question flew over to them from a Singaporean friend. "Where are YOU from?"

One blonde lady answered, after clearing her throat: The United States of America.

That's all she said. Then she looked back at her friend and back at her food.

Everyone else just looked at each other uncomfortably.

Maybe it was because it was the summer of 2002 and the US had just attacked Iraq. I don't know. But at that point in time, I convinced myself that I was right. They did not talk to us because they were American, unlike me, who refused to talk because I kept eating the lamb.

It must have been weird being American, lounging around in an Arab lady's residence with a load of women from different continents.

After reading Humanist's last post though, I guess I would double-guess myself. What if the 2 American ladies had actually had opposing thoughts to the war than their administration had? After all, they showed up at an Arab's family's house for a lunch. They sat at a table full of apparently foreign people who just kept asking each other where the other came from.

They sat through the lunch and were extremely discreet about themselves being there, unlike the boisterous Asians.

What if they had difficulty accepting the violence in Iraq but had to remain subdued due to their loyalty to the United States of America?

I can second-guess myself now because I'm co-blogging here. Now I'm reading a little more, studying a little harder and thinking alot more deeper.

I never really looked back at the American ladies. Yes, yes, I was too busy stuffing down a date pudding. Years later, I am pretty sure they felt uncomfortable because of the hostile environment their administration caused.

I'm pretty sure.

And I'm pretty sure I could have enjoyed a car-ride down to front gate rather than walk back to the car after all that eating.

Arabic restaurants

I just found out in my area, we are going to have three Arabic restaurants opening up within the next few months. How cool is that! With careful planning and marketing, Arabic food could be as common as other ethnic foods in the area.

Hopefully, Arabic restaurants will not only have Arab customers. Arabic food needs to be introduced to many because this the key to learning about other cultures. People like to eat. With eating comes comfort and trust.

I will keep you posted when I hear things about the Arabic restaurants.

Food...An Icebreaker...

I just thought of something the other day. If you ever need to work with new people, a good way to break the ice is to bring them ethnic food. I have done that recently. It is a good method for them to see and taste your food. It allows that person to think, "interesting, their food is pretty good."

Food, especially that is good, tends to change a person's point of view of other cultures. I gave one of my non Arab coworkers some Baklawa. They loved it. This Baklawa was from Shatilla, a place in Michigan. I am not promoting this in any way. I don't even live in Michigan, but somewhere else in the U.S. :) My coworker was surprised. I said, why? Dearborn is the Middle East capital of USA. When they get a chance, my coworker is planning to visit Dearborn.

A little bit about myself...I live no where near Arabs, although I am one. I am surrounded by mostly non Arab and non Muslim people. Yes, my family and I have to be excellent role models. However, we do our best to help improve Muslims and Arabs reputation.