I'm going to talk a little bit about my family and the majority of Arabic people in general. I had a great time with my family tonight. We talked about a bunch of different things over hookah, I'm getting a lot better at Arabic with this family. We spoke about religion and I told them how much I respect them for being devout Muslims and what that means. I found out the mother is 5 months pregnant as well, she'll find out the sex of the kid this weekend (I told her if it's a boy, they should name it Luke, they thought I was joking, I think it's a strong name, whatever, I'm not bitter). Also, Siwar dressed in traditional Arab clothing and recited some of the Quran for me, could be the cutest thing I've ever seen.The picture you see is her in her outfit, she's too young to wear a hijab all the time, women usually choose to start wearing them at the age of 10 or so. And yes, it's actually the woman's choice in most Arab countries whether to wear a hijab or not, that's a misinterpretation by most people in America - many Americans believe that it's seen as unequal treatment towards women but usually they just choose to do it because they respect themselves and don't want to be harassed by men. I learned that wearing a hijab doesn't make you any more or less of a devout Muslim either, many times there will be members of the same immediate family with some women wearing a hijab and some not. Interesting stuff.
I also wanted to talk a little bit about the hospitality here. I've traveled a good amount, Jordan is my 16th country, and I've stayed with multiple host families in different countries and if I've noticed any one trend among them, it's the kindness shown to complete strangers unmatched in the States. My host family and the host families of the SIT students almost seem to be too nice and too polite, almost militaristic kindness, but it's genuine. If the world truly acted like their religions teach, we'd be perfect. I don't even mean relying on religion to figure out how to act, but just doing what is right. People laugh at the "Golden Rule" but they don't understand what it can truly do for the world. Americans have so much to learn from a lot of Middle Eastern people in showing others just the basics in kindness to one's fellow man. It saddens me sometimes to be American in foreign countries because of how we're perceived, it makes me even sadder to realize that a lot of the time, they're spot on. The cliche American is rude and self-indulged and to tell you the truth, a lot of Americans fit that stereotype. Kindness, basic kindness, that's what people need to work on in the world. America isn't the greatest country in the world, in all honesty, the people in the States aren't any different or better than others elsewhere (actually, I'm not that big a fan of a lot of them). Once we get that thought out of our heads, I think maybe, we'll be able to work our way to a more peaceful and hospitable future. Sorry about my little rant but it's hard to avoid the hospitality here and it gets me a little riled up. I promise the next post will be a little more light-hearted.
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