Lunch, local style!

Yesterday one of J's friends invited us to his house for lunch. It was quite the experience for us. Starting with the AK-47 gun fire that scared the HECK out of me when I was entering their house. Turns out the neighbor is getting married and that's how they celebrate such events here. Celebratory gun fire is actually illeagal (a taxi driver was recently accidentally shot while driving thru a neighborhood) but I don't think many people care about this law. The meal was delicious and we were so happy to see spoons so we didn't have to use our hands. No one spoke much English but it was heartwarming to relate with another mother, nursing her newborn, the way only mothers can relate- despite the language barrier. I got a kick out of watching her care for her tiny baby and seeing the cultural diferences such as putting yogurt on the pacifier to encourage sucking. K adored holding the baby too and I realized, she is def NOT a baby anymore :( The families were so kind to us, they showed us around their town which included a spot in the woods where they picnic every fri. (J and I were amazed to see SO MUCH trash everywhere, although the land itself was pretty in the States you would have thought it was a garbage dump since apparently, no one cleans up after their picnics). We also went to a stream where the women were dipping their feet and washing their clothes. I just can't get enough of watching women in other cultures live their daily routines, so fascinating! We are sure spoiled in the US! It was pretty hot so I couldn't help but wonder how they managed wearing the long, black abayas and head coverings all of the time. We ended the day at the home of the wife's family. The men sat outside and drank coffee and K and I sat inside with the women (since they were uncovered). She has eight sisters and they all treated us like we were visiting royalty. Poor K though, she had gotten really tired after a long visit and wanted to rest but they insisted that she entertain them all by dancing (even going so far as to turn on dance music on TV). She was not in the mood for entertaining but they did do a little dancing for us, funny!