..Fitting In..

Recently, Paul and I have decided to really embrace this new culture of ours and become more and more like the people we are living amongst, not only in language but actions as well. Here in our country, there are certain hand gestures that represent words. Paul explains a few that we are adapting in the following video:

I mentioned on the last post that, while visiting the ancient city, I got henna. Well, we decided to begin the henna party a little late into the night. I was the last to go and by the time I was finished it was 11:30! For those of you who don't know, henna takes a while to dry before flaking off.Plus, the longer you leave it on, the more vibrant the color and longer it stays (last time I left it on for more than 5 hours!). So, not wanting to stay up into the wee hours of the night...or go to bed with the henna on my hands, risking getting it on my face and bed...our hostess of the weekend did this:

That's right: she wrapped my hands in cotton. I felt a little silly having my hands wrapped in cotton but she assured me that this is what they do every time they get henna. As if this wasn't strange enough, her sister came downstairs with these little gems...little socks to tie around my hands to further protect the henna. I have never felt more cultured :) I also know how a baby feels when they get these little mittens on to not scratch themselves - how restricting! *Mittens, Bittens!* :)

Paul has also been doing his part to fit in here. The other day, we were in a taxi on our way to a friend's house when our taxi driver took out his carton of orange to sip a little. He then looked at Paul, said something we couldn't quite understand, and handed Paul the carton. I jokingly said, "Paul, I think he is offering you a drink." And to my surprise, Paul reached out and drank the rest of the orange juice! He didn't want to be rude when being offered something I guess. I was laughing and yes, I was shocked.... Then, a few days later in the market, we visited our friend's leather shop. There are many men who work next to him and Paul enjoys talking to them. As I'm talking to our friend, I glance over just in time to see Paul drinking another man's tea! It was hilarious. I thought this would seem strange to drink out of other people's cups until, while at a cafe, a group of soccer-loving boys asked to have our left-over bottles of water, guzzling them down without hesitance. I guess Paul's really embracing this culture - way to go, Honey!