Kiss vs. Hug
There's a cool tounge of air drifting in the window here, and we're finally giving our fans a break. For the first time last night I slept under something more substantial than a sheet. Today was perfect, a slight crisp on the dry air, the kind that makes you want to get out of bed to enjoy the early morning. There was a wedding going on somewhere on the street below us this evening, and the call to prayer, as usual, floated around the valley between Jebel Amman and Jebel el-Weibdeh and in through our windows. It's just enough noise to make you feel not alone in your house, but not too much to shatter the retreat you have between your own four walls. Nap. Visit to a welcoming family with three daughters that want to teach us Arabic and learn more English. And now I'm lying in bed, wondering what I'll teach my adult literacy class tomorrow night. They were, bar none, the most excited students I've ever taught, and even though I don't have any idea how to bring them from knowing the alphabet to reading I'm not even nervous. They love whatever I do, bless their hearts. I brought a crate of fresh dates last time and therefore quadrupled the number of people I met. The just-over-half-moon is shining in my window, since none of the buildings here are very tall and you can see almost anythng you wish to from our house. I still have a thousand things to explore here.
While at the house of this family with three daughters (they're all superchevere), I got to ask a question that's been cropping up a lot lately: when two women greet each other with kisses, what is the prescribed number and direction? In Italy it's one(R), one(L), one(R) if I remember correctly. The women here said that it should be one(L), one(R) traditionally but nowadays women think that more kisses means more love, but this is wrong (thier words). This explains the slightly hilarious greeting I've seen that adds one long kiss sound (about 4 sec) after the second kiss, continuing on the same side. It's like something out of devil wears prada. Whelp, at least I know that fumbling the end of these greetings is perfectly acceptable for me.
While at the house of this family with three daughters (they're all superchevere), I got to ask a question that's been cropping up a lot lately: when two women greet each other with kisses, what is the prescribed number and direction? In Italy it's one(R), one(L), one(R) if I remember correctly. The women here said that it should be one(L), one(R) traditionally but nowadays women think that more kisses means more love, but this is wrong (thier words). This explains the slightly hilarious greeting I've seen that adds one long kiss sound (about 4 sec) after the second kiss, continuing on the same side. It's like something out of devil wears prada. Whelp, at least I know that fumbling the end of these greetings is perfectly acceptable for me.