When Host Families Are Awesome

Salam wa aleikum!

So, my host family is boss. I already told you guys this, but now I will dedicate this blog post to telling you exactly how boss they are. I’m going to do a little section dedicated to each one, just so you know who is who. Now.

Omar:

So Omar is a little sweetheart. Who wants to play Monopoly all the time. In fact, I have played Monopoly more here in the first week than I have in the last three years. I’m not exaggerating. But he's very chill and usually spends his time at the swimming pool as he hopes to one day become an Olympic swimmer, just like his great-grandfather.

Loobaba:

I have no idea how to correctly transcribe her name into Arabic, but that is best I can do. Anyway, child is a terror. An adorable and funny terror, but a terror nonetheless. Every night she runs around the house for about thirty minutes before falling asleep wherever she happened to stop. And I’m not exaggerating about the running. I'm going to have a special blog post about her eventually if my premonitions prove correct. Get excited.

Muhammed:

This is the youngest of the family at a whopping fourteen months old. Yes, he’s very cute. And yes, he cries an awful lot sometimes. He’s been teething in the back of his mouth recently so he’s been spending some time with his grandmother so that Miriam can get some sleep. Believe me, there is no shame in pawning your child off on your mother. It’s called utilizing your resources.

Miriam:

My extremely awesome host mother who constantly is ordering me to eat more. As my family and friends are well aware, eating a lot is not really a problem that I suffer from; however, my host mother seems to unaware of that. But really, she’s super cool and very patient with my admittedly limited Arabic skills. She’s always willing to play the ‘this is what I’m trying to say in Arabic, let me act it out and say it in English with a French accent, do you understand?’ game. Yes, it is a fairly complicated game.

Mahmoon:

My slightly quirky host father. He works in a gold shop that he is very proud of and is really into repeating things at least five times every time he tells Elizabeth and I something (just in case we didn’t understand the first four times). He also sometimes reads the Qur’an at night, which is actually singing. He’s pretty good if I’m going to be honest. Very Arab sounding.

Sharifa:

Ah, sassy grandma Sharifa. Don’t let the hijab fool you, this lady is a hardcore matriarch. She’s hosting two of the other students in the program so I get to see her quite a bit when we do family dinners (which is almost always).

Latifa: Another sassy one, this one who owns and works the neighborhood laundry store. She a big talker so we usually come to an impasse where I nod and say ‘yeah’ and she talks at the speed of light (maybe slightly faster). But still, anyone who makes Kus kus is a friend of mine. Sadly, when we were at dinner, she didn't have on her hijab so I couldn't take a picture, but just picture Sharifa with glasses.

So yeah, that's my super cool host family that you'll probably her more about. Family is family is family, so Lord knows that I'll be spending a lot of time with everyone. Until next time.

Ma’a salama!