What I'm learning besides Arabic

Round three from Sham, the Local name for my city, the Oldest city known to man that has always been dwelt in-a few things that might be interesting from the American perspective : ).

I have recently started tutoring an Iraqi student who is applying to universities in the States. He is basically conversationally fluent, but he needs quite a bit of work to study in the States to be a genetic engineer (his goal). I get to hang around a lot of his Iraqi friends this way as well, and hear some interesting stories. My conversation partner, Hasan, relayed to me that he left Iraq "to survive," the same reason anyone with money left. They tend to stick to the more light-hearted stories right now, understandably, like how one guy's uncle had given him a really sweet shotgun for hunting, but that when the American soldiers came, they took it. There are a few glimpses about life in Baghdad under the former regime, however, such as the streets you never walked on because, I quote, "VERY bad men are there."

On top of that, my now good friend, Mike Al-Toma, a 15 year old boy here at the school I tutor at, recently invited me to his place in "Haran," which is basically a cluster of small rural villages close to the border of Jordan. I had a vague idea about what to expect, after living with a Bedouin family for a few days last year in Jordan. Some things a youth can expect to get on almost every visit are:
1. Arranged wedding attempts from the Grandmas. I have adjusted now to the point that I can smell them coming with the first questions from the eldest woman such as, "Do you want to live in Syria in the future?" "Did you go to College? What did you study?" (Usually translated for me as the country dialect can sometimes sound kind of like someone talking underwater to me, especially from the eldest folk.) The two piercing attempts by the resident Grandma to set me up, accompanied by ridiculous over-hospitality, were actually quite entertaining. We laughed as she realized I wasn't going to bite and looked rather sullen.
2. The Dubka-- Circle dancing that is really fun and I am getting mediocre at. Are we too cool for this in the States? Not at my next party there!
3. Ridiculous over-hospitality. They want to pay for everything, from taxi rides to
Falafel, and violently defend their right to do so. I mean, I have felt literally threatened when I have tried to pay. So much for phrase, "I'll get the next one."
4. "Killer Ninja Mosquitoes." This is the scientific name for this species. Or maybe my friend James from Jersey coined it in Jordan. In any case there is no more apt name for them.
After being treated to a mini-bus ride by Mike to his village (part of the way Mike was forced to stand half hunched over because he refused to sit on my bag and there were no seats left), I hopped out into the cool night air and was escorted to Mike's Grandma's house, where I sat with his large family, including five Aunts and an Uncle, and shot the breeze. Though I felt like part of the fam almost immediately, nothing screams "STUDY ARABIC HARD THIS WEEK" like trying to carry on conversation for an hour or so in a new language and not being able to express a lot of things very well. To say the least I didn't sound very intelligent.
After 3 or so cups of sludge-like coffee, some great food, and six more cups of tea it seemed like (don't even try to refuse it), I was escorted to my room, and looked up to see seven Killer Ninja Mosquitoes waiting for me. Great. Mike's little brother Marjuan walked in as I was preparing for a night of war. He saw them too. "Namoosa?" He asked. "eh." Actually brother Marjuan pulled out this perfume like stuff that he plugged into the wall that seemed to soothe them pretty well.
The next day when I awoke and looked out the window at 7 AM, it felt like a dream. The soft sun was shining over grassy hills, with jagged rocks slanting up through the earth. I took it in for a moment. Later that day I was escorted through the resident Roman ruins in the village, walking under aches, and into old churches and into caves underground; shadows of attempts at a glorious existence from men in the past. I liked it, but to be honest, I'm more looking forward than back- towards a day when there will be cities paved with gold and built of gems with light shining through them, and trees with leaves that heal the nations, and a ruler of love. (from the last book of the Bible, after God changes everything with a bloody judgment against evil and gives power to live righteously to anyone who authentically tries to turn to good and calls to him, something he's actually offering now also.)