Our Arabic teacher Khulood invited three of us to Iftar with a family who lives near the University of Jordan; Khulood's friend, Mai, whom we met over tea and Ramadan sweets after attending the evening prayers at the mosque, also came. Nadia and Abu Muhammed have three songs, two of whom are working in other Arab countries (one of whom Khulood and Mai are friends with, which is how they know the family), while the youngest (who shared Iftar with us), is actually getting married next week; he invited all the SIT students to his wedding, prior even to meeting J, P and I, but unfortunately we will be on our week-long trip to Egypt then, which is disappointing.

The whole tone and feel of the evening was so different from my nightly experiences with my host family; we were greeted with such genuine warmth, openness, and curiosity that it reminded me how much I really have enjoyed my time with many of the Jordanians I have met here. The food was excellent--the blend of spices, including fresh caradmon, in the rice with almonds was incredible--and the after-dinner questions over Turkish coffee and traditional Ramadan sweets about what we honestly do not like about Jordan, our personal beliefs about God, and our views about the function of religion in society, particularly in America, gave me a chance to speak Arabic with a fluidity that produced an almost physical pleasure, like when I walk partway to school in the mornings and my body is able to stretch. Abu Muhammed spoke a tiny bit of English, but with some interpretation help from Khulood, they encouraged our faltering and often broken Arabic, which was in itself refreshing, since I have gotten so used to my host family not even listening when I start to speak in Arabic, and immediately saying, "say it in English."

Nadia told P and I that she loved having girls in the house, after so many years of being the only woman, and that she wants us to come back any time, "kul youm" -- every day; Abu Muhammed insisted on getting our e-mails and addresses, and repeated over and over that we needed to come back and visit, whenever and as often as we wished. The sincerity of these gestures of hospitality was clear, and I left the evening with this overwhelming sense of energy, happiness, and warmth--the flush of a wonderful few hours of coming together, eating and talking with people that I truly want to get to know.