Ramadan Mubarak!

When I landed in Amman late Thursday night it was the first time I could say that I was arriving home in Jordan. There was chaos at Queen Alia Airport, chaos I've learned how to navigate and to a certain extent appreciate. Things in the US were so organized I wasn't sure what to do with myself! When I exited the customs area, drums were pounding and ladies ululating as a tribe was welcoming a recent graduate returning triumphantly - he wore his graduation robes on the plane. It's the holy month of Ramadan, so everything here, especially in the nighttime hours, seems heightened, tense, festive.Less than 24 hours later I was at Auntie Selwa's house for Iftar, the breaking of the fast meal, just before 8pm locally. No food or water has passed most people's lips since sunrise. Soup and dates and apricot nectar and tamarind juice and lamb with rice and grape leaves and knafe (a shredded phyllo and cheese dessert). It was a delightful evening spent seeing all of my aunties and uncles who have taken me in so warmly. We all sat out in the cool night air of the garden after dinner, drinking tea with mint.