Friendship

Recently, a friend who is super involved with refugee resettlement in our area introduced us to a sweet, Iraqi refugee family that lives near us.  They have a three-year-old daughter, have only been in the states for three months, and were eager to make some American friends.  We were excited to connect with them and have been really enjoying the experiences we've had with them already.

I mean, can you imagine?  Being forced to leave your country and homeland because your life and the lives of your entire extended family were in danger... then living in a refugee camp in Lebanon for two years, awaiting the news that you can finally join some other extended family that has already left in the States... then coming to a completely unknown place...  Mazin, the husband, speaks great English and his sweet wife Emelya is learning, along with their daughter Maryam.  We have already learned SO MUCH from them... their hospitality is out of this world, their generosity is unmatched, and their willingness to spend time together is amazing.

 The girls having fun playing at the park!  I love how a language barrier isn't enough to keep kids from playing together!



Me and Emelya... it's been fun learning to communicate with each other when we can't speak the same language!

After spending a few hours together at a park one Saturday morning, they invited us over and spoiled us all afternoon.  They fed us, served chai, served coffee, and then insisted on cooking us dinner as well.


Emelya was so fun to watch in the kitchen... no recipes whatsoever! She couldn't understand why I can't cook without my cookbook.  She said, "Why you need that?  Just look at food, smell, think, and make!" :)



                            Prepping the meat... on swords!


The meat ready to be grilled.  Justin was already salivating at this point!



                         Tabbouleh.. this was sooo good!



This wasn't even all the food... but a lot of it ready for us to feast on!  We ate dinner at 10:00 at night.. quite foreign to us but that's how they roll!  It was so good for us overly-scheduled, stressed-out Americans to just go with the flow all day and not worry about timing.  Although the girls didn't get to bed until 11 pm and were super cranksters the next day, it was totally worth it to spend this sweet time with our friends.

Tomorrow night we are going out for Arabic food with them.. they are anxious for us to try it!  :)  Seriously, having friendships outside of our normal context has been so sweet.  Thanking God for this opportunity and hoping for many more to come!