Friday I visited the Friday Market (which actually goes Thursday-Sunday) and was able to flirt with my old Jordian boyfriend (still dont' know his name, nor he mine, but he does know me)
"oh my dear, it is so good to see you" (he says and then immediately goes to buy me tea)
"Please sit here (on a box) and take your time. I know you will make a good choice" (as I'm digging through his boxes of "Treasures"
Part of the reason why I enjoy visiting this man is that I truly believe he's my father reincarnated. Also, he's got good "junk" and he doesn't mind when I sit down to dig through his stuff. Sometimes I don't find any goodies (as my dad used to call them) but most often I do.
Friday's "find" was a beautiful rug for my office. Not the fancy kind that was really expensive (and this area of the world is known for their beautiful rugs) but the basic, rugged kind that I don't feel bad placing on the floor (and not on the wall). It goes perfectly with my new office. Also I found some prayer beads for my WWB canoe gals from this summer. These are old beads and I know they've gone through many prayers. Just what I wanted.
As I left my friend said "you are happy, I am happy. I know I will see you again". What a great way to say goodbye to someone.
Sunday evening found me with another older gentleman, this one the owner of the Gift store outside of the Shiite mosque. I know, I know, the shiite are supposed to be the "bad guys", but I really like this man and he's got good stuff. I patiently waited while he was making deals with three moslem women. I didn't laugh when I saw the young boy with them try on a t-shirt with the face of the prophet "blocked" (Muslims do not believe that their prophet should be personified). I was very polite when he offered me tea (a custom here) and I even ate the dates he offered to me (I've actually begun to like them).
When the Muslim women left, he gave me his full attention. I motioned to some prayer beads in the corner and he shook his head
"no, those are junk. Here you want these".
and he proceeded to bring out lovely prayer beads, varying in shapes, sizes, colors and of course prices. It was a very interesting conversation even though few words were spoken.
After finding just what I wanted, I asked about jewelry.
Again, he shook his head over where I pointed and told me he would bring me
"good stuff".
He dug around in his shelves and pulled out this box which, for all the world, looked just like a fishing tackle box to me. However, inside there was beautiful silver jewelry with lovely gems. I thought I was in trouble when he brought out the silver scale (which determines the price) but we were able to arrive at an agreement on a beautiful necklace and bracelet (Merry Christmas to me!)
Just then his daughter and grandson came into the shop. His daughter spoke fluent English which lived up the conversation but took away some of the charm of "speaking" with this wonderful gentleman.
As I left, I then noticed posters of the Ayatallah (the one that the Americans are supposed to hate) and again realized that I could never/possible would visit this shop if it were in North America.
I try hard not to let politics get in the way of my thinking here. I stick by my discovery last year that 99.99% of muslims are peace loving, good people regardless of what may be on the media.
This morning I got a lovely Christmas card from one of my students, a very devout muslim. I was very touched, by her thoughtfulness and her warm wishes. The fact that she honored my holiday was very nice and it reminded me of what I'd like to believe is God's wish for all of us: Peace on Earth, goodwill to all.
1 comment:
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Archie
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