Usually the men and women eat in separate rooms. I'm told this happens at weddings as well. I was invited to my first wedding and will be able to describe that in a few weeks. I'm not sure why they broke this custom but it might have been because we were the honored guests. In the second house, after we ate Jackie and I were taken into the other room where the wives of the men were. They were so sweet and between our limited Dari and their limited English it turned in to a very pleasant afternoon. One of the cousins was able to translate, she teaches english classes.
We all sat on the floor on these large cushions called toe-shacks (phonetic spelling). A table cloth is spread out on the floor and the "table" is set. Most of the food served is cookies, candy and various nuts. Since we were at one place during lunch they also served chicken and yogurt.
The conversations ranged from politics, work and various topics. Everyone was so hospitable and let us ask questions about how they celebrate Eid and what's it like to fast for a month. Ramadan is never the same time each year, and what I imagine as the hardest part is not being able to drink during the day when Ramadan falls during the summer months. Our hosts were equally as interested in our holidays and how many days we get off from work during those holidays. Most of their questions were about which American holiday was similar to Eid. We compared various aspects to Christmas and Thanksgiving, in some ways Easter.
The two holidays they were most interested in learning about were Valentine's day and April Fools. They loved that we have a holiday that allows people to play tricks on one another. Of all the holidays to pick, that's what they had the most questions about. It was really hard to explain that those aren't "real" holidays, that concept doesn't translate well. It's fascinating to hear and learn what people know about America.
Keep Smiling!
