Dinner at our neighbors

Our neighbors are funny people. They are quite hospitable, as most Kurds are. We had dinner with them on Tuesday. It was very typical of a dinner visit here. We were ushered into the formal living room. We chatted a few minutes, then the daughter brought in a glass of cold water, which we took one sip of and then returned to the tray which she took out.

Then after some more minutes we moved on into the other room where the food was laid out on a plastic "table cloth" or "sifra" on the floor. Many dishes all heaping with rice, soups, yaprax, chicken, and salads. I should have taken a picture. I made the mistake of loosing my plate to the mother of the house who filled it with more yaprax than I could possibly eat and I don't even like yaprax. It is rice and sour stuff wrapped in grape leaves or this other kind of leaf that we don't have in the U.S.

After eating as much as possible and even drinking mastau (a yogurt water that is reminiscent of cow--and which I think as much as I don't care for it, it helps with digestion), we moved into the living room where the TV was on. I don't think I've been in a Kurdish home without the TV on unless there was no electricity. We mostly ignored the extreme wrestling/boxing/whatever kind of fighting that was and talked some more. We drank tea, which was good, but it was late at night. And then we tried to leave... BUT! You can't leave without eating some fruit. So they hurried and brought out the fruit. Katie and I managed to split a banana and they didn't try to make us eat anymore, phew!Hopefully as we get to know them more they will treat us less like guests where we have to be forced to eat.