Iftar

Last night we went to a house in Madbury and joined in the Iftar, the breaking of the fast for Ramadan.  The meal didn't begin until almost 8:00 and that was way too late for Selim.  Combine that with the fact that the dining table was in the warm kitchen and Selim wasn't the best of eaters.  For some reason he has trouble eating in a really warm space.  It was also a little bit awkward when the host realized I was a vegetarian.  I think that fact got lost in translation because my hubby indicated that he had told them, but when and how well the message was delivered wasn't clear.  She was so apologetic, and I felt badly that she felt badly.  She had prepared a feast and almost everything had some form of meat in or on it.  But the rice, salad and hummus and bread that I ate was delicious.  Nedim loved the stuffed grape leaves, stuffed eggplant and soup.

At the end of the meal, Selim had gone from stoic tired to verbally cranky tired.  I was getting a bit antsy thinking about the alarm going off at 4:20 in the morning.  So we didn't stay for tea and sweets, although I would have enjoyed that.  We also left before the prayer time.  Some day, I am going to witness my husband going through the physical prayer ritual.  I look forward to that day.  He says it isn't something that I should just see for the sake of seeing, but I want to because I think it would be a beautiful sight.  Sometimes his fingers are pantomiming the gesture of the prayer beads and I wonder if he is even aware.  Deep inside he has a conscious relationship with God, it just isn't often that he talks about it or demonstrates his devotion.

On another subject, today I confirmed my ticket to London.  I leave August 13 and return September 24.  The program coordinator sent of emails to post today and I expect to hear about hotels and other things tomorrow.  I wrote out an email about my experience at FSI to my supervisor with the understanding that he would shoot it up the chain of command.  I should double check on that tomorrow.  Keeping everybody in the loop can be tricky when trying to personalize the message.

Tonight we ate our first garden zucchini on toast for dinner.  Very tasty.  As I walked in the garden I notices two acorn squash growing nicely, plus tons of cukes and tomatoes.  Too bad I will miss the best harvest time.  I think I can start to process the peaches tomorrow.  I love growing my own food or picking it from someone local.  So satisfying.