My Language Partner

مساء الخير!
masaa al-kheer!
Good evening!

I'm having some problems with the slideshow of pictures I added- It's only showing the first page of my pictures! Ugh! Technology- Until I get it figured out, you can visit my flickr page to view all my photos at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/39945289@N02/show/

(My language partner, Rina, and me)

I finally have a few pictures of my language partner, Rina, from an outing last week to the pool! Rina is 19 and studies English and French literature. She's very enthusiastic and tons of fun! She loves shopping and accessories and the color pink! I've met a some of her friends and also her sister Fiby.

Last Saturday, Rina invited me over to her home for dinner. Her mother cooked a ton of delicious seafood, all fresh from the area. They are currently in a fasting period and cannot eat meat and other animal products. Coptic Christians fast something like 260 days a year where they eat essentially just veagan food. It's customary to take seconds and thirds as a guest, otherwise you may be considered rude. So, I ate a lot!! They also offered me fruit and icecream for dessert.

They made me feel very at home and told me that I was welcome any time. Rina's mom, Mary, told me she would be my Egyptian mom and Rina and Fiby would be my sisters. I've even been invited to Fiby's wedding in a couple of months which I am extremely excited about!!

(Me, Fiby, Rina, Mimi, Mera)

After dinner we walked over to their church, a large Coptic church across the street from their home. Rina's grandfather used to be a well known Priest in the area. The church is more than just for prayer, it's also like a very busy community center. There is a library for adults and children, a computer lab and a soccer field. Afterwords her friends drove me back to my dorm.

Friendship seems to have a much deeper meaning here. In America we say we are friends with casual acquantances that we see now and then, but that is not the case here! You see eachother much more often and there is a greater level of concern and care. For example, Rina texted me on my cell yesterday that she was busy and wasn't going to be able to meet up. My phone battery died that afternoon and I never got the chance to reply, so today she called me just to make sure that everything was ok! Very sweet. We are only language partners for the summer, but I know we will continue to hang out during the year!!

(Me, Mimi, Rina, Rose, Fiby)