My, how things change!

I got to thinking the other day about how things change with time. Not just important things, but everyday things. I thought I'd blog about all the things that seemed so strange to us when we first came to Palestine in August of 2004, but are now just a normal part of life. The list is long! In no particular order:

1. Corn on pizza. The first time I saw this I thought I'd be sick. Now? It's the kids' most requested topping. And I can eat it too. What will we do when we visit the US and we can't get corn on our pizza?

2. Drains in the floors of kitchens, bathrooms, and enclosed porches. We had to stay with co-workers when we first arrived. I clearly remember washing my first dish and hearing this swooshing sound from under my feet as the water drained from the sink. I jumped and called our friend. What was that sound? That's how they do the pipes here. And it also makes it easy to clean the tile floors: flood 'em! And you use a squigy to push the water into the open drains. Which leads to #3!

3. Squigies. How do you even spell that? Rather than using mops as we think of them in the US, we clean our floors with a giant squigy. You can put a cloth on the end, or simply use the squigy to to push the water and all the gak into the drain. I might have to take one of these with me to the US!

4. Sinks outside of bathrooms. There is almost always an extra sink outside of the bathroom here for ease of washing one's hands. I still find that strange, because just a few feet away is yet another sink in the bathroom. But there it is.

5. Tile floors everywhere. They are beautiful and so easy to clean. But so cold in the winter!

6. Freezing cold houses during the winter! This one I will never get used to. For 3 months every year Jerusalem is miserable! We go outside to get warm!

7. Coffee is served with the grinds included. This is Arab coffee. Scot loves it. It's okay and I graciously drink it when it's served. I don't prefer it and am always happy to be offered "filter coffee" or "American coffee."

8. Tea is served with vegetation floating in it. Fresh mint, wild sage (called maramia)...you just never know what you might find in your tea! Now I can hardly drink tea without something fresh in it!

9. The list of greetings and leave-takings that are required. You can't just say, "Hello!" and "Goodbye!" Sometimes I feel the greetings will never end. It made me so uncomfortable when we first came because I didn't know all the right things to say and how to respond. Now I can keep up with Arabic greetings and leave-takings without missing a beat!

10. The cheek kissing. I knew to expect it, but it still takes some getting used to. And every once in awhile now I'm not sure how many kisses to give. Sometimes it's just 2. Sometimes 3. and sometimes 4! I have found that it seems to indicate depth of relationship, at least in the villages. And now, if a woman doesn't kiss my cheeks in greeting, I feel sad and/or left out! And I've even learned how to do it without making someone's glasses dirty or stepping on her toes!

11. Hummus. We used to eat hummus sometimes in the US. Or what we thought was hummus. It came in a plastic tub from Walmart. Now we know what REAL hummus tastes like, and there is no going back! We eat hummus nearly everyday. It serves as an alternative protein for us. Our kids love it. We use it for sandwiches, veggie dip, and eat it for breakfast, lunch, and supper. As you can see in this picture: this ain't your walmart's hummus! And check out that amazing sesame bread? It's addictive!

12. Olives. We have always enjoyed olives. But we have now come to love Palestinian style olives! YUM! The olive tree is a symbol of life for Palestinians. We've not only learned how to cure them, but we've also helped pick olives during the olive harvest, and we've seen how they make olive oil. The only kind of olive oil I know Palestinians to use is extra virgin. You haven't tasted olive oil until you've tasted it fresh! WOW!

13. Conversations peppered with Arabic words. I don't think I'm capable of having a conversation in English now without using some Arabic words! It is so fun to be on the way to becoming bilingual!

14. Being in the minority. That is something I've never really been before. And here, it is glaringly obvious that one of these things just doesn't belong here! The stares are hard to get used to. Depending on where we are and what we are doing, it's still not easy. Being the only foreigner, or the only Christian, or the only American...it's just strange.

15. White stone houses. It was strange to see houses that were all the exact same thing. Now I don't even bat an eye.

16. Horses, donkeys, flocks of sheep and goats, and even camels on the city streets almost every day! That took some getting used to. We still get excited to see the baby camels!

This list is far from exhaustive! It's more like a work in progress...I'll have to keep adding things as they come to mind! It really is strange how quickly things become normal. We don't notice the differences so much after 3 1/2 years. When people visit they comment on some of these things and we remember just how weird it all seemed to us when we first arrived! I'm glad things like this change. We feel at home here. We're comfortable in our adopted land. That's always a good thing!