eating with your hands

Well, I am back from an exciting last several days. I am very thankful for the extra memory card I got for my camera before leaving because I have been taking so many pictures! Right now I am listening to some of my language vocab while typing up this post.
This past week at language we decided that I was slowing down my classmate, so I will be on my own in class for a while so I can catch up. Which I am very thankful for as this is vital in me actually getting to know the language—it’s not about a grade like it was for me in high school. I had the opportunity to join a couple of friends to tour around the city a bit more and we ended up being able to enter the Palace grounds. This was way cool, cause other friends have asked to get inside and have been turned down.
I am trying to think of the best equivalent in the size of the Palace grounds and think maybe 2/3 of the U of A campus may be a good comparison. It was quite large. Here is the entry gate:

Then it was off to another city for a couple of days. This was great as it allowed me a lot of listening time. It has been hard for me to put the words/dialogues into context of how they are used out on the street. I was glad to be in a smaller area as well. It was neat to see a different part of NA. We stayed in a local home (well very large home) that accommodated quite a group of us. Here is a photo from the 3rd floor of this rihad:

For lunch on Friday we had the traditional dish that is served on Fridays and it was fabulous. Friends claim it to be the best in this part of the world. This particular serving was the largest I have ever seen in my life:

Our hostesses actually gave us spoons to eat, but traditionally you can eat it with your hands.

Later that afternoon we toured around a bit and saw the King’s Palace in this particular city. He has many all over the country. It was very nice as you can see here:

Later that early evening we went to local friend’s house for coffee and tea and many sweets. It was a lot of fun and a good time for me to take in some language.
The next day we were taken through the medina (old city) and it was incredible. So many sites, sounds, and smells to take in. We were on foot hours at a time, so it was quite a workout, which is good as they serve so many sweets here. For lunch we dined back at the rihad for another traditional meal and this time we ate with our hands. It has become seemingly normal practice and it was actually quite an honor to not be given forks to use.
Check out some photos from the adventures around the old city:

this is what local brides are carried around on during the wedding reception here—we walked through an area where they were making them

these are some photos of a tannery we visited—it was quite stinky and interesting to watch at the same time

here are some examples of the finished product

and here are some exciting photos of local food options found in the medina

inside a very old and active mosque in the city that we were actually able to go inside and see:

And a photo from the train ride back:
As you can see, there is a lot to take in here. I am trying to learn as much as I can and hoping that I will have the memory to keep it all in check. Just got back from visiting our maid’s house where I was able to watch video footage of her daughter’s recent wedding. It was a lot of fun to visit her and try to pick up new words, eat loads of sweets and drink mint tea (my heart is racing from all the sugar), learn about how weddings happen here, and especially meet some of her family. Also doing laundry today which is fun as we have our washer out on the veranda and we hang our clothes up to dry—it has become a fun process. I hope you are well.