Fish Out of Water

My boyfriend is half Lebanese. He invited me to a barbeque with his family and some of their Lebanese family friends. Naturally I said yes. I was quite excited to have the opportunity to experience a little part of the Lebanese culture. We arrived at Vasona Lake Park around noon on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. My boyfriend and his family were greeting with big smiles and open arms. I received a lot of warm greetings and handshakes. Everyone was very kind and welcoming. I watched people slowly arrive and the crowd grew to at least 40 people.

The younger kids kicked around a soccer ball. The women all talked about their kids and I would hear stories about Lebanon. The men sat at tables smoking cigars or hookah while playing card games. Celebrations in the Lebanese culture revolve around food. This instance was no different. There were many different types of dishes, none of which I can pronounce or spell.

The food was delicious. There was so much that it was impossible to try everything. I had a wide sampling of items. Some of them I had tried at my boyfriend’s parent’s house before but there were quite a few dishes I had never seen before. I loved everything I tried.

It was an interesting experience. I spent a lot of time watching the different groups of people and talking to my boyfriend’s sister. Everyone was very nice but I was still very much an outsider. In some ways it was like a regular barbeque, but in other ways the cultural factors were very apparent. The men and women were sitting separately, socializing within the separate groups. I caught snippets of conversations, a lot of which was in Arabic.

I enjoyed being able to experience a social gathering of a different culture. I enjoyed watching the different dynamic and I really enjoyed the food. I think it is important to experience other cultural events such as this because it allows a person to better understand the world around them. I look forward to getting to go to another event like this with my boyfriend and his family.