Surprise Food in little Packages

Look at what was delivered to my door last night,  accompanied by the smiling, happy face of New Friend.  I tell you, this was almost as fun as being the giver of the food.  The joy and happiness on her face as she surprised us was infectious.

I’m hoping to make another delivery this weekend.

So, we had no idea what this kind of food was.  I have never encountered it before, the kids thought maybe doughnuts.  I thought maybe dinner rolls.  10 minutes later at Iftar, my son took his first bite of food after 16 hours of fasting, he chose one of these little pockets of yummy dough.  He found that they were filled with rice, meat, peas and pine nuts spiced very delicately.  The bread ended up being puff pastry dough, and the filling was spiced with cinnamon and allspice (probably 7 spice.)  The tops were golden brown and buttery but looked like they might have been treated with an eggwash prior to baking.  My son said they were like Kibbe, but without the hard outer shell.

Last night after dinner was over and the aftermath cleared away, floor swept (by Khaled and son) we went to Taraweeh prayers.  I ran upstairs to shower and change and found myself not wanting to try to figure out what to wear that would be appropriate.  I just didn’t have the energy.  So I grabbed my Abaya – y’no the one I bought in the spring and put that on over the white pants I made just for that purpose.  I am finding it easier to reach for my Abaya to wear on occasions when I know it will be appropriate and I just don’t want to put too much thought into what I’m wearing.

We didn’t stay for the whole time, but just a few Rakas and then went home.  I’m not sure what, if anything, the children got out of that short of time being there.  Also, we went to the Masjid where the girls pray in a completely different room than the men.  The ladies were a bit lost and I didn’t know what to tell them except for just follow along.  When we got back in the car, Khaled explained what was happening and why it was so very different from the regular way of praying, but I felt like I had failed in a teaching moment.  At that moment, when I was watching the girls and their confused little faces, I wished that I could teach them, and I knew how to explain to them what was going on.  I knew that the Imam was reciting the first Surah of The Quran, but I didn’t know why it was being broken down the way it was.  So I sat there, and watched over my ladies from the hallway and when we saw that we had been there an hour, it was time to go home.