Life with a Kid

I'm sitting here enjoying a plate of osh from our neighbors on a plate that I had given to them with something on it at an earlier time. The other day I wondered where this plate had disappeared to and had no recollection of giving it out. Hooray for the system here of getting a plate back with some sort of food on it. Never, ever will a dish be returned empty. Being foreigners here, and those with an American sweet tooth, most plates that we return to others have things such as cookies, brownies, cupcakes, bread, and cinnamon rolls. Notice a sugar theme anyone? And even the bread, which to us is just plain white bread, is sweet to them and sometimes referred to as "cakes."

But that's not really the driving force behind this blog post. Just a little cultural insight. This time I wanted to share some of the things we've noticed since we moved back home here with Michael. These are in no particular order, just stream of conscience typing.

• His middle name gets more recognition and is easier to remember than his first name. Thank you Alexander the Great.
• When he yawns, a national will "catch" the yawn in their hand and "throw" it away behind them. When asked about it, it's just tradition is what we've been told. No meaning.
• It's really odd when we take him outside in winter since he's so young. And everyone is worried about him being cold. Even when he looks like the Michelin tire man, they are still concerned about how warm he is. And he must always have a hat on. We break that rule in our house, but know it must go on if we're walking outside.
•  At night when he's obviously tired and ready to go to bed, they will pull a thread off their clothing and tuck it in a fold in his. Pretty sure this somehow is intended to keep away the negative energy/bad spirits, but need to do some more exploring on this one.
• Since I'm feeding him myself, apparently fruits are crucial to eat. Twice when going to the bazaar to see my fruit and veggie selling friends, I came home loaded down with apples, pomegranates, oranges, pears, and a banana.

 More things are bound to stand out as time goes on, but that's what we've noticed for the first 2+ months of his life. Oh, and he's a hit with our neighbors. We've noticed that our landlord, his wife, and their daughter come by much more frequently than before he arrived. What can we say...we've got a local star on our hands apparently!