body-builder boyfriend

thursday was an interesting day.
here friday and saturday are weekend days, and jordanian families take advantage of the free time to see every member of their family (at least that's what it feels like). normally i come home from school during the week and my mama and baba are just watching tv in the tv room, but this thursday i came in and heard a chorus of voices.
mama was in the doorway with tin foil in her hair, getting it colored by her sister. mama's sister had her entire family over: her husband jimmy, and her three sons. two of them are married, and their wives and babies were over. BABIES. FINALLY. yum yum yum. one of them was name tu'reen (tutti for short) and was 2 years old. "terrible twos" defined. but i'll get to that in a moment.
i came into the tv room where everyone was watching al jazeera and smoking cigarettes and drinking redonkulously strong turkish coffee. after "marhaba"s were exchanged, i sat down. the first thing jimmy said to me (in english yeyeyeye) was "do you want some money??" and reached into the plastic bag he was holding and pulled out a 2-inch thick stack of lebanese bills, waving them around. "oh, um, maybe later?" was the only thing i could think to say. WHAT ON EARTH???? i need to investigate this further.
then, jimmy tried for like 25 minutes to pitch his single son to me. he saw that i had a ring on a silver ring on my ring finger and asked if i was married. i answered honestly. MISTAKE. he was like, "oh, you're ashreen se'a (20 years old) as well? so is my son!! he body builds." then jimmy said something to his son in arabic, and he pulls out his cell phone and shows me about 10 pictures of his shirtless, muscular physique. i think my mama is in on this little arrangment too. back in the tv room i saw her and my future husband whispering and smiling and staring at me. ACK!
so i found solace in playing with little tutti... until she started slapping me and grabbing my cheeks and pulling them out as far as they could go. when this happened, her mom grabbed her and slapped her across the face. i gasped, which i feel really bad about now. jordanian ideas of punishment are definitely different than american, but i still was very taken aback. then tutti climbed on the kitchen table, grabbed a fork, and tried to stab me with it. i wrestled it from her tiny little hands, but not before she laid her teeth deep into my arm. ok, tutti. final straw. when she later accidentally hit herself in the head with a cabinet door i didn't feel all that bad.
i took solace in the tv room once more, but then i found myself intruding upon a "boys club" of sorts (just like at mac! can't escape being a bro). before i realized it, all the men where on the couch with me and the door was closed. they conversed in arabic, which i didn't understand, smoking cigarettes and drinking more turkish coffee. i could not have felt more out of place. story of my life in amman so far.

anyway, this all sounds pretty bad, but it was actually a pretty amusing evening. i've heard stories like this from my other friends too. jordanian families are just large and loud and a little crazy. but it's part of what we love about them. and they make for some entertaining stories.

still loving amman! explored downtown yesterday, haggled successfully for a shirt (.5 JD!! that's wassup) and ate some delicious chicken (with two spoons. people just don't use forks or knives here). more l8r.