Francis- CP 4

Saturday night was very fun. I attended a dinner that my CV Dhari and his friends hosted for me and their own CVs from our class. Camille, Suzanne, Nicl, Carlos, Jamie and myself were present as well as a few of Camille's friends. I think we ended up being around 10 people. Our host was called Hassan, another student at CIES who is Camille's CV, and he offered us some delicious Saudi coffee upon our arrival. I had to keep telling myself that it was not tea because it certainly looked and tasted it like it. As more friends of Hassan and Dhari came the food begun to be prepared and I decided to accompany Camille and Nic in the kitchen as they made the french fries. I think this was unusual for the hosts as well as the guests but I think All of the guys that we met were very friendly but they initially stuck with Arabic and each other. As the night progressed, especially after dinner, they opened up a lot more. After Camille, Suzanne and their friends left, Nic, Carlos, Jamie and stayed. There was hookah but also great conversation. At one point a guitar was brought by the quietest of our new friends. Carlos jammed for a bit and he ended up teaching some guitar. I was very impressed with Jamie's knowledge of Arabic music and culture. This helped us in our conversation and led to great fun!

We learned some dances from Saudi Arabia. Hassan showed us video from a wedding he attended. The dances were originally meant for wars but now they occur during wedding celebrations. This led me to think about the dances we do at wedding and this led Nic, Jamie and I to return the the favor by teaching the Cha Cha slide....and, yes, The Macarena. I think I am obliged inform that our awesome dancing skills, Carlos' performance, and maybe Camille and her friend's performance of "Let it be", were documented for posterity. After we all showed off our moves, we played a nice little card game of BS. We did not suggest this, actually, a friend of Hassan and Dhari brought it up. After a game Carlos and I left, but we all agreed to meet again. We will be going to Aladin's on Wednesday. I am very excited to see everyone again and to work on my horrible memory because I am very bad at remembering names.