This Saturday's 8th Annual Atlanta Arab Festival was a BLAST! I can't tell you how much I enjoyed myself. I got a chance to enjoy some deeelicious food, a live concert, group dance, and conversation with members of the local Arab Community at Atlanta's Alif Institute. I missed the Opening Flag Ceremony, but was just in time to listen to a little Oud Music and get my hands on some gyros, grilled chicken, pita bread and hummus dressing from Mediterranean Grill of Decatur, GA. If you have never eaten at Mediterranean Grill, you have got to do yourself a favor and swing by one of their three Atlanta locations and thank me later.
Moving on, the costume fashion show was very fun to watch. There was no male clothing fashion, but the Arabic female clothing fashion models were very beautiful if I might say ;)! As the day went on, I ran across coworkers, students, FB friends, close friends I invited, and people who were in general very nice to me. The live dance was exciting too. If you know me, you know I'll get a party started out of nowhere, so when someone gestured me to join in a circle dance, I didn't hesitate a second brothers and sisters. I jumped in with my friends and students trying to hold me back by the shoulders. "Mr. Ford come back--" they screamed. LOL. Soon I was holding other peoples' hands and had Arabic rhythm under my feet. Everybody was laughing and smiling as we all moved to the right in a big circle. And just as I turned my neck to see where my 'crew' was, I had those same fools that were holding me back earlier dancing and clapping their hands too. It was Awesome, I did however have one moment where I suffered a little bit of a culture clash...
I had brought my Saudi Arabian flag with me to the festival and kept it in my back pocket. During an intermission of one of the performances, I pulled my Saudi flag out of my pocket and waved it in the air. My students ran up to me and asked to take photos with it. Soon, I had like 12 people wanting to take a picture with the flag. One person was a nice older Arabic lady who spoke no English. She took the flag from me and gave me her phone to take a picture. After two snaps, a younger man who I assumed to be her son or nephew asked me in English to take a picture of him, the flag, and the old lady. After I snapped the photo with his phone I gave it back to him and he thanked me and gave me a hug. Cool. As I turn and give the old woman her phone, I reach out for a hand shake and she QUICKLY drew her hand from me and crossed her arms. For small second I felt embarrassed and looked down at the ground as if I was going to slam my head in the concrete and bury it there. I had forgotten that Arabic women are not permitted to touch men who are not family members. I apologized to both of them and told the English speaking sir that I meant no disrespect at all. He said Ok. I apologized to the gentleman again and told him that I was just one of those silly Americans who loves to go around hugging everybody he comes across when he's having a good time. He told me not to worry and that there was no harm done. Then he said, "Here," reaching out and giving me another hug. "I give you another one since you like hug so much." :)
The market this year was much bigger than last year's and it was great to see some local ESL Institutes with their booths recruiting students. BBT had a nice presence and so did Coca-Cola. There were all kinds of cloth, jewelry, oils, and artwork to buy from friendly faces. Henna and face painting were available for the kids. There was also a pony ride, moonwalker and two big plastic bubbles that were more or less oversized inflatable hamster wheels.
As the evening wined down and the white tents in the market started to fall apart, I took a tour of the inside of Alif Institute and took some photos of my favorite room inside the learning center. It's a shame that I only come here once a year I thought to myself. The volunteer tour guide was very friendly and permitted me to take photos so long as I didn't ask her to be in one. Inside there was everything from brass and wood cooking instruments to little dolls dressed in very rich and detailed clothing.
Around 6:20 in the evening, I finally called it quits and made my way to the parking lot with a couple of free t-shirts and other goodies. A couple of people asked me if I would be back the next day and I told them that if I wasn't, then I would definetly return next year.
As I close, after 5 and half hours at the festival, I spent a total of $10; that includes the $2 admission fee. I also LOST $20 in change at the festival and it was found and returned to me 4 hours after I reported it missing.
If you are ever in the International Village area of Atlanta and have a chance, swing by the Alif Institute and tell them #mr.ford sent you!
Best,
#mr.ford
Alif Institute
3288 Marjan Drive
Atlanta, GA 30340
(770) 936-8770
www.alifinstitute.org
http://www.alifinstitute.org
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