June 6, 2008 Dessert

I haven’t yet worked out the rules on dessert. Some days we have it, some days we don’t. It nearly always consists of fresh fruit: so far we’ve gotten limon, banane, dlaH, swayhayda; (orange, banana, watermelon, honeydew melon, respectively). It appears anywhere from immediately after we’ve finished—sometimes the dish of fruit is in the room with us, instead of in the kitchen—to 10-15 minutes later. The times when I’ve left the room too soon, thinking that the meal was done and it was time to sleep (because naptime and bedtime immediately follow lunch and dinner), Ama has been quite distressed. In fact, I think the reason the fruit began accompanying us to the meal was that she was afraid I’d miss it otherwise. But then some days there is no dessert, and I linger sociably until the people who want to sleep are wishing me gone.

I thought that today was one of those days. Tamghart, which means “old lady” (and is more respectful than it sounds to my American ears), and which is how everyone refers to my MaHallu (grandmother), had already dozed off in her corner. Her sister, my great-aunt, was nodding off in another corner. I wished them a peaceful sleep and crept out of the room…only to be chased down by Ama, wielding a banana. (And she wasn’t afraid to use it.)