We co-hosted another dinner for the
UCCD. We've had visitors from Quatar, Gaza, Palestine, Brazil and China on previous dinners. This time our guests were from Iraq.
I didn't really think much about the dinner before hand, it was a super busy week, and I had a huge ward dinner the Young Women were putting on the night before. It was the Little Man's first time with a 'real' babysitter (a neighborhood girl that we actually paid to come over), and I was preoccupied with thinking about that as well.
When we first all arrived I found myself feeling a little stand-offish. (Not sure how you spell that, or if I made it up). I think I've read too many books about Middle Eastern families and situations. Men are not often painted in a very kind light in the stories I have read.
The conversation was actually quite heavy most of the night, more so than with other people we've hosted. The couple that we invited made for interesting conversation because she was born in Japan and he is American. We talked a bit about WWII and the fact that two generations later Japan and America have strong relationships and respect for one another.
It dawned on me at that time that we were having dinner with a group of state-sponsored delegates from a country that we are at war with, in a round about way. I doubt there has ever been another time in history where that has happened. One of the men talked about how diverse Iraq is, and it's not surprise that there are so many creative people and ideas -something I had never thought of before. He also said that before and during the Saddam's regime was a 'dark' time in Iraq and it's starting to come away from the dark. In his words, Saddam was 'mentally retarded' to do the things he did, which the other men agreed with.
Two of the men were journalists and the third was an
Imam, a Muslim spiritual leader, or priest. He was actually the youngest and most outgoing of the group. If I remember right, all of the father's had more than one wife, three or four, actually. The two that were married only had one wife, and when I asked, they said it depended on the family, the culture, and the education level, that seems to decide whether or not men would have more than one wife. The Imam said he wanted four wives, but then he joked about having a wife from the North, South, East, and West, so I'm not sure if he was joking or not.
The all lived in Baghdad, and said that things were okay and safe most of the time. We asked if the journalists felt like they had freedom to write what they wanted to. They said yes, for the most part. They worked closely with the government, or even with the government, but said they could still criticize the government's actions. They talked about the civil war or violence between the Shiite's and the Sunni's. But, one of the journalist said he and his wife were from different sects and that was okay.
The delegates had visited New York, Washington DC, here in Salt Lake, and were going on to Portland Oregon before going home. They all said that they had enjoyed the visit and it had surpassed their expectations. They all remarked on how nicely they had been treated, both by the diplomats and professional people they met with, and anyone else they came in contact. They were impressed with the
LDS church and all that they do in their humanitarian efforts close to home and abroad. They also remarked on the many similarities between their faith and ours.
I know this is quite wordy, and so far, no pictures (we forgot our camera, so we'll get the photo from the other couple we hosted the dinner with). I think it's mostly for me. So, if you're still reading this, I'm actually a bit surprised! I think it's mostly for me, so I can remember the evening. Maybe my next post will have to be a bit more exciting!
