On Saturday we had a wonderful family over. We'd invited them for the main meal of the day and I'd left it to them to choose the time. I only spoke with the husband since he comes to classes and suddenly, just two days before, he said they'd come for coffee. I couldn't change his mind, except to add "and cake". I will never know if this change was because they didn't feel comfortable with or sure about my halal cooking, or whether he wanted to make less work for me.
In the end we had a good time together. The wife and children have only been here one year and five months, whereas he came three years ago. The children speak very good German, the wife hardly any. We'd previously spent an evening with them and already knew them, so it was a friendly relaxed time.
Except that the father told us more details about his life in Syria, as a ship engineer specializing in hydraulics, and about his arbitrary capture, torture, and imprisonment from which he escaped by bribing a military man. It was a hard story to hear and it was very emotional for him to recall the experiences in Syria and then his escape via Beirut, Istanbul by boat to Italy and then to Germany. I don't feel free to give details here, but will share his story in person.
In addition to Arabic, he can communicate in Russian, somewhat in English and now he is learning German. He is not able to work because his German written and verbal skills are still lacking. He is the kind of man who makes a great neighbor. He is willing to drop everything and help. Greg once asked his wife what his hobbies are. She answered in Arabic,"helping people!" See picture below taken in the first weeks of our time here. He volunteered many hours getting our apartment fixed up and especially our kitchen installed!
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