Yay! I can practice Arabic when I come visit in summer.
To respond to the culture/baby phenomenon- it is very common here for complete strangers at the mall to pick up my friends' 2 year old daughter, kiss her and set her back down (and say Mashallah which is a sort of praise for the baby to indicate his/her beauty without bringing bad luck. I think it means this is God's will). In the Arab world, kids are for everyone to love and cuddle and there aren't hang-ups about strangers/kindappings or any other weird things.
As you are likely aware, family is very much the centre of life in the Middle East- older kids adore younger kids, kids spend lots of time with immediate and extended families. It's spectacular, really.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2009-03-10 09:14 am (UTC)To respond to the culture/baby phenomenon- it is very common here for complete strangers at the mall to pick up my friends' 2 year old daughter, kiss her and set her back down (and say Mashallah which is a sort of praise for the baby to indicate his/her beauty without bringing bad luck. I think it means this is God's will). In the Arab world, kids are for everyone to love and cuddle and there aren't hang-ups about strangers/kindappings or any other weird things.
As you are likely aware, family is very much the centre of life in the Middle East- older kids adore younger kids, kids spend lots of time with immediate and extended families. It's spectacular, really.