Ramadan

I'm in the process of volunteering with an organization that matches Americans with students from the middle east who are here to study.  Your level of involvement can range anywhere from picking a student up at the airport and dropping them at the dorm to having a student move in with you for a school year or more.
The students can be pretty much any age.  Some students have family or friends here already, but some don't.  We are a friendly face in a scary situation.  The goal is to be a friend and at the same time expose them to Christianity. We don't have any illusions that we'll convert all or even one of the students we come into contact with. We've learned that Muslims have just as many misconceptions about Christians as we have about them.  This is a great chance to learn about each other in a safe setting.
Last Friday, Jon and I had participated in our first event. Muslims are currently celebrating Ramadan. A group of about 70 volunteers and students met to break the fast and share a meal together.  It was a little overwhelming at first.  We still don't know all the intricacies with women greeting men (married vs single), what is or isn't appropriate conversation topics--we met with students from opposing tribes and asking them about that was a big no no.  Some spoke English really well and some didn't, some had the "I'm superior" mentality that we were warned about which got a little frustrating.  Fortunately, when food is involved, most of that gets set aside. We had 75% ethnic food.  I tried most of it, but some I just couldn't bring myself to put on my plate.
Overall, I thought it went really well.  The media teaches us to fear Muslims, but fear was the last emotion I was feeling.  I met a large group of friendly people.  They gave me a geography lesson, taught me some Arabic that I'm sure I've already forgot and introduced me to some interesting food! I'm definitely looking forward to the next event.