Hospitality is Universal

From August of this year until last week, my family and I had a 20 year old from Saudi Arabia living with us. Yousef was here in Halifax to learn English and I'd be lying if I said I was completely open to the experience of taking a boarder into our home. It turned out I had no cause for anxiety because he was barely here anyway, choosing to spend most of his time at his cousin's apartment in Halifax (not that I blame him, our house would be pretty boring for him, especially after his laptop broke). Needless to say I thought he was a nice guy, but I wasn't sure what my complete opinion of him was considering his usual absence from our company.

Then the day came for him to pack up his stuff and take it over to his cousin's, where he was going to stay his last week before returning home for 2 months. Mom and I drove him over to Halifax to lighten the load, expecting to just exchange a few words and a hug before heading back home. Upon our arrival at the apartment building, Yousef asked us if we would like to come up, and then once upstairs in the hallway, if we'd like to come into the apartment. His cousin was at the door with open arms and his handshake and smile at the ready. We had never met him before and he waved us into his apartment and onto the couch as if we were old friends.

The hospitality didn't stop there however. Yousef then proceeded to the kitchen and brought out a plate of Arabic dates (yum!) and a beautiful silver pot of Arabic coffee! We already knew him to be extremely polite, humble and friendly (the little we had seen of him), but this surpassed our expectations. Not only were we treated to new and delicious flavours, but we also had the pleasure of great conversation and laughs, which is saying a lot about two young men who can barely speak the same language as us. Needless to say, if I didn't know what my complete opinion of Yousef was before, I had no doubt about what it was after this encounter.

It makes me sick to think there are people in the world who look at young men like Yousef and his cousin as "terrorists" or "militants" when they are anything but. Our visit was a pleasant surprise that just goes to show kindness is universal. There is no reason to judge someone or jump to conclusions about them simply because you don't share a culture or language; at least not before spending quality time with them.

What I learned from this experience is that hospitality is universal; kindness bridges cultural gaps and leaves the people on either side all the more happy and educated in the aftermath. It is the small things that really matter - a plate of dates, a pot of coffee, a smile and a hug - and these are also the things that make someone who they are (not the extreme actions of a few members of their culture).

This encounter was, in fact, repeated a couple of days later when we dropped off a gift for Yousef. We had another round of coffee and conversation and even a "fashion show" of traditional Saudi Arabian dress. Yousef insisted that we come over upon his return to Canada in February so that he could cook us some Arabic food. If only all of the paranoid bigots in the world could have been there with us as Yousef and his cousin opened their arms to my mother and I. Perhaps they would have walked away with a more open mind and heart and gone back out into the world and made it a better place to live.