Crossing the Culture Barrier

We had a first for us this weekend - we had a braai, but for once it didn’t involve plenty of boerewors and wine. Exactly the opposite in fact. Alex’s two best friends at school, Omar and Fayyad, are both Muslim, and we invited their families around for a swim and braai. Omar is Egyptian and Fayyad is South African, so we were quite a mix of people and nationalities.
I was very nervous, as it is incredibly easy to do the wrong thing, and the last thing I wanted to do was inadvertently offend someone.
First hurdle was the swim, as one of the mothers is “covered”. She did, however, join us in the pool, wearing a full swimsuit - looked similar to a wetsuit, going from wrists to ankles, but made of lycra - her hair was in a swimming cap, and she had topped the ensemble off with a rather fetching sunhat. The other mother didn’t swim but sat and sweltered at the side of the pool, watching all the kids - doing lifeguard duty!
As far as food went, all I had to avoid was pork - so our normal boerewors was out. I did manage to track some beef-only wors down, but it was not quite as good as the real stuff.
The only other hurdle was the wine, they none of them drink at all, and Darrell and I had to forgo our usual dinner glass.
Other than those ticklish issues (swimming, food and beverages!), it went well, and a good time was had by all. It is fascinating meeting different people with their different values and lives. During the evening, as the sun started to set, they excused themselves one by one and went upstairs to pray - one can only admire such dedication to their religion.