HW 34: Tea Anyone?!?!

After reading the selection in Baghdad Burning by Riverbend dated October 9th through the 29th I learned about tea traditions. Tea is served in many ways depending on the family but mainly consists of a three-step process. The water is boiled then tealeaves are added and lastly it is all put in to a different kettle and heated until the leaves rise to the surface of the kettle and allowed to settle again (Riverbend 108-109). Tea would never be served in a bag in Iraq such as we do in the United States. The Iraqi’s would consider this an insult due to their expertise in serving and drinking tea. The purpose of tea in the evenings between families is purely to relax and have conversations relating to politics as well as many other subjects. Conversations in Iraq “Unlike the typical family conversation around the world ‘How was your day dear?’ doesn’t get at typical answer in Iraq. Depending on who is being asked, the answer varies from stories of abductions to hijackings, to demonstrations, to empty gas cylinders and burned out water pumps” (Riverbend 109). I found that interesting to think about the horrible experiences that people in Iraq go through and have to share amongst the family.