Dinner with the Iraqis

My brother, Jon offered to host a dinner for a small group of Iraqis during there visit here to America. We had a BBQ (an all-American experience) and had plenty of time to visit through their translator. This is a picture of our group.

Carl was a big hit. This is Mr. Ahmed Mahmood Abdulmunen ABDULMENEM. He is the Mayor of the Hit District. He continued to joke around during the evening about us "banning" him to the BBQ to take his smoke...when the BBQ itself was letting off far more smoke around. He also was very informative about the American 's role in Iraq and his view of it as the mayor.

This is Mr. Mudher Nidhal Mustafa AL-SALIHI. He is the same age as Preston and I and has already seen three wars near his home in his lifetime. Isn't that incredible? He told us that the terrorists kidnapped his brother and tortured him however he was returned later. He, himself was kidnapped but was not tortured. Later the men were captured and one of them had single handily killed 1300 people. Wow! How fortunate we really are.
The translator told us later how much he really liked children and so we asked if he wanted to hold Carl. Next thing you know, he was throwing Carl in the air and Carl was in a world of fits. Ü

Carl hanging out with his Uncle Jon. (probably one of my new favorite pictures).

The last individual was Mr. Harith Abubaker Mohammed MOHAMMED. He was preparing to serve in their mosque. He was a funny guy and took about 200 pictures of Jon's backyard.
Overall, it was a very interesting and enlightening experience. It gave me a better perspective of the Iraqi people and their views on us. They said they believed that Americans were all violent due to their movies (ie 24, Black Hawk Down). They also LOVED Utah. They begged their translator to let them stay a few more days. They also said that conversing with us and others during their trip made them realize that Americans are good, humble people too. It was neat to find so many similarities in our lives and enjoy an All-American BBQ.