Sharing Customs over Coffee
During the last week of the first term, as a respite from all the festive madness and the culmination of our term’s work on all things Bahraini, all Year 1 children attended an Arabic coffee morning at our majilis (sitting place). This was a great opportunity for our Arabic students to share their understanding of Arabic customs and for our non-Arabic students to develop a better understanding of the kingdom they call home. There, children and teachers wore traditional clothing, including the jellabiya for girls and the thobe for boys. Everyone sampled traditional chai and coffee, dates and sweets, before sprinkling our hands with rosewater. Then aromatic bahkoor was burned to signify the close of our time together and everyone departed – rested and happy.
It was noticeable how our Arabic pupils enjoyed the opportunity to show off their traditional customs – fakhar (proud).