Thief in the Night

We watched an Amr Diab movie on TV tonight as a family, after eating fish and fries.

During the movie, a thief came to the window.

My Arab mom saw him leave our house, and go across the street to the neighbor's house.

The wind tonight was crazy. In general, there is more wind up north than down near Amman - but tonight was exceptional. Supernatural, almost. People here believe in magic. Thieves believe in a good noise cover. "They come out on nights like this!" said my Arabic mom.

Everybody was awake. It was around 1:20 am. My Arab dad got the flashlight from the bureau in his bedroom, and went outside. Mona, the 15 year old, was clinging to my arm. "I'm so scared!" "Don't be scared, it'll be okay."

Lots of neighbors had woken up, and the men were congregating in the street. Ala2 shrugged and went back to watching the movie. I couldn't hear what they were saying, so I went with her.

For a few minutes, I felt like I was in the Amr Diab movie.