summer festivities 2: arab-american festival, brooklyn

A few weekends ago, Lyra and I went to the Arab-American Heritage Festival in Prospect Park, and spent the evening smoking shisha, eating remarkable kafta mishwi and muhammara, listening to Yemeni music, buying books, and watching the dancing, surrounded by picnicking families and children bearing facepainted flags (many Palestinian, but also Jordanian, Iraqi, Lebanese, Syrian....) A large group of teenage boys were gathered in front of the stage, dancing the debke--how long has it been since I last watched anyone do that? or danced it myself ?--and it was a delight to behold. I love the way Arab boys dance--exuberantly and comfortably, with so little adolescent awkwardness, and so much gleeful showing-off. Ya habibi Brooklyn, all over again.