One Egg Too Many

Priya Azaredo was looking forward to her first trip to Syria. Her two daughters Sabrina and Tamara too were excited about visiting with their paternal grandparents. This was their first trip there and there were lots to look forward to…and be anxious about too.

Anxious because her in-laws are Syrian Muslims and they are set in their own customs.

"We were a little afraid. My kids were young and they could adjust to anything. So I took my parents along too, just so that I would not be left alone. Just when we thought that the holiday was going well, a few hilarious blunders took place," says Priya.

The first morning the in-laws boiled a lot of eggs and placed them in a dish on the dining table. Priya's mother assumed that they had to be shelled and told Sabrina to take the shells off all of them. That is when Sabrina's paternal grandma told her not to shell all the eggs. However since Sabrina was used to listening to her maternal grandma, she shelled all the eggs.

As it turned out, it was a Syrian custom to make a lot of boiled eggs (more than what was required) and only those who wanted some eggs would shell them.

"A lot of eggs were wasted that day on breakfast. I was really mortified. Thankfully my in-laws saw the funny side of the episode and all of us had a good laugh," chuckles Priya.

Their Solution: Priya told Sabrina and Tamara to listen to their maternal grandparents too. They were also told to ask their grandparents or any family member, if they did not know what to do in certain situations.

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