Only in the Arab World

I work for Student Action for Refugees (STAR), an organization that teaches refugees English. Last week was class registration and placement testing. Because the AUC campus has tight security, everyone must show ID cards and go through a metal detector to enter the campus. Last night, a large group of women in nikaabs (face veils) arrived. Because there was no way the guards could check the picture on their UNHCR cards against their faces due to the lack of women security officers, a guard signaled for the veiled women and then me to follow him to a windowless room to check IDs. The women silently filed in, and he closed and locked the door behind us, instructing them to take their veils off for me. The veils came off. Grins emerged, and I said “Samu Aleikum!” The woman in blue nearest to me started giggling, and then we were all laughing. (I think at my accent).