I learned a lesson today about getting the background for a story right.
In spite of the fact that I said that the guard at the desk was Persian, I had naively intended the story to be very Arab Middle Eastern. Since the man is Persian, he would be speaking Farsi as his native language, and likely a Shia Muslim. Habbibi is an Arab word meaning "Sweet heart", and not spoken in Farsi.

"I guess they use "Joonam" for "my dear". besides, "habibi" is a masculine adj. most of Arabs use "habibiti" for a female, Lebanese use it for both genders though.- the notion about tents is not really accurate to either Arabs or Persians culture" He says.

I left the "apparent" spelling errors in what he said to highlight the fact that he is really writing English phonetically. I am studying Arabic right now and believe me, it is nothing like any language I ever looked at.

It is also not likely that her Persian relatives would be getting on well with his Sunni relatives since it was the Muslim Arabs who attacked Persia around 650 AD and made them Muslims.

I had sent the story to a Saudi man I know through our exchange on some Arab news items. He was quite gentle but did not hesitate to correct me, and I am thankful for it. I will likely ask him to screen my stories with Middle Eastern Content in the future for cultural correctness before they go to Holly. Now, I am understanding why the Pros often have staff. This writing can be a lot of work. :)

I am quite embarrassed by all this; having come across as just another dumb American woman. (he does not know that I am trans)

Ma Salama

Gwendolyn or Khadija as you wish.