Fresh Juice, Camels, and Sand
This morning I got to sleep in a little big later, and slept for over 6 hours for the first time since arriving in the Middle East. I woke up feeling like I died and went to heaven. I am now in Kuwait and looking out over the turquoise blue waters of the Persian Gulf with Kuwait City on the horizon. It is a beautiful day, 36 degrees C (still struggling with Celius; it is almost like attempting to understand the ongoing local currency conversions.)
As we continue to travel east the culture and lifestyles become more traditional and conservative. Here in Kuwait, for example, no alcoholic beverages are served, or available. However, they certainly have fruit juice. And, it is outstanding fruit juice. Last night I had a glass of kiwi juice that was so good I wanted to rub it in my hair. It was thick and dense; I suspect they simply pureed kiwis. Later I had a glass of what they called "lemon". My colleagues avoided it because it was green. It was also excellent; it was lemonaide that wasn't very sweet and was infused with mint and exceedingly refreshing.
In Jordan, and Dubai we were often offered small cups of tea and, as you might expect, there are often platters of dates. However, much to my surprise coffee isn't readily available unless you are sitting in a restaurant (though, when you can get it the Turkish coffee is great, but really sweet.) We are constantly being offered Nescafe, which I find gross. Sorry, I should be more gracious -- we are guests here. However, instant coffee brings up bad memories of late '60's food in the U.S. like instant mashed potatoes, "Minute Rice" and canned vegetables -- nasty! The Arabic food is quite good though. I have tried as often as possible to go local when eating and had "foul" yesterday and this morning for breakfast. It involves mashed red beans that are like a porridge, which you garnish with chopped herbs, onion, tomatoes, hummus, olive oil, lemon juice, and cumin. I had something really decadent yesterday at breakfast that involved boiled sweet milk, a crepe, boiled raisins, cinammon, and chopped pistachios. Of course the pita is excellent.
Last night I was dead dog tired (we did mini-fairs at 4 schools, came back and had 20 minutes to change, when and did a fair and I talked with parents and students non-stop for 3 1/2 hours.) So I went to the hotel restaurant. They subtilely (well a tad overtly) pushed me to order the buffet dinner. I was hungry, but not that hungry. I don't eat beef, and unfortunately there was lots of beef on the buffet. Of course there is no pork offered (on the Air France flight to Jordan a note on the tray assured that the meal was certified to include no pork. Since arriving I have seen lots of beef sausage on buffets, and turkey bacon, both of which I have avoided.) I am not wild about lamb, but last night I had some dumblings like falafel with lamb and pine nuts in a yogurt sauce, and lamb biriani (the raisins and cashews in the rice compensated for the lamb, which wasn't bad.) However, what I liked were the array of pureed savory items to have with pita. There was hummus, of course, but various other things that I couldn't readily identify but that included things like eggplant, lentils, and the like. Some were topped with kernels of pomegranate, which provided a nice crunch. Sometimes the language barrier makes understanding what I am eating difficult (also they seem astonished that I want to eat Arab food.The Arabs typically speak English but the servers are typically Filipinos, Bengalis, or Indians. I of course recognize the Filipinos since we have such a large Filipino American population in Seattle. I always ask where they are from in the Phillipines and they are pleased to have their culture recognized. I haven't seen Filipino food on the menus (too bad for the Arabs) but Indian food has clearly crept into the Arab diet -- with good reason. At a few of the high schools they have been incredibly kind and offered us American lunches, which is nice but disappointing. I'd far rather eat local food (yesterday I was pretty horrified when the group was bused to McDonalds in between visits; apparently my colleagues haven't read Fast Food Nation. And no, I didn't eat at McDonalds...for philosophical and social justice, as well as nutritional reasons. And I don't drink soda/pop either, though my American colleagues are constantly ferretting it out.)
As we have traveled beyond Jordan more women are wearing abayas and head scarves. I have been encountering more in burkas, which is bringing back visions of the excellent chronicle by a Norwegian female journalist "The Bookseller of Kabul" and the novel "A Thousand Splendid Suns". Last night a mother spoke with me in a burka, and apologized for not speaking "good English" (I responded to another parent, a father, that his English was far better than my Arabic, which brought a smile.) The challenge of our communicating was my inability to see beyond her yes; it is amazing how much of communication involves facial expressions. Of course, this is compounded by wanting to be courteous and not stare or appear to stare. The men are more likely to be in full gowns, I don't know if theirs are called abayas. The men wear white, the women black. Actually, they look pretty comfortable; I can see beyond the traditions why they'd resist western clothes -- the men, at least. It has been amusing to see guys in white gowns and baseball caps -- a fushion of east and west. Last night we walked by the beach en route to the hotel; seeing women sitting on the beach fully draped was a bit surprising.
When in the UAE we drove outside Dubai to a nearby town to visit a high school. Along the way we saw lots of the long awaited camels; I am not making this up, but they had lots of camel crossing signs on the highway. In Jordan we saw many tents where the Bedoins were camping with their livestock next to their crops. Yesterday, we were all getting covered by blowing dust and when driving back into Dubai noted reduced visibilty from a light sand storm. Yes, all those textbook descriptions of the Middle East from my elementary school days are, in fact, based in reality.
Kuwait is actually pretty modest in comparison with Dubai, but refreshingly so. The infrastructure is good, but not glitzy and not flawless (the relentless construction in Dubai is pretty tedious; traveling around is a nightmare.) Kuwait is much greener and aesthetically more pleasing; the location is quite lovely. Its people are formal, and polite,warm, and gracious. I have been struck by the boys, and their fathers, immediately wanting to shake hands when introducing themselves, and their patience and appreciation waiting to ask questions and for information. The kindness here is moving and inspiring.