Ramadan will be over tomorrow, and the nightly Iftar in our courtyard will come to an end. Every night, faithfully, for the duration of Ramadan someone in our neighborhood has been providing an Iftar meal for those who otherwise would not be able to partake. I truly have no idea who has been doing it, but I do know it isn't anyone in our building. But every night about 6 to 8 people have been gathering in the courtyard to break the fast with a meal provided by this someone.
The very first night of Ramadan, my SP came home right when the meal arrived. Those who were gathered in the courtyard invited him to join them. This is Jordanian hospitality ~ to share what little is given to you. To refuse would have meant refusing a beautiful gift, and so he joined them.
Ever since, if we ever come or go about the time they are eating, we bring something down to contribute to the meal - watermelon, sweets, ice cream...and since we are on our way out, we've never joined in the meal.
Tonight, since it would be a last gathering, I had purchased a large tray of sweets for my SP to bring down. He looked into the courtyard to see if they were there and then brought the tray down. He came back up and commented, "You know I had to eat something." Then there was some drama. Comments about how he was glad his shots were up to date. Comments about how maybe a swallow of wine was in order. I remarked how he didn't get sick from the food before and commented how our tummys have been much better lately. He looked and me and said, "It's not the food. Didn't I tell you? They only have one spoon!"
11 comments:
Excellent post.. so beautiful and then so scary. Welcome to the Middle East. I wish I had the chance to share Iftar other than in a 5 star hotel.
It will be OK
EWW! Love the post though. That's really neat that they gather together for a meal that was left anonymously :)
I can't help but wonder if our society is maybe a bit hypochondrical and oversensitive to what's "clean" or not. Don't get me wrong, I'd be skeeved out, but humanity existed long before antibacterial soap and our species still lives. I'm certain that if any of us were in the reverse situation, we'd be happy for that spoon.
Hey, at least now you know what to bring to the party next year!
We all have interesting customs, right? I guess it's what you're used to......
I say, finger foods. Strictly finger foods. Mini quiches, that sort of thing. :) Big smile.
We were invited to several iftars in our garage by the guards. We would usually be coming in from somewhere and not have anything to offer - and it feels awkward to not contribute! - but it is an honest invite. We came in with groceries one day and tried to decline the invite, but as we were finishing putting away the food - they CALLED us, "Where are you? We are waiting for you!" We ran down and enjoyed dinner with them again. Last Friday we had the chance to actually plan and we got about 20+ people together to Iftar. No shared spoons. We had plastic ware. Good food! Kapsa (rice and meat), hot sauce, potatoes stuffed with meat, etc. We brought chili on cornbread, and a berry cobbler. Tried to share some classic American goodies since they shared their good Egyptian food.
How wonderful to share in other cultures, with or without spoons. Our neighbors celebrated with family but brought food to us. Sharing food is wonderful
Breaking daily bread is beautiful.
Uh yeah...
Yuk.
Sometimes I forget that utensils are optional in these parts of the world...
that's just plain icky......I hope your dh doesn't get a dicky tummy because of the sharing!!!! I was wondering don't Jordanian's eat with their hands?
Gill
Unfortunately, "Sharing" food is not something people do in Orange County California unless it's a potluck, or a person has cancer or is seriously ill and neighbors take turns preparing meals for the family. Heck, most people have stopped cooking here, not me of course. I've been brainwashed from living in Paris.
Did they need more than one spoon? Teehee. Actually, I think there's alot less hummus and fool and such for iftar than normally (haven't been to one, so I can't be sure, but...), so I'd imagine spoons really are a necessity.
The good news is that most foreigners find that their tummies do get used to local things. You know, once you get your own amoeba (mine's names Hal), the others stay away :). Teehee. Seriously, Americans are a bit fanatic about germs and such...
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