My Morning "Arabic" Breakfast

I had just sat down at my desk when I heard the “pssstt” right behind me. I turned around and saw my good friend Omar. “Mr. Evan, we’re having a private breakfast next door” he said in a whisper. My heart jumped because I immediately knew what waited for me. Like one of Pavlov’s dogs, my mouth started to water. The sheer thought of what I was going to participate in was enough to get my salivation glands working over time. It’s not the first time I’ve had the invite, but each time I get the invitation, I relish the opportunity to start my day with my Arabic morning breakfast.

The spread is awesome. It’s not fancy nor is it eye catching, but it’s good. Usually they’ll take regular paper, newspaper or any other large throw away paper and spread it on the floor and then they put the following down on the paper. The food in front of me includes the following:

1) Fresh loaves of khubuz or Arabic bread, meaning pita or any other flat bread

2) Feta or white cheese made from goat milk or ewe's milk

3) A bowl of olives, black and green

4) Labneh, a cream cheese-like strained yogurt

5) Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

6) Peanut Butter, Honey, Melon Jam

7) Hummus

8) Hard boiled eggs

I walk in and offer the salutation, Assalam’Aleikum or “peace be unto you” and they offer back “waleikum’salam or “peace be unto you” and then its followed by some who say “Sabah al heir” or “Good morning” to which I reply, “Sabah al noir” or “Good morning to you too”. I remove my shoes and find a place to plant myself. All the men are sitting on the ground and they immediately make a spot for me and there’s no doubt that I’m the minority. I’m the only non-Muslim in the group as well as the only westerner and non-Arabic speaker. But is this an issue? Nope, they accept me as one of their own. They are wonderful people, and they are a mix of Indian’s, Pakistani’s, Saudi’s and me. I eat the food with my right hand only because my left hand is used for something else that has to do with food, but its cleaning up after the food has taken its course, so you can see why I don’t use my left hand. 

Breakfast with Saudi’s isn’t just about the food, which is wonderful, but it’s about the people and the purpose. To get invited to breakfast means that you are part of the group and that they group see’s you as a part of them. In other words, you’re welcome with them no matter who you are. While Omar is usually the one that comes and get’s me, I can’t let this moment go by without mentioning my good friend Ahmed who is the “leader of the group”. He is a great example of what a manager should do to build team spirit and loyalty. He encourages time together as a team. GREAT guy.

They offer jokes to me and about me, and I get the feeling that they do it because they like me and consider me a friend, I hope. We eat, talk, trade barbs and jokes and maybe even a philosophical question or two about God, religion or politics. As they finish they one by one get up and leave and the process dwindles until there are only Me, Omar, Ahmed and another great guy by the name of Abdulaziz. These men are among many who have made my time here in Saudi Arabia a positive and wonderful experience. They show me what a good Muslim is. They are not what most people would think of when they think of Muslims. These are good God fearing men who are married with children and want what we all want, the best for their family. They don’t want to destroy you and I but they do want to live in peace and harmony with others.

Well as we finish I stay to help clean up and Ahmed say’s to me, “You are a good American” he then smiles and says, “Perhaps it’s because you have Spanish in you which means you have Arabic in you”. I take this as a compliment after he winks at me.

I go back to my desk 45 min later and finally start my day……..My morning Arabic breakfast……..what a great way to start the day.

Weekend in Jordan for Toastmasters.

Winning is cool………..No, winning is VERY cool, but it’s even more cool when you lose to a great and talented competitor who then show’s their character by telling you how good you were and how much your competition scared them. A good win is when you can’t tell who the winner will be because the competition was so tough.

The last four days I spent in Amman, Jordan in a District competition for Toastmasters International in three of the four main areas of competition. I competed in Table Topics which is the art of speaking on your feet, Evaluation Contest as an Evaluator, and finally International Speech Contest. Each one of these was tough and the competitors were talented. There were people representing the following countries: Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE and Oman. And the nationalities represented were from the countries already mentioned plus, the Philippines, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, England, Iraq and the USA. Boy did I have a great experience. My wife calls it my hobby, but I have to admit that it’s more than a hobby to me. I love speaking and I love helping inspire people. Those who know me know I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut, but with luck, I’ll turn that into something constructive as I go along in life.

The people I met were wonderful. I have official invites to go to Lebanon, Qatar, UAE and Bahrain, not to mention coming back to Jordan. I have made some new friends and hope to be able to nourish them and grow them.

On to Jordan!

What a wonderful place. Amman Jordan, is a wonderful city. It has a long history that appeals to all those who are Christian, Muslim or Jew, not to mention almost anyone else.

Amman, Jordan is a hilly, pleasant, green (not in the “green movement” way) city that is open and welcoming to all. I listen to the people and I hear any one of the many languages spoken here which are, Arabic, English, French, Circassian, Levantine Arabic, Chechen, Turkish. If you don’t hear them, you meet people who speak them. I look out my window at the Landmark Hotel and see the ancient contrasted with the modern. There are old dwellings butted up against new buildings and there are satellite dishes on all the rooftops. In the distance I can hear the call to prayer by the Imam at one of the many mosques, but there is an absence of standstill in business that accompanies the call to prayer in the more conservative neighbor of Saudi Arabia.

Here in Amman you also see the contrast of the West meeting the East. It’s a country that is very open and comfortable with its Muslim and Christian roots and openly allows the practice of both. As I go down town, I go to Rainbow Street, a fun little shopping area that give you the feel of the modern and the ancient. If you walk far enough down Rainbow Street, you see the old area where the city began.

The cobble stone roads make for a clip-clop sound as the cars gently roll over the stone, but then you look up and see the huge TV screen outside of a movie theater showing a new release from Hollywood. There’s a small little sitting area where the locals have gathered and there are five guys in their 20’s or 30’s sitting playing the guitar and chatting and there are other locals mixing with tourist. From here there is a lookout point where you can see in the distance some of the scenes of Amman. You can see the Citadel of the Roman fort, and some of the mosques which names I don’t’ recall right now. I go down to one of the local Sheesha or Hookah as it’s known in other parts of the world. I don’t’ smoke, but everyone around me is smoking some Sheesha and enjoying dinner. It seems to have no boundaries between women and men with both participating as a social process. The smoke fills the air as more and more people gather to watch the European Cup between FC Barcelona and Manchester United. Both clubs garner huge fans here in Jordan and watching the game is something most everyone is planning on doing.

The crowds are getting big and I’m getting tired so I flag a taxi and head back to the hotel. It’s only one time, but this one time gave me just enough good results to want to return to Amman sooner rather than later. What a beautiful place.

Its a Cultural Affair!

Al Janadriyah (مهرجان الجنادرية), not easy to say, but easy to understand once you've been there. In the States each state and county usually puts on a County or State fair each year to celebrate the accomplishments made by the residents of the location or even to show off the cool things about the place, well here in Saudi they hold Al-Janadriyah festival to show off the Saudi Culture. You get to visit each corner of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and for a brief period of time the usually very private and closed culture opens up and allows you to see it inside and out. You can take pictures, role video and even ask questions that you might not ask. The intent is to give outsiders a look inside, but as we found from our guide, it also serves to educate Saudi's about their own culture that is slowly being replaced by various influences from around the world.

What a great experience to see how this rich and wonderful culture has developed and evolved over the years. From the traditional Arab war dance to the way that the ingenious Arabs used camels and wells to irigate their crops. Its amazing to me to see how they can turn a dry, barren, aired desert into green lush gardens when they want.

We ate food that we usually wouldn't see and heard and saw things that only increased our love of the people of this land. I couldn't finish this without mentioning our two hosts, Abdullah and Fahad, who not only took us to as many places as possible, but made sure that we were well watched out for. We were truely foreigners in new land, we stuck out like sore thumbs, but the people welcomed us at EVERY turn and wanted to give us a taste of who the Saudi's REALLY are.

Don't believe what you hear in the news or read in the papers. They don't want to behead you. They don't want to force you to be Muslim. They don't want to ruin your way of life. They want you and me to understand them and for them to understand us.

Love it!!! LOVE IT!