Brand New Buzz

I had one of my best experiences last night. I was on my way back from Petra to my Dubai UAE hotel on a bus and we stopped at a rest area for a bathroom break and snack break. The driver pulled out this huge basket loaded with food. He plopped down on a picnic table and began to chow down. The other passengers and I were just hanging around wondering just how long it would take our driver to finish his meal. We were worried we wouldn’t make it back in time, his meal was really huge.

Suddenly, he motioned for me the a few other foreigners to join him at his table. The sun was just setting and Ramadan fast was about to be over. He was just waiting for the sun to set before he broke his fast and he wanted us to join him in his feast. I had never before in my whole life eaten so well and every bite was delicious. He had bowls of rice, pita and stewed lamb. They, the bus driver and the Jordanians showed me how to take a piece of pita, fold it in my hands and scoop up the stewed lamb onto my platter. I’m left handed, so I had to make an extra effort to do it with my right hand, which is the custom. The left hand is considered the hand one uses for the bathroom.

It was so amazing to me that these people, how I though probably consider me an infidel to join them in a dinner celebration, especially something as sacred as Ramadan. The driver personally looked after us and made sure we had a constant supply of pita and rice to sop up all the lamb stew juice. It only took us about 20 minutes to finish the feast and we were once again on our way back to Dubai. This was the most memorable evenings of travelling in my life. I wished the whole experience would’ve lasted longer than 20 minutes.

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