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Published: July 16th 2007
FOOD!
The amazing... extensive meal we were served. We finished the house and guiltyly left a happy, waving family behind in the desert heat. The next day was one of "rest and recreation" but, of course, being the good travelers we are, we couldn't stand the thought of a day of nothing. Due to some program complications we were sent out of the way while the arabs fixed our complicated schedule. We stuffed ourselves into taxis and set out for a real cultural experience... Mecca Mall. Yep, a mall, fully equipped with every American and European big name you can think of. Riding up the escalator behind two completely, though very styleishly, covered women in hijabs and extremely high heels I was again touched by the extremes in this place. Wealth and a lack of and all of it under the headlines of a non-western culture I find fascinating.
After our Mecca Mall experience, we were again crammed into cars and driven to a restuarant. Entering the resturant through the common metal detector and bag search, I was not prepared for the sight before me. This meal was arranged by the TV channel "7 Stars" that we had our show on. It was incredibly posh. We sat down and the feast began. An amazing array of appetizers was followed by at least five different types of meat followed by fruit followed by the rice custard with honey that is traditional here. I was bursting at the seams by the end of it. We thought they must have spent at least 600 Jordanian Dinars on this one meal. Ridiculous. If we'd known we would have protested... we didn't know until all we could do was sigh and enjoy it. It was good.
A quick note to all future Jordanian travelers: the people here are incredibly hospitable. They'll invite you into their homes for a meal at every oppertunity. But be prepared; meals are often very very big, and full of oil. And they expect you to eat everything. Not that it's rude to not eat it all... they just normally eat that much... apparently. At this moment I'm stuffed from a meal at my coyear's (Jude's) house here in Amman. It was delicious though!
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