"You eating lunch today?" - Asked Rashid, Head of Student Affairs
"Yeah sure," I said.
"Good I will make phone call go grab three male teacher," as he walks out the door.
What, the hell? I thought the cooks had made something special at school for the teachers. See last night we held our graduation ceremony which is a whole different but equally interesting story, and Rashid had canceled classes to give them a day off. It wasn't a big deal because most parents had already taken their kids home Wednesday night, so it was going to be a very light teaching day. So I has spent the morning with staff planning next year's calendar and then we were going to eat lunch together and dismiss early to head into the weekend.
Rashid comes back, "You must hurry, the General is waiting...Adullah will drive you."
General? WTF. I sprint into the lunch room and grab the first three teachers that have a suit on and drag them from their half eaten lunch and tell them we are headed to the Ritz for lunch with the a high ranking General of the Army.
Ring..."Yes Jamie here, Oh hello..yes we are heading to the Ritz...drive faster..ok"
"Abdullah, that was the Adjutant (Aid to the General). He said speed. Very important that we are not late."
"No."
"What you won't speed?" At this point while we are going the speed limit to Doha from Al Khor, I am thinking what will they do to me if I am late. Fortunately, Abdullah knows how long it takes to reach the Ritz and we arrive right on time. We meet the Adjutant in the lobby and we are whisked up to the 23rd private dinning room of the Ritz. Room is spectacular, over looking the ocean. We are then introduced to the host of the party.
I need to explain how introductions happen in the Gulf. We enter a separate room and a group of men are sitting in a "U" shaped group of sofa chairs, with a love seat at the bottom of the "U". When we enter, all the men rise and a greeting ensues. It is important to shake everyone's hand. Then we begin the dance of who sits where. The Adjutant, helps me out and directs me to a chair. My teachers are escorted to another group of chairs away from us. Still more men sit against the wall further away. I know right away that this is an honor to be included in the first group of chairs. We talk and the host engages me in English and I do my best not make any mistakes. You see my host is a Prince and in my head I am thinking how the hell did a boy from Green Bay, Wisconsin end up being invited to a lunch like this.
Then the General enters. We all rise, hand shaking and the chairs change. There is a polite interchange between my host and the General as to who will sit on the right of the love seat. The General protests, but it is apparent that he will take the most honored position. We sit again, and this time an hour of conversation takes place between the host and the General, all in Arabic. Most of the other men remain quiet listening occasionally adding a small measure of thought to the dialog.
We rise and then enter the dining room. The dance of who sits where is played out again, this time I grab a seat across the table from the host and the General, but I am distracted by the food that is spread before me. To my left and right traditional Middle Eastern appetizers are laid out in portions for my consumption: humus, olives, fava beans, shrimp, pita, salad, fresh mango juice, salmon, bread....These dishes are dwarfed by the main dish. Imagine a circular steel pan three feet wide and 4 inches high. A layer of saffron rice is the bed for a baby camel's hump. That would open anyone's eye, but now picture 6 containers, three with humps and three with the legs.
That would be a lot of food to consume, but the lunch is just getting started. First course is a divine lentil soup served with lemon. Then the wait staff brings everyone a plate of lobster, shrimp, and hamour, with more rice. A special chef comes out and start to carve out the camel. I am offered some of the meat and of course I take a portion. What does it taste like? To be honest I can't recall. It wasn't bad, and looked like dark turkey meat. Then that plate was whisked away, and third course was brought out: mixed grilled kabobs, which is followed up with a fruit and desert platter, which ends with coffee. An hour after being seated, we all rise and the lunch is over. We are back in the car, heading back with Abdullah.
I have no pictures from this event other than the ones in my mind. I thought it would be highly rude to whip out the iPhone and take a few. I must say it was one of my top 10 lunches despite the fact that I understood almost nothing of the conversations. It fires my desire to master the language, so next time I can fully experience the lunch.
"Yeah sure," I said.
"Good I will make phone call go grab three male teacher," as he walks out the door.
What, the hell? I thought the cooks had made something special at school for the teachers. See last night we held our graduation ceremony which is a whole different but equally interesting story, and Rashid had canceled classes to give them a day off. It wasn't a big deal because most parents had already taken their kids home Wednesday night, so it was going to be a very light teaching day. So I has spent the morning with staff planning next year's calendar and then we were going to eat lunch together and dismiss early to head into the weekend.
Rashid comes back, "You must hurry, the General is waiting...Adullah will drive you."
General? WTF. I sprint into the lunch room and grab the first three teachers that have a suit on and drag them from their half eaten lunch and tell them we are headed to the Ritz for lunch with the a high ranking General of the Army.
Ring..."Yes Jamie here, Oh hello..yes we are heading to the Ritz...drive faster..ok"
"Abdullah, that was the Adjutant (Aid to the General). He said speed. Very important that we are not late."
"No."
"What you won't speed?" At this point while we are going the speed limit to Doha from Al Khor, I am thinking what will they do to me if I am late. Fortunately, Abdullah knows how long it takes to reach the Ritz and we arrive right on time. We meet the Adjutant in the lobby and we are whisked up to the 23rd private dinning room of the Ritz. Room is spectacular, over looking the ocean. We are then introduced to the host of the party.
I need to explain how introductions happen in the Gulf. We enter a separate room and a group of men are sitting in a "U" shaped group of sofa chairs, with a love seat at the bottom of the "U". When we enter, all the men rise and a greeting ensues. It is important to shake everyone's hand. Then we begin the dance of who sits where. The Adjutant, helps me out and directs me to a chair. My teachers are escorted to another group of chairs away from us. Still more men sit against the wall further away. I know right away that this is an honor to be included in the first group of chairs. We talk and the host engages me in English and I do my best not make any mistakes. You see my host is a Prince and in my head I am thinking how the hell did a boy from Green Bay, Wisconsin end up being invited to a lunch like this.
Then the General enters. We all rise, hand shaking and the chairs change. There is a polite interchange between my host and the General as to who will sit on the right of the love seat. The General protests, but it is apparent that he will take the most honored position. We sit again, and this time an hour of conversation takes place between the host and the General, all in Arabic. Most of the other men remain quiet listening occasionally adding a small measure of thought to the dialog.
We rise and then enter the dining room. The dance of who sits where is played out again, this time I grab a seat across the table from the host and the General, but I am distracted by the food that is spread before me. To my left and right traditional Middle Eastern appetizers are laid out in portions for my consumption: humus, olives, fava beans, shrimp, pita, salad, fresh mango juice, salmon, bread....These dishes are dwarfed by the main dish. Imagine a circular steel pan three feet wide and 4 inches high. A layer of saffron rice is the bed for a baby camel's hump. That would open anyone's eye, but now picture 6 containers, three with humps and three with the legs.
That would be a lot of food to consume, but the lunch is just getting started. First course is a divine lentil soup served with lemon. Then the wait staff brings everyone a plate of lobster, shrimp, and hamour, with more rice. A special chef comes out and start to carve out the camel. I am offered some of the meat and of course I take a portion. What does it taste like? To be honest I can't recall. It wasn't bad, and looked like dark turkey meat. Then that plate was whisked away, and third course was brought out: mixed grilled kabobs, which is followed up with a fruit and desert platter, which ends with coffee. An hour after being seated, we all rise and the lunch is over. We are back in the car, heading back with Abdullah.
I have no pictures from this event other than the ones in my mind. I thought it would be highly rude to whip out the iPhone and take a few. I must say it was one of my top 10 lunches despite the fact that I understood almost nothing of the conversations. It fires my desire to master the language, so next time I can fully experience the lunch.
