lunch at khaleel's

8-16-13

i went to petra with khaleel (taxi driver friend) and coco during our eid holiday this past weekend. (will post about this later!) on the trip, khaleel talked about his dad wanting to have us over for tea/lunch. on friday, he had us over. his mom, dad, and twin sisters were there initially. after arabic coffee and juice in the sitting room, we were served lunch from a huge plate of maqluba (rice, pine nuts, roasted eggplant, onions, potatoes). BEST maqluba i have ever had! additionally, there was fried chicken, yogurt, & arabic salad (tomato, cucumber, parsley, olive oil, lemon juice). we kept eating and they kept serving. while we were eating, a family friend and her daughter came over to the house. this friend used to be a neighbor of khaleel’s family but she and her family moved to salt. she works as a cartographer at a hospital in amman. after lunch, we were served tea, turkish coffee, and cola. in addition to the drinks before lunch and the 2 glasses of juice i had during lunch, this amounted to 8 cups of drinks! the family was so very hospitable. oh, and while we were in the sitting room after lunch, an aunt came by and joined us, as well. we woud’ve stayed longer, but i had to rush home to study for my final the next day. it was nice to meet khaleel and his family. they seem to be very good people and he seems to be close to his parents. his dad was saying that he called khaleel 2-3 times every day. after lunch, i was talking to the family friend about the state of jordan and its problems. she was saying that their great healthcare is all that they have going for them. everything is expensive but the people have no money. gas prices and electricity have gone up. soon, the price of bread is going to go up. she said that people have concerns but don’t voice them because there is fear. people see syria, egypt, libya and they decide to live with their fear instead of sacrificing the safety that jordan possesses during the tumult of the arab spring. khaleel agreed to take in leila! so my goodbye to him will happen tomorrow evening.