That'll Wake You Up in the Morning

I have always enjoyed getting to know a bit about other cultures. Learning bits and pieces of their language, finding out about their customs and sampling some of their food.

Since we live in a place and are in a period of our lives where we seem to be landlocked, a good way to sample other cultures is to hit the restaurants.

Last night, we went with some friends to the Shishkebab House here in town. It was actually quite good. We took in some Fatoush and Oozie...which were both tasty and the portions were enough to feed both Diane and I with some left for our friends. The experience also included the belly dancer thrusting herself at us as we tried to order our dinner.

After dinner, I ordered some coffee and was sipping away at it and enjoying the conversation, while our friends, who arrived after we did, ate their dinner. The owner came by, to make sure all was well at our table. When he noticed that I was drinking coffee, he asked if I was drinking regular coffee or arabic coffee. I told him that I was just drinking whatever they brought me when I ordered coffee. He let me know that he would bring by some arabic coffee, on him.

He had a mug brought out; inside was a concotion that was a coarse conglomeration of equal parts coffee grounds, cardamom and caffiene. Wow was it strong...and bitter.....and made me feel like "yikes".

As a result of this, I won all the card and dice games we played later on...amazing how caffiene intensifies your ability to focus, roll dice and get all the good cards.

I also felt like I had been in a shootout when I woke up this morning. So, for those adrenalin junkies out there, if you can't find any thrills to binge on and want to feel a similar crash the following day, head over to the Shishkebab House for some arabic coffee. Tell them I sent you...or better yet, tell them Sayid or Farnesh or Ali sent you. Maybe then you will get your whole meal for free.