A group of our friends meets once a month for dinner at a local, and quite popular, Chinese restaurant. The Amazing Egyptian Dude and I don't join them very often, simply because we're usually too busy working on the days when they meet. But last night, we decided to skip working and enjoy ourselves with friends instead.
Jokingly, I call this group the Old Farts Club (Plus Wives at the monthly meetings). On Friday nights, the Amazing Egyptian Dude joins his fellow ex-pats at a local Egyptian style coffee shop to drink tea, tell jokes, play backgammon and chess, reminisce about the good old days, smoke hookah, and talk politics. They call it "going to school"; their wives call it "bliss."
I'm the only non-Egyptian in the group, the youngest member, and the only one of the women to be retired. Among the women, we have an OB/GYN (who happens also to be one of my bestest friends), a university librarian, a housewife, an accountant, an engineer, and me. The men are mostly retired engineers, except for the Amazing Egyptian Dude, who happens to have a degree in accounting, but whose chances of retirement look slimmer and slimmer as our business gets busier and busier.
One of the ladies had just returned from a 3 months stay in Egypt and, as is customary for Egyptians, she had gifts for everyone. She gave each of the men a tarboosh (fez) which, just in case you didn't know, was normal head wear in Egypt some 50 years ago. They were thrilled and wore them throughout the meal:
Jamillah, the owner of the restaurant, takes our order.
The Amazing Egyptian Dude is on her right.
We had a delicious meal that included this amazing sesame and green onion bread.
The official monthly meeting of the Old Farts Club Plus Wives was filled with fun, laughter, and good food shared among friends. What could be better?
Jokingly, I call this group the Old Farts Club (Plus Wives at the monthly meetings). On Friday nights, the Amazing Egyptian Dude joins his fellow ex-pats at a local Egyptian style coffee shop to drink tea, tell jokes, play backgammon and chess, reminisce about the good old days, smoke hookah, and talk politics. They call it "going to school"; their wives call it "bliss."
I'm the only non-Egyptian in the group, the youngest member, and the only one of the women to be retired. Among the women, we have an OB/GYN (who happens also to be one of my bestest friends), a university librarian, a housewife, an accountant, an engineer, and me. The men are mostly retired engineers, except for the Amazing Egyptian Dude, who happens to have a degree in accounting, but whose chances of retirement look slimmer and slimmer as our business gets busier and busier.
One of the ladies had just returned from a 3 months stay in Egypt and, as is customary for Egyptians, she had gifts for everyone. She gave each of the men a tarboosh (fez) which, just in case you didn't know, was normal head wear in Egypt some 50 years ago. They were thrilled and wore them throughout the meal:
Jamillah, the owner of the restaurant, takes our order.
The Amazing Egyptian Dude is on her right.
We had a delicious meal that included this amazing sesame and green onion bread.
The official monthly meeting of the Old Farts Club Plus Wives was filled with fun, laughter, and good food shared among friends. What could be better?
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Sounds like a great time! Nothing beats that combination - fun, laughter, food, and good friends :-)
Sounds like you had a wonderful time and the pictures more than show that. Nothing better than good friends, good food and good laughter :) Thanks for sharing this
It looks like you had a great time. The sesame bread looks yummy! How wonderful that you have a delicious Chinese Islamic restaurant in your are.
The food at this restaurant is phenomenal, but the best thing about it is that the patrons are not just Muslims. On any given day, you can walk in and find Muslims from around the world, Jews wearing yarmulkes, regular old Yanks, Hispanics, etc....I think you get the picture.
I bet that if Jamillah would open a restaurant in Jerusalem, there'd be peace in the Middle East in no time! :)