calling out the Egyptians...

[Aymerlu 3]

Yea Youssef doesn't drink and eat a lot either but I can't handle it I have to do them together. My big pet peeve right now is sharing. Now when I have a Diet Coke with lunch or dinner I want MY diet Coke. If he wants one he is welcome to have one but why does he have to drink mine with me? GAWD!! Seriously it makes me soooooo crazy. He says "but it tastes better when we share" I think it tastes just fine alone. I'm not big on sharing and he has to share everything. I can't even eat a candy bar alone, or if he's eating something he has to give me some. This REALLY gets me when it's something I don't like or don't want. When I say no he says "Afak, afak, come on just choya, afak" NO NO NO I don't want it!!!! Ok done ranting! haha

Someone can correct me if I"m wrong, but I think this is a cultural difference. In Egypt we had one glass at dinnertime and it was passed around the table. If someone had a special goody, it was always offered for sharing. Rice was portioned out on individual plates, but the yummies to go with it came out of communal bowls. I handled all that just fine. It was the having to sleep with a gazillion other females in bed with me before we married that left me REALLY uncomfortable. LOL

Oh yeah.......same thing was done with Khallids friends and family.

[noura 0]

same here on the mutual dish for the most part (unless it was harira or salad) and just one or two (maybe 3) glasses to be shared by all at the table. I didn't mind at all, except I'd rarely drink the water unless I knew it was Sidi Ali or similar. I very much feel like part of the family there.

Noura

[iceyspots 0]

yummy cous cous

[Veiled Princess 1]

yummy cous cous

MMMMMMMMMM

[LebaneseMama 1]

It took us awhile to get comfortable at restaurants :

Our first dates together we would each order and most of it would get thrown away because I was sooo shy about eating in front of him and he didn't want to eat if I wasn't eating.

Then we moved onto him eating all of his food and me eating half of mine.

We then matured to what we are now :

He eats his food, I eat half of mine, and he eats the rest of mine. This way we are both full ( Ali eats ALOT I swear between him and my brother it's crazy) and nothing is getting thrown away

But at home it's the mutual dish ... with one thing that drives us both crazy. In my house we NEVER eat salad out of the same plate .... everything else except soup, salad, and rice. Well at his house they eat salad out of the same plate. When Ali & I would eat salad together I would leave my spoon in the plate ... the first couple of times he would kindly tell me that's gross and take it out. I then started to do it on purpose because I thought he was being weird. Well let's jsut say it's not yet resolved .... annoys the heck out of him though He can swap spit with me but he can't have my spoon in the same plate ? Someone explain this to me.

Edited April 29, 2006 by LebaneseBride

[jordanianprincess 0]

This whole topic is foreign to me, I've never seen anyone do it in Jordan or even with my family here. With the exception of one dish, Mansaf, thats the national dish of Jordan. It's a huge platter of rice, meat, nuts, with a yogurt sauce that you eat with your hands. I find it interesting and would not mind sharing anything with my hunny at all except Milk or Cereal with Milk. YUCK, I don't know why that discusts me so much but it does.

Its funny all the other "gross" things like double dipping don't bother me at all. But the milk thing,,,I cant even explain how much that bugs me. If I am ever able to share a glass of milk with my hunny it will be the biggest breakthough ever!

LB, my man eats alot too. People in the middle east eat alot in general I think. I was there during Ramadan, and we went to Burger King one day and they had this Ramadan Value Meal which was huge! Whopper, chicken sandwich, fries, soup, water, coke. There is no way I could eat that, lolol and he was upset that I didnt finish it. Some people there even got 2 meals! I usually get a happy meal at mcdonalds.

Edited April 29, 2006 by jordanianprincess

[Jenn! 918]

He has finally gotten used to my oldest son dipping a dish and taking it to eat in front of his computer

Sorry, Liz. I couldn't help but be a little confused by this!

I can't say I was a huge fan of the communal plate when I was in Morocco. I guess it takes some getting used to. I was proud of the fact that I "sucked it up" and tried to not let my uncomfortableness with it show. When sharing my pictures with my family here when I returned, they were all quite surprised by the custom. I don't think most of them would have been able to do it!

Wadi and I eat off of separate plates, but often he starts working on mine when his is empty! And I usually drink half of his coke too by the time the meal is done! (Because as you all said already, he doesn't want to fill up on coke during the meal!)

[honeyblonde 0]

He has finally gotten used to my oldest son dipping a dish and taking it to eat in front of his computer

Sorry, Liz. I couldn't help but be a little confused by this!

Sorry Jenn. My son lives at home, but constantly reminds me he is a rent-paying roommate, which excludes him (in his opinion) from chores and yard work. He's decided to be responsible for feeding himself, but he rarely says no if I cook and offer to share. At first Abdel expected him to sit down and share the meal with us, but finally he realized that Michael lives in a fantasy world of live action role playing video games, so now he isn't offended when Michael just gets a dish and takes food to his room instead of sharing with us at the table.

My sons and I spent several years just going to the kitchen, dipping from the pots on the stove and then eating at our desks while chatting or playing games on the computer. Once they were teenagers they just didn't want to eat as a family any more.

That has changed for me since Abdel got here - now I eat with him.

[Jenn! 918]

He has finally gotten used to my oldest son dipping a dish and taking it to eat in front of his computer

Sorry, Liz. I couldn't help but be a little confused by this!

Sorry Jenn. My son lives at home, but constantly reminds me he is a rent-paying roommate, which excludes him (in his opinion) from chores and yard work. He's decided to be responsible for feeding himself, but he rarely says no if I cook and offer to share. At first Abdel expected him to sit down and share the meal with us, but finally he realized that Michael lives in a fantasy world of live action role playing video games, so now he isn't offended when Michael just gets a dish and takes food to his room instead of sharing with us at the table.

My sons and I spent several years just going to the kitchen, dipping from the pots on the stove and then eating at our desks while chatting or playing games on the computer. Once they were teenagers they just didn't want to eat as a family any more.

That has changed for me since Abdel got here - now I eat with him.

I'm just not familiar with the word "dipping" in this context.

[honeyblonde 0]

I'm just not familiar with the word "dipping" in this context.

You mean "Dip your plate" is colloquial? Wow, I didn't know that. Yikes, am I becoming southern and don't know it, or is that left over from my yankee childhood? Help, now I'm all confused! Anybody else know where this phrase comes from?

I know my sons make fun of the way I say the word "cash". Apparently I have quite a southern accent when that one comes out of my mouth.

[Bosco 1]

You mean "Dip your plate" is colloquial? Wow, I didn't know that. Yikes, am I becoming southern and don't know it, or is that left over from my yankee childhood? Help, now I'm all confused! Anybody else know where this phrase comes from?

I know my sons make fun of the way I say the word "cash". Apparently I have quite a southern accent when that one comes out of my mouth.

Lis,

I had never heard of it and had to read twice, lol, but I was able to make sense of it from the context.

Rebecca

[Jenn! 918]

You mean "Dip your plate" is colloquial? Wow, I didn't know that. Yikes, am I becoming southern and don't know it, or is that left over from my yankee childhood? Help, now I'm all confused! Anybody else know where this phrase comes from?

I know my sons make fun of the way I say the word "cash". Apparently I have quite a southern accent when that one comes out of my mouth.

Lis,

I had never heard of it and had to read twice, lol, but I was able to make sense of it from the context.

Rebecca

I leave my thinking cap at work - Friday 5 p.m.