This was only part of the feast they prepared for us. This is towards the end of the meal. You can clearly see that we have not even made a dent into the food. Afterwards, officers and honored guests sat in the lounging room. They proceeded to bring us chai after chai. It seriously just hurt. Then they brought us fresh fruit to eat. I was sickened by even the thought of eating anymore at this time. Its Kurdish tradition and really of this entire region to give to others something that you have great abundance of. Food is a clear example. So they feed you until you are hurting. The Colonel came up to me at one point when I was just staring at the food wondering if I took another bite I would die. He told me it is tradition to wait until the guest does not want anymore food and then make him eat some more. Sitting there in the lounging room afterwards was very relaxing though. We could only laugh. It was just great to relax.
posted by GatorLT at 5:15 PM
3 Comments:
In an anthro class a long time ago we did a case study on traditional Iraq - I'm not sure if it's the same now, but supposedly the reason they used to feed guests so much was that the servants who had cooked the food would then bring home the remains to their family. It's kind of interesting - so eat and enjoy their hospitality, but also feel good about the food you're *not* eating when you think about who it might be feeding :)
Looks like a Russian get-together, except without the chairs.. =))
Hope you're doing well over there. Can't wait to see you back!
Nephew, Hopefully you got to see the South Carolina game. What luck!! Glad you're getting to see some sights ,but always be careful.Let us know what sort of things we can send to you and your men. Anything in particular you need? BE SAFE!!! Uncle
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