Lunch and breaking down the barriers

Emirati culture is quite separatist. In a home there is always a room dedicated for the men to meet, talk and eat together, and another for the women. Never the twai shall meet. A wife/ woman will never be in a room with any other man other than her husband or brother. SO being a woman and working with my male teachers is really breaking new ground. I am the first/ only woman to work in a boys school in our company and possibly the first woman to teach in a secondary boys school in UAE. My primary teacher studied for his degree in the USA so is a lot more liberal and open minded. My secondary teacher is very conservative. We meet in his classroom, door always open, separated my a desk

So today I broke new ground BIG time. My primary teacher invited me to come to the Emirati staffroom to work with him. This is like hallowed turf, the staffroom for the Emirati teachers only. Wow its like entering the inner sanctum. They were preparing for lunch. I have attended 2 school lunches before, always in an alcove with other teachers, not in the huge main room. The men sit around a carpet, and never walk on the carpet with your shoes on, even in the classroom. In the middle of the carpet is a huge platter of rice with a leg of lamb / mutton on the rice and an accompanying jug of yoghut. They eat with their fingers picking off the meat or squeezing the rice together, with a little a little yoghut to ensure it sticks. So after working through some podcasting issues I got invited to come to the carpet and eat. We then agreed I would sit at a table and eat, but in the same room. A big huge change.

My primary teacher then bought me a plate of fruit. In UAE they grow dates of course and some bananas. Therefore all the fruit is imported. It was so lovely to sit, talk and sample these new fruits.
So on the plate we had Egyptian strawberries, Parkistan oranges, grapes. Lebonese Mountain garlic, which is beside the strawberry. The fruit inside resembles garlic cloves but it very sweet like a grape. Beside the orange is a lychee and 2 other fruits I am yet to try,and can't remember the names for, and of course a Kiwi fruit from Iraq. Such beautiful fruit and such a variety.