Things U find everywhere in Mideast

Things you will find easily and cheaply in most countries in mideast (not in the order):

1.Hommos (paste made of ground chickpeas, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and Tahini root )

2. Yogurt

3. Laban & Labneh (strained yogurt)

4. Olive (fresh, pickled, canned, chopped, u name it, they got it)

5. Feta cheese

6. Men in Thobs (simple ankle length robe made of cotton or wool for winter) and Ghutra (a large, diagonally, folded cotton square) held in place with Igal (a double coiled cord circlet) on their head.

7. All different kind of nuts, especially Pistachio and Almond

8. Pita bread

9. Dates

10. Baklava

11. Fresh cow milk

12. Eggplant

13. Cucumber

14. Bell pepper

15. Women in Abaya (a black, all the way to the toes length robe) and Shayla (black scarf covering the head and the face, except their eyes)

16. Especially in Saudi, gasoline

17. Falafel and Kebab

The Myth

Things that people think of when i mentioned Mideast, especially Saudi Arabia (not in the order):

1. Camels, since they found the biggest oil reserved in the 30’s, the only place you will find these babies are in the zoo

2. Men with 4 wives and 1000 harems. You still can find them but they are rare, especially the 1000 harems, that’s only in the movies and stories. Most men nowadays have only 1 wife.

3. People live in tents. Unless they are camping, nobody lives in tents anymore, that’s in the past!

4. They only eat lamb meat. Yes, they sell them in the market and yes, people still eat them, but they also eat chicken, beef, fish and even lobster.

5. War n bomb. That’s in Iraq and Afganistan, guys! Most of the countries in mideast are peaceful, even richer than yours!

6. Arab men smell like lamb. Again, maybe in the past they were, but now they smell like Polo, Bvlgary and other international brand name perfumes.

7. All arab men are rich. Not really…..yes some of them have money more than Oprah and Bill Gates combine, but most of them are just like you, regular people with regular office jobs.

8. Beside sand, there is nothing in the dessert. WRONG! Most of the cities look very green.

If you have more misconceptions or just simple questions, just post them here, and i’ll try to answer all of them as accurate as i can be.