Dinning Etiquette

This section describes a few potential outcomes once you sit down to eat with your family. Trying to remember everything here could seem too difficult to put into words. The truth is that you can't insult somebody deeply without acting in a very outrageous manner. Your host wouldn't be so rude as to make a big issue out of a minor social faux pas anyway.

When you arrive for a meal, you could be welcomed with a thimbleful of bitter Arabic coffee; slurp it down quickly because everyone there needs to drink before conversation can resume. If you jiggle your wrist as you hand the cup back, it's a sign that you don't want any more (if you just hand it back straight, you'll get a refill).

If you're in a tent, the meal, which is frequently a mansaf, may be served on the floor with the male head of the household, his adult sons, and any male friends squatting on one knee or sitting cross-legged around a large communal platter. Western women are treated as men for social purposes and will be included in the circle. You can be given the opportunity to sit next to the household's leader as the guest of honor. Even if wives and daughters are present, they very probably won't dine with you, and you might discover that they all hide out for the length of your visit in a different area of the tent or house. If they do, asking them where they are would be quite impolite.