Schwarmas

Well Hello,
Sorry it has taken me so long to post something. It is Sunday morning here. OnTHursday I got to conduct my first liaison meeting. It was fun and interesting to see inside these buildings. They are so wealthy, with servants and all. I had some Turkish coffee, which unfortunately was nothing compaired to the Turkish coffee my Turkish roomate, Ayse who I miss dearly, made for me in college! I also tried Arabien coffee, which tastes like paint thinner, I mean tis stuff is gross! But I had to drink it while eating some dates, a great delicassy here. They have a variey of dates, with almonds or sesame seeds and other fillings and powders. THey are quite sweet for me though, even though they are all natural.
After our meeting we went for some lunch and my terp (interpreter) took me to a schwarma stand. Schwarmas are these opn face type sandwiches. They look a lot like philly steak sandwiches with no cheese. They put on onions and tomotoes and this special sauce that resembles mustard. But the crazy thing about them is the way they were cooked. I will have to get a photo at some point.
The meet is skewered on a vertical pole that is about 4 feet tall. They layer thin strips of lamb, well i think it is lamb, on top of each other. After putting on about 11 inches of lamb they throw on about 6 5 inches of fat and keep alternating. There is a heater behind the skewer which slowly cooks the meet. Every few minutes the meet stick is rotated about a quarter turn. The meet is shaved off the sides. AS the meet cooks the bottom section eventually is cooked or shaved off allowing for more meet to be placed on the top. The shaved meet is placed on hot dog bun looking pieces of bread and served. Typically three schwarmas will fill you up.
So that is my first experience eating local food. The schwarmas are quite good, I dont love the sauce, but it is something different to eat. OH! And served with the schwarmas are carrots, hicama root and these long skinny green peppers that have all been soaked in this vinegar type mixture. Not deliciouse, but again edible.
Ok, unfortunately I dont think much will be going on for me this week, but if anything happens, Ill be sure to keep you all posted. Hope everyone had a great weekend!