Food In Jordan

Note: This entry is a tad on the whiny side. Sorry.

I realized yesterday at the supermarket that one of the biggest adjustments here for me has been adapting to the diet in Jordan. I'm not a huge fan of the staple dishes here; they're very heavy and/or oily. Plus, the things I loved back home either can't be found here or are really expensive - like yogurt that isn't sour/plain or granola bars.

Jordanian Staples
Note: Pork does not exist in this country.

Pita Bread - I used to love pita bread when I was little; I would heat it up in the microwave with butter. But it gets old really fast here. Both literally (as in stale) and figuratively.

Hummus and Fool - These are similar dishes made from beans and served as appetizers with pita bread.

Schwarma - Schwarma is everywhere; it's cheap and quick - made with either chicken or lamb. It's basically a burrito AKA Jordanian Taco Bell. Schwarma is what made me really sick when I first got here. It's ok in a pinch, but it's far too greasy to eat everyday.

Falafel - I actually really like falafel, but 1) it's actually not as common as I though it would be here and 2) it is far too heavy to eat very often.

Mensef - This is a Jordanian national dish - lamb in a warm yogurt sauce over rice. To be fair, I've only tried it at the school cafeteria, and their food is generally awful, so I really should try it some place else. The thing is, I've yet to adjust to the whole warm, sour yogurt thing, as I previously mentioned.

Cucumber salad - I eat a lot of this. For lunch I mix it with rice and call it a meal. Funny, since I never, ever ate salad back in the States. But it's light and cool, as opposed to much of what's offered here. I'm a huge fan of Fatoosh, which is salad with pita chips, but I don't see that often; only when we've eaten at nicer restaurants.

I'm worried about my diet here - I have a kitchen, but anything I ever made back home calls for about 100 ingredients, and I don't want to buy all those since I'll only be in the apartment for another 4 and 1/2 weeks. The only thing I've been cooking is omelets. Thankfully, we have some nice fruit and veggie markets in the neighborhood, so I do eat a ton of fruit. My new favorite food: The donut peach. Absolutely delicious.


So I do eat a lot of fruit. That's good. But I've also been eating a lot of bread and drinking a lot of . . . soda. Yep. Soda. It's everywhere. Ice tea doesn't exist here! Ya haram! Bebsi anyone? I'm so afraid of my teeth rotting away right now. They're oh so pretty . . .

Anyway, I guess I just didn't realize that adjusting my diet would be the biggest obstacle for me here. Thankfully, I'll eat pretty much anything, even if I'm not a huge fan. And I'm assuming I'll eventually adjust to the whole warm yogurt deal. Especially when I move in with my host family in September. And there's always pizza to fall back on. Or the numerous America fast food restaurants. I've yet to visit any although Burger King (or as I affectionately call it "Burger Malik" - Malik is the Arabic word for King, but they unfortunately do not use it in the title of Burger King) is looking mighty tasty.

At least I discovered Juice Milk! It's fabulous. Mostly because it's called Juice Milk! It's one of those things that always has to be followed by an exclamation mark.