Last Thursday when visiting Muttrah with a few friends our first stop was the vegetable market. It was too quiet and when one of the ladies asked what kind of vegetable was on the big dish, the friendly sales person told us it were cucumbers and started peeling one for us. We all had to try (and just don't think about hygiene for a second).
I asked if I could take a picture and that was no problem. The light was a big funny (very yellow) and when I read that B&W challenge needed some entries, I transferred it and quite like it this way.
Considering vegetables are usually very colourful this work very well in B&W. I grew mini cucumbers in the summer and they were so much tastier than shop bought ones.
i had to smile at the "hygiene" part of your narrative. have you ever been invited to an omani picnic? i had been, in salalah. we went to this out of the way place with a view of the sea. then they dumped all the food in a large blanket covered with banana leaves. we were given a plate but no utensils. there was no serving spoon. then all the men dove in, the two american women with me and i just looked at each other. the minister thought we were just shy so he scooped some of the food and dumped it on our plates. it was a good thing i was dumped on last and probably because i was a lot smaller i had a small portion. my boss looked at me and with a jerk of his head which meant go ahead and eat. it was the first time i ever downed a bottle of beer just so i could 'disinfect' my stomach. then the american women and i went around a big bush far from the picnic site and we all threw up.
@summerfield Unfortunately we haven been invited to an Omani picnic, however, last week we went out for dinner with a college of my husband and his wife. Hand sanitizer was on the table next to the individual packets of salt and pepper. The men were telling us about their fieldwork experience in February. Their lunch was then was very similar to your story, but unthinkable of in the time we live in now...
