Last evening me and hubby were invited for an Iftar by one of his office collègues at her residence. An Iftar is a meal which is had after the fast breaking after sunset in Ramadan. Immediately after the sunset time they break the fast with having dates and laban (buttermilk), after that they do a prayer and then the Iftar meal is done. Dates is for giving them the energy after a day long fasting and laban hydrates the body. These Iftars are very lavish meals. Almost every restaurant in the city has a Iftar meal set up, it is like a buffet, with variety of dishes. Many local people invite their extended families and friends for these Iftar meals. The period of Ramadan is for 30 days.
Yesterday the lady who invited us is a local and every year she invites all her office collègues for the Iftar. She has a huge house. I was stunned to see her property. It was spreading over an acre of a land. She does have a big family and all of them live in the same property with their individual homes. Her, mom, brothers, sisters and herself they all live together in the same property in their individual villas and then there are common area set ups like a park and entertainment room.
When we reached there, we saw that there was a separate seating for the women and separate for the men. I was a bit uncomfortable about that, because I did not know anyone, thankfully one of my hubby's other office collègue, his wife and daughter had accompanied us so that was one relief to have someone around, else I would have been totally lost. Though the host was very friendly and warm and she made us feel very comfortable. She made me introduced to other ladies, but then I am a little introvert type, I just cannot start talking to someone at ease in the very first meeting. Since I had company, it was ok for me to sit with the other ladies. One needs to follow the traditions and respect them in such places and at such times. It was only for the meals, after that everyone got together again and I met up with a lot of new people from hubby's office and got to know them.
We reached around 7 p.m. and that was the right time, because around that time they start the Iftar. We had our meals and then I was taking a stroll around the property. Such a beautiful property it was, in the heart of the city, having a 1 acre property is an ultimate luxury one can have. I was telling the other lady, if I had that kind of land, I would grow almost all my food in that space. They had a certain part of the plot where they were growing some foods, but it was a very small area. They had kept a very huge area as a lawn, probably because they have a big family and they want this outdoor space for entertainment activities.
Here are some pictures from the Iftar and the place.
To start with she offered us some snacks and the Kahwa (Omani version of coffee)
That was too much food, I did not have anything from it as I wanted to have a proper dinner meal and not stuff up myself with the starters, but I could not refuse, so politely I took half a cup of kahwa and 2 pieces of dates. I love this combination of bitter and sweet.
That's the buffet spread, something that I will find in a 5 star hotel, so much variety.
There are different types of salads
And deserts. Though they look very tempting, it was a total no for me on this.
It's meal time
After the meals I took a stroll around the property and clicked some pictures with her permission.
I was very fascinated by the place. She and her family were such humble people. I could see that she was so grounded and could feel her warmth. It was a nice warm evening for me. Loved the place, the food and the ambiance. All of it together made an amazing experience for me.
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