In Amman. No Guinness Yet, Just Testicles

(Top) Me about to eat a testicle; (Middle) The aforementioned testicle on it's platter; (Bottom) Kais and Alex enjoying the sight of me eating sheep testicle.





I made it to Amman this morning and for the first time our flight was actually early. I travelled with two guys from the PRT, Alex and Kais. Alex is originally from Lebanon and Kais was a General in Saddam's Army who fled after the invasion of Kuwait. They are both good guys with whom I have not had the pleasure of working too much at the PRT.

Alex told me that Kais and he were going out for a big Arab style meal in Amman, and they asked me to join them. After dumping our stuff at the hotel, we found a great little restaurant in central Amman.

We ate from a huge spread of everything from roasted chicken, to lamb, to hummas, some labaneh (a dried yogurt kind of like cheese)and roasted vegetables and bread. This is just the highlights -- there was also all types of pickles, relishes, etc. As you might have guessed from the title we also had "Sheep Balls" (roasted sheep testicles). Alex said that this is a great delicacy in Lebanon. I tried it, I ate it, and I liked it. Go figure. Alex also turned me on to a type of "lamb tartar" (raw ground lamb with pine nuts and hot peppers). It was all fantastic.

The only thing that really grossed me out was the salt flavored yogurt drink that they insisted I try. I tried it a few times, but dear Lord was it aweful.

We then toured the city which is much better with two Arabic speakers. All in all it was a fantastic day. I'm off to find the Irish Pub tonight.