Cultural Artifacts.
Many people are surprised when I tell them that I am half Jordanian. Not only do I understand Arabic, I also am planning to visit Jordan as I enjoy exploring this side of my heritage. The image above is of the national Jordanian dish called "Mansaf". This dish is one of my favorite foods to eat and is traditionally served on special occasions such as weddings, births, graduations, and the Muslim holiday known as Eid. Because of this, the amount of times I've eaten it have been few and far between however, every time is memorable. The dish is made using goat milk that has been dried and fermented into a soup-like yogurt. It is then made as a stew with lamb and/or chicken and poured over white rice. Lastly it is topped with fried nuts and parsley. It is a salty/sour dish that typically has some big event preceding its presence thereby making the occasion even more special.
The Doumbek is a middle eastern drums and is often seen in traditional and even modern day Arabic music. Personally, every so often I'd see one of my uncles playing this instrument and became fascinated by it after watching my dad play it when I was a child. Music has a big place in my family and as a child, I was exposed to a lot of Arabic music not only from listening to it, but seeing my family play it. Doumbeks are typically not large instruments and are played either by laying the drum horizontally across the thigh, or vertically between the legs. They are typically made of ceramic or metal and traditional Doumbeks have a top made of goat skin. One thing that I love about this instrument is how unlikely it looks for myself to understand how to play it. As somebody who nobody would guess is Jordanian, I often laugh when I can surprise my peers with my ability to play a Doumbek.