Baalbeck Restaurant in Riyadh

Karim took the whole team for a dinner outing on Wednesday evening, November 23rd. It’s the restaurant that catered his wedding.

I suggested this to Peter and the rest of the gang, so that we could have a break from this enclosed compound. We finished our first center that afternoon, and a weekend to look forward to.

It’s a Lebanese dinner, and as is the norm of private meal gatherings I’ve been part of in Saudi Arabia, there is a wonderful excess of food.

There was so much of what Karim was sharing that I wanted to “download” but was too tired to retain. Now, after a full day of visits, touring, and learning yesterday, conversations and observations from that evening are even more difficult to recount.

(image credit)

Still, let’s see what I can recollect:

We sat in a family section, because we had Laure with us. The restaurant didn’t seem very big, at least not the room we ate in. They had dividers on wheels, so they could easily be moved around to provide the necessary cultural and religious privacy for women.

There is a bean dip that I liked, which reminded me of refried beans but more “soupy.”

Karim married his cousin. He hadn’t seen her since she was 2-years old, but when he did, “everything was in slow-motion.”

With family permission, the prospective groom may visit with a prospective bride.

Apparently if she chooses to serve her guests, it’s a first show of interest in the young man.

In turn, it permits the young man (and his family, I suppose) to size up the young woman – her gait, her face and  her teeth.