Desert Food Trucks

So we’ve finally come up for air. We’re settled a bit. Our home has some stuff in it, our jobs are figured out a bit more, and the general stress that comes from moving across the world has subsided a bit. So I have an opportunity to talk about some of the cool and unique experiences we’ve had in our first few weeks, retroactively. The next few posts will outline those experiences.

On our second week, one of Shannon’s department coworkers threw out the idea that we caravan out for dinner at a little. A group of us (about 12 total) met at the front of the compound and hit the highway. After driving for about ten minutes or so, we came across a flat open field of sand. Which was very much like every other flat open field of sand because we live in a desert. The thing that made this flat sandy field interesting however, was the line of food trucks.

Similar to many other places in the world, these food trucks were set up in rows. The thing that made it unique was the sand and surroundings (obviously) but also the Persian rugs laid out on the ground in front of many of the food trucks. There were outdoor seating “patios” where you could sit and eat.

When we arrived at 8:00pm nothing was open. We had been told that Saudi was very much a night culture. Malls and restaurants were frequently open until very late. We found this to be true when we got to the food truck spot. We walked around for an hour scouting our options, as we were told many of them would open for business at 9. I would say the breakdown of trucks were fairly similar. There were a total of maybe 30 food trucks. Ten of them were selling burgers. Ten of them were selling shawarma. The rest were a mixture. There were salad and veggie places. There were many dessert and coffee spots. By the time things opened and we ate, there were only about 5 options open. The rest were supposed to open at some unidentified time.

At the shawarma place where Shannon ordered her food, she was served by two boys who were running their dad’s truck. One must have been 9 or 10 and the other no older than 13. Neither of them spoke any English and Shannon and I had limited Arabic; limited to pretty much “thank you.” They were very enthusiastic about helping us and adorable in how excited they were. Her shawarma ordering process amounted to him holding up an ingredient and Shannon nodding yes or no. Fistful of lettuce? Yes. Handful of onion? Yes. Questionable unidentified orange sauce? Sure, but only a little.

In the end, we ate delicious food picnic style on the ground. No one around us spoke any English, and none of us Arabic. We ate in peace with a few smiles shared with some of the other patrons. The food was fantastic, and the experience was unique.