Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Breakfast with Farook

Sunday, when I was busy, Farook called and said he had something very important to tell me. I said I was busy. ‘It will only take 30 minutes. Surely you can take 30 minutes?’ I apologized. ‘As you like.’ So today, I said I could meet with Farook for a few minutes. He suggested getting together at 9:00 a.m. for coffee, so I arrived at his office promptly at 9:00 a.m.

When I arrived at his office, a young man named Ali was there. Farook said we were going to breakfast. As we left his office, another young man was standing outside, wearing a black Western suit, and he began shouting at Farook in Arabic. Of course, I didn’t understand a word, but I think it was about US$500 Farook owed the young man. Farook kept saying (in Arabic) ‘Finished, finished.’ The young man shouted something in Arabic, then got into his car and left. Farook never explained to me what the argument had been about, or who the young man was.

Farook took me to a Karachi restaurant. It’s one in a chain that has branches all over Dubai. We sat down and the waiter appeared with bread and plates of curried garbanzo beans. Ali and Farook said we wanted something else, to tell us everything that was available. I didn’t understand a word, since the conversation was in a pidgin of Arabic and Urdu.

Eventually, Ali got a bowl of goat’s foot soup and bread, and Farook and I got a plate of curried garbanzo beans and bread. All for less than €1 apiece.

Then Farook and Ali fought over the bill, and Ali won. I don’t know who Ali is, except that he’s from Syria, nor do I understand what his relationship is with Farook.

I finally got home at 7:00 p.m.

And Farook never told me anything I consider ‘important.’