Another Sign or Just a Miracle???

I first landed in Saudi Arabia in 1978 not knowing what to expect exactly but with some wild ideas about belly dancers, night clubs, and very exotic food. The reality was very different, of course, but no less pleasurable in some regards.

Saudi blasted me with its heat and humidity the moment the British Airways crew opened the door and, soon after, the stench of body odor engulfed my senses while Saudi security guards armed with sub-machine guns looked over the shoulders of the airport workers methodically searching people’s luggage for contraband and the fellow at passport control scribbled out some offending picture he found in my Flight International magazine with a giant black magic marker.  There was no doubt I was in a different world.

My older brother, Roger, introduced me to a totally different reminder I was in a different world when he took me to a small, ordinary looking cafe in Al Khobar called the Bayouni and ordered up two orange juices and two coffees. The fellow behind the counter smiled warmly, cut fresh oranges, and used a hand press to juice them. My mouth began watering even before I’d had my first taste. Roger didn’t have to ask if that was outrageously good or not. And then the tantalizing aroma of coffee hit my nostrils, and my mouth watered all over again. Absolutely to die for.

I left Saudi Arabia in 1983 and have had a lot of coffee since, none of which has compared even in the slightest. I joke that coffee in America must sit in a warehouse for years before it’s shipped out along with whatever spillage was swept up from the dusty floor. Our local Middle Eastern shop, Haji Baba’s in Tempe, roasts the most awesome coffee I’ve come across here in the States, but it still isn’t as good as Bayouni in Al Khobar.

So imagine my excitement when Aramco Brats posted on Facebook, “Remember Bayouni Coffee in Khobar? Now you can enjoy Bayouni coffee stateside!” And so I will as I put in a decent order. Hot damn, life is weird sometimes!