Al Ain would win any competition for ‘roundabout art’ but Fujairah’s roundabouts symbolize the rich cultural identity of the emirate.Take the ‘Coffee Pot’ roundabout in Faseel and only a coffee mug's throw from the Fujairah corniche. The coffee pot depicted is the sleek and stylish coffee pourer used in the Emirates (called dallah—Arabic: دلة). Unfortunately in banks and businesses the dallah has been replaced by the plastic, press-the-button, thermos flask.
The coffee cups (called finjaan—Arabic: فنجان) on the Faseel roundabout are nothing like those in Starbucks as these ones come without handles. Typically they are small because the offering and receiving of more than one cup is all part of the coffee drinking tradition in this land.
Even the cardamom-laced, milk-free coffee is different and even bitter but in time the taste buds will become attuned and familiar.
The coffee is usually served upon arrival. The pouring by the host, the receiving and the drinking is all about hospitality, acceptance, communion and replenishment.
Keep pouring out your friendship! Don’t stop at one cup of hospitality. Drink deeply of the kindness. When three cups of liquid welcome have been imbibed and the cup is returned with a wiggle and a twist we will know without a word that we have been refreshed and sustained by friendship.
Related
Drinking Coffee Arabic and Turkish Style, Fujairah Observer, May 2009.
Imbibing the Emirates, Experiencing the Emirates, 1 April 2007.
Change, like Coffee Requires Time to Percolate, SFS, 19 November 2007.
Searching for the Finest Coffee in Fujairah, FIF, 4 November 2009.
Crap Coffee, SFS, 1 May 2006.
Geoff Pound
Image: Coffee pot and cups need to be cleaned and shined from time to time. The Coffee Pot Roundabout, 2 September 2010.
This article is also posted on the Fujairah in Focus Facebook Page upon which many more articles and links are posted than on this blog, including this Photo Album of the Fujairah Coffee Pot Roundabout.
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