Dates

Probably the most popular fruit here in Arabia is the date. They taste like a fig/raisin/prune, and they're about that color, too, once they're fully ripe. They're about the size of big grape or sometimes as big as your thumb. We've eaten them in more places than I can remember, but we didn't really understand how they grew until now.

Dates grow on palm trees, and they start growing around December and ripen in the summer months. They're getting closer to ripe right now. So here are a few pictures that we took around campus of the dates ripening.

















HERE'S WHAT THE PALM TREES LOOK LIKE FOR MOST OF THE YEAR.





















HERE'S WHAT THE TREES LOOK LIKE ONCE THE DATES START TO RIPEN - YOU CAN SEE THE CLUSTERS OF DATES HANGING DOWN.












HERE'S ANOTHER ONE WITH THE DATES HANGING OFF OF THE TREES.

















HERE IS A CLUSTER OF DATES. THEY'RE GREEN NOW, BUT WHEN THEY'RE FULLY RIPE, THEY'RE BROWN AND LOOK LIKE GIANT RAISINS.