It’s hard to find good Middle Eastern food in the middle of Pennsylvania, but not impossible.
Pete’s Place, located on South Street, across from University Towers, next to the Crimson Lion, is a superb example of great Middle Eastern cuisine.

They have a range of options, most meals under $10. Falafels, lamb and chicken kabobs, various wraps a range of desserts such as baklava. All very good options, and if you’re a vegetarian there are many different options for a great meal.

And now for the real reason you’re reading this article. No, it’s not because you have nothing better to do with your 10 minutes between your 9 and 10 a.m. class, its because you want to know how was their gyro! Well, let me tell you, it was pretty good.

They have three options, lamb beef or chicken, and my choice was the lamb. I would love to have tried all three, but so far, I have an effective budget of zero dollars (cough, cough).

As far as the lamb gyro goes, it was lettuce and tomato on a pita, smothered in a homemade, tangy, Tzatziki sauce that perfectly complements the tender lamb. This marvelous meal was a great breath of fresh air.

After I thoroughly enjoyed this gyro for a full 1 minute 38 seconds, I sat back and enjoyed a Turkish coffee with an almond baklava. Turkish coffee, if you haven’t tried it, is like the middle road between espresso and coffee. It is loosely filtered so don’t finish that last sip unless you like coffee mud.

As I sat back sipping my coffee, looking out the window, contemplating my life and the numerous things I should have been doing/ finished already, the papers, reports, emails I have to send, laundry I need to take out of the washer from yesterday, my mind begins to wander off.

I begin to contemplate what life is all about. It’s not about making your mark, like some dog with a fire hydrant. It’s about being comfortably full, enjoying a hot beverage, and having time to contemplate.

An unexamined life is not worth living. This Thanksgiving, while all America is working on a glutinous spree, complaining how full they are after eating in two hours what effectively could have been a months worth of food for some small African village.

Bitching about having to wake up early, so they could get a third 32-inch LED TV for only $299, so they are able to watch reruns of “Law and Order: SVU” while checking their iPhone on the toilet.

Then complaining how this “great recession-era” Best Buy parking lot makes a “Great Depression-era” breadline look like Buddhist monastery.

In the middle of all this thanks and giving madness, I want YOU, yes YOU, to take a moment by yourself, in that one comfy spot in your home, you know, the one with the view, maybe with your dog curled up by your feet, a fire going, a warm blanket?

I want YOU to take a moment, sit down with a hot drink, in a mug of course, maybe some tea, a coffee, a hot chocolate, hot buttered rum?

Take your drink, sip it, sip it slow, sip it and dream – you cannot dream amiss, sip it and dream – it is a dream itself.