"Cultural Challenge"

In Ethiopia when two men meet each other they shake their right
hands. Ethiopians also eat their meals with their right hand. If
somebody just had a meal but didn't wash his hands, yet and a guest
enters the room. The Ethiopian would offer you his forarm and the
guest would take it with his right hand so they can 'shake hands'.

However, what would you do if both of you, the Ethiopian an you as a
guest just had a meal in a restaurant. You are both on your way to the
bathroom to wash your hands and you meet your Ethiopian friend just
in front of the bath room for the first time on that day? How would you
manage to shake hands?

Gotti

your hand would get dirtyer
or
you had both used a knife and fork and both had clean hands

David

I have exactly the same problem where I work - in Belgium you shake
hands with someone the first time you see them in the day, but
working on a chemical plant people are often wearing gloves which
may or may not have nasties on them. As you say, if one person is
wearing gloves and the other isn't then a wrist/forearm is offerend
instead. If you're both wearing gloves you pick - either shake hands
anyway and hope that the nasties on your gloves and the nasties on
his don't react exothermically and melt the glove to your hand, or you
just make a token effort eg. touching wrists.

... crossing your wrist/forearm is what you would do. Didn't know that
chemical plants and Ethiopian restaurants have so much in common ;-)

I have two thoughts, but I don't know if either is acceptable in Ethiopia:

1. Cross forarms in a gesture of "shaking hands".
2. Kindly explain the predicament, walk into the washroom together,
wash your hands, and then shake traditionally. You are still in that
first meeting together that way.

Make any sense?

Coyote

1. use a fork

2. wave, give him a "pound" or the ever popular head nod while
saying "wsup"