MATBA2IYYEH

MATBA2IYYEH

In the good ol' days and I mean good ol' days the school that I went to in Beirut, Lebanon used to provide a service that I don't think exists anywhere in the world today.  You could have your own hot home made meal for lunch.  Sure we did not appreciate it much back then that mom woke up 2able ddaww - before sunrise- to get you ready for the school bus and get your breakfast and lunch ready.  Breakfast, you would have at home, but lunch you would have to do the uncool thing and take it with you and carry it in a food carrier the Matba2iyyeh.  

It's about 6:30 or so AM and I would be all set to go, school uniform, maryoul :p  , a heavy school shanta with all the school books:(  and of course, don't forget the Matba2iyyeh.

Mine was, unlike the stock picture I borrowed a 3 tier food carrier.  The bottom part would have the cooked food, in the middle maybe some rice and the top some fruits or other no-need to heat stuff.

At school each class lined up, 2 by 2, and when ushered to do so, entered the building to go to class.  There was a special place to place the Matba2iyyeh for the food service people to handle it later comes lunch time.

So, it's lunch time and the mess hall was on a lower level.  Get your Matba2iyyeh and go to your place at the table.  Stand and wait for prayer and then get your food into a real plate and use real -non plastic- forks, spoons and knives.   What needed to be heated up was done for you.

Today's lunch was kousa me7she blaban and grapes for dessert...  mmmmm  I wish :p

Some things in life you take for granted, until they are no longer there and.. aahh the little things mom used to do were not so little.

Happy mother's day, everyday.

july 4th in 5:40

July 4th, 2011

Vienna, VA

Independence day in small town USA, Vienna, VA.

Typical hot day this time of year, humid too and the mosquitoes literally had a field day.  They too were celebrating and feasting.   The best part was the kids watching the magic show.  The magician grabbed their attention and he made them smile and laugh.  I captured most of these.  There were games for the kids, and the baseball field was lined with vendors, antique car show, lemonade and ice cream stands and of course local politicians.  I met Janet Howell senator for the 32nd district for the last 20 years.  I asked her what her typical day on the job was like and I got nothing exciting from her.. meetings, legislating the same stuff she's been doing for the last 20 years.  She did tell me who her favorite lobbyist is though.    There was a chili cook off too, a live band, arts and crafts  but mostly it was hot and humid. 

 Here's my collection of photos from the day to the tune of Take Five.

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Photos are copyright Simon Sakkab

iesv@hotmail.com

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Is Lebanon a victim of Bottle-ization? and The Saudi twist.

When I was a kid, growing up in Lebanon, we had 2 brands of bottled water: Evian and Perrier.  Rich people washed their cars with Evian and the poor people drank  Perrier to pretend they were rich.  That is how the rich stayed rich and the poor got poorer!  

Now, drinking water is the bottled kind.  Tap drinking water is, if "running" not trusted by anyone.  It's bottled water and the brands are many.  When you sit down at a cafe in the "new" Beirut downtown, you are greeted with a cold bottle of water placed at your table.  The land that prides itself on its beautiful nature and abundance of water springs is now a captive to bottle-ization.  

The leading brand is Nestle, yes Nestle people apparently know how to filter water and 100 million arabs don't.  Nestle has licensed the Saudis to bottle water.  Imagine that!.  The desert is bottling water and selling it.  Nop, no kidding, that's what the bottle on a Delta flight from Amman to NY said.

Ironic that the land of "Nab3 Safa"  (Clear -water- Spring) would be so commercialized and no one in the private or public sectors would do something about it.  Any country should provide its citizens with some basics:  Clean air and clean water are basics.

Now, in my mind, I am still a kid growing up in Lebanon :)

Share your thoughts!

all content copyright SHS

This is ONLY in Beirut.

Cave of the Miraculous Lady of Boobies???  Are you kidding me?

May 2011
Beirut, Lebanon

kint raye7 3al ashrafiye
ma fi shi 3a bele
hal 3alam, hayda raye7 w hayda jeye
w tili3 ha sign 2bele

"m8aret

sayyidat lebzez

al 3aja2ibiyyah"

The Cave of the Miraculous Lady of Boobies.


There are nicer words in Arabic for "breasts".  Bzez is the the equivalent of boobies and hardly appropriate when talking about the "Lady".  I asked my cousin about it and she laughed.  I literally asked if I were reading this properly and she said yes. She had even visited the place and I wondered if it's mainly visited by small breasted women that wanted larger breasts and couldn't afford surgery and hoped for a miracle.  My cousin, as if she was reading my thought said that it was about breast milk and the women who lacked in that area.   But for God's sake, "bzez"!?  If you are asking yourself about my cousin.. she is not breast feeding; her kids are university graduates.


Well, as much as I wanted to I did not go to visit the cave.  I did not know what to expect but I know it would not be the same to imagine the "Lady" with this specialty and that word.. Bzez!.   


-----------  Share your thoughts or leave a comment!  :)




All content copyright SHS

ZARB. Chicken BBQ like no other.

 It's called Zarb.  A way to cook, usually your meat, where the cooking area, once heated enough is covered up and denied further oxygen.  Two hours, more or less, later your food is beautifully done.


It was chicken for the zarb and I was witnessing my first zarb.  There a special clay jar in the ground with a conduit to allow air circulation.  Wood from a dead apricot tree was used and the fire went on for about an hour until it became like white charcoal and very very hot.

It was time for the spiced chicken to enjoy a day at the spa-sauna.  And down they went, not minding the heat and looking forward for their extreme tan courtesy of zarb.  Once they were in the "hole", a round metal cover was put on top and covered the hole and a semi watery dough mix was put around the cover to seal in the hot air and dirt was also placed on top to weigh the cover down and keep it in place.  The vent had to also be secured quickly as to deny the hot air oxygen.  It's like choking the air out of the air !!


So what do guys do when the ladies are tanning?  Go for a cold beer I guess.  Good enough, Amstel it is.


About two hours later..  it's time to get the ladies out and hope they're happy with their new tan.   First the dirt had to be swiped aside and then the very hot cover had to be removed all the while without getting dirt back in the hole.  The ladies wouldn't like that...  and voila!  Awesome tan ladies, please right to the dining room nom nom nom :)


The taste of zarb is like any other BBQ.  It depends on how you spice it, marinate it...  Zarb leaves the meat well done and yet moist tender, well provided you let it till it's done.  This chicken was outstanding.

ENJOY!

My Bedouin Wedding

If you do not live among a Bedouin community, getting invited to a Bedouin wedding is very unlikely.

That morning I took the bus to Madaba and from there to Ma'ine thinking that the baths of Ma'ine would be there or very close.  When in Ma'ine I learned otherwise and I asked the cab driver to take me to meet some Bedouins nearby so I could get a feel of how they live and get a taste of their culture.  He did not waste any time and dropped me in front of the biggest Bedouin tent I had ever seen, only it was set up for a wedding reception.   Too late to turn back.  There was an old Bedouin looking my way and probably wondering what this stranger is doing in these parts of the world.

What I saw when the cabby dropped me off.

The old man invited me "in" and offered me coffee and tea and while we were chatting some people came by, so I met the groom and his father that a bit later took me to view the dinner preparations which were already under way.   There is a couple of graphical images below, sheep slaughtered.. so be forewarned. 

Kids learning!

The sheep are paying the ultimate price for this occasion.

The groom.

My host, a groom's family friend, and the groom.

The groom and his father.

Well wishers could stop by anytime.  Coffee and tea always ready.

Charcoal brewed..

"Take a picture of the flag" the old man said.  "This flag is very dear to us".

Not so traditional are the rented red chairs.

 My host described to me the timeline of events in a typical Bedouin wedding.  You may want to visit "Anatomy of a Bedouin Wedding" for all the complete details.  There is a video clip too of the host explaining all the event in Arabic which I translated.

 After telling me about the wedding customs, the old man invited me to attend the wedding festivities which I gladly accepted.  The way to accept such an invitation and yet leave room to get out of it is to say "inshallah"  (God willing).  The invitation comes as a way to honor a guest or someone, specially a stranger, it is part of the Bedouin Arab culture.

Some little things in life matter and are in most places taken for granted.  Case in point:  this big reception area offered no facilities.  That meant that I had to manage a ride back to Amman late in the night as Ma'ine nor nearby Madaba offered any hotels.  Anyway, I had to get back to Amman, since it was still very early in the day.  I wanted to get my camera flash and a couple of other items.  That also meant more time for me to evaluate if that was such a good idea.

Well, this was literally once in a lifetime chance to experience something different at many levels.  The fact that you do not get to see the bride and be warned not to take pictures of women in the remote chance that you might see one is one of these rare things.  The women by the way were in regular homes across the field where only the groom is permitted to go at one point and see his bride.

This was an authentic Bedouin wedding untouched by trends of westernization (except for the groom western style suit)..  Back in the city, Amman, a wedding, Muslim or Christian would more resemble western style weddings in terms of packaging, presentation, food and drink, music and dance etc..

So, back to Ma'ine for the wedding festivities.

The bride lives in a nearby village in the Mount Nebo area.  A whole caravan goes out to get her..  Along the route people come out of their houses to see and cheer on.

A baby anything could almost steal the show.. a baby horse!!

It didn't take long to secure the bride and bring her back to Ma'ine.

The next event is one for the groom.  At a nearby friend's house he goes to get bathed and dressed up.  Another caravan follows.  He comes out and sweets are served and then back to the "reception" tents or "houses of hair"  (byout sha3er) as the Bedouins call them.

Below is what they call "Al Zaffa", just what you see, the groom is escorted to the main reception area after seeing the bride.

The groom greets the well wishers.  Again, don't expect the bride to come by and say hello.  It is not in the tradition.  She would be with all the family ladies, young and old, celebrating in the "stone" houses.

It's getting dark, the sun just set and it's time for prayer. 

Chatting, coffee, tea and waiting for dinner.

The one that needs no translation: the universal smile :)

Ladies and gentlemen, well, here just gentlemen:  dinner is about to be served.  What took all day to be readied is about to be consumed in a matter of 5 to 10 minutes.

Yogurt, from a pre-dried "stone" form of yogurt.

Traditional "Mansaf"  can't be more authentic than this!  (from that morning!) The mutton meat is served over rice and bread with the yogurt.  It is eaten traditionally by the right hand while the left hand is kept behind one's back.

Come and get it.

only right hands sharing a meal

Very old Bedouin poem recitation performed by a group of men.

I have captured some of that sound.  You can hear it in another post titled :"Anatomy of a Bedouin Wedding".

Mabrouk!
Congratulations!
the end of Thursday's festivities
Very little goes on Friday.  Some well wishers after Friday prayers and Saturday the couple heads to a honeymoon destination.