The Experience of the Desert

I have always wondered how life in the desert would be. Every time I saw a picture in a Geography book or saw a news show and those cities amid... nothing or the nothingness, that is, the ocean of sand, as I would call in my mind - how would that be? Of course, I have never dreamt that one day I would be here. Far East Asia was the picture I always had in mind as the kind of final destination for life. The never-ending daily grind of a Japanese metropolis or bucolic scenes among the Buddhist temples of Nepal or Cambodia were what I pictured for myself. 

When I knew I was definitely coming to live here, I was in a state of awe. In many ways it is as the desert wasn't near. Life in most part of the year is not as living in the middle of the desert but is the turmoil and infinite opportunities of a city which has over 20 mi inhabitants. I like saying you can find anything here you want to - you only need to discover where your "Sesame" lay (whether you can pay for your wishes, that is another thing). 

However you also cannot ignore that the desert surrounds you - it will make sure you don't. One of the first things I learnt is that you have to get accustomed to having dust everywhere. Your daily life will accompanied by that fine omnipresent layer of dust. Also in my first week, we had a sand storm. I was still in honeymoon, so I found very beautiful that I could see the buildings and the people, as if I was wearing orange lenses. 

By a combination of the desert surrounding you (and which makes most of the terrains of the country) and the localization of the country in the globe, you will also think it impossible to survive the heat in late spring and during the whole Summer.

It has its rewards though. Very early in the morning the most splendid light will invade your abode. The rays of sun come and wake you up gently very early in the morning. When the sun sets, as two lovers biding adieu, it loves the city fervently and displays exquisite architectures of blaze and colour. I never knew when I called this blog "In Quest for a Sunset" that I would find so many "definite" sunsets here. 

To be continued. :) 

New friend

I've just met a new friend from the 19th century... but it's not a vampire! I wish... Dear readers, I wanted to introduce to you:

It's name is Wackel-Orgel. Such a big friend, that the camera couldn't get all of it at once! Its sound is incredible...  It literally blows you away. And to be singing there, with powerful music of J.S. Bach surrounding you, feels just like to be embraced by a good friend. 

Who would predict I would find such pleasures in the Middle East? ;-) 

Life is somehow unpredictable - and I like the positive aspect of it. 

- Who could tell I would have a wonderful Asian room mate? (even though sometimes it seems I am as Asian as she is); 

- Who could tell I would find a kindred spirit in my apartment building who wakes up listening to Amélie's soundtrack? 

- Who could tell I would find a nice vocal coach here and sing more than I have ever sang in Brazil? And specially, that I would be singing in a Jazz festival in a few weeks? =P 

- Who could tell I even went to an Early Music concert here, which was one of the best I have ever attended? 

- Who could tell I would, one day, teach Musical Theatre? And direct a Musical? O.O

What comes next? 

Foodie

During the years of military dictatorship in Brazil (1964 - 1989), newspapers used to publish recipes protesting against the censorship. So much to tell and still having to be quiet.

Time has come to talk about food. You'll be presented to the delicious local cuisine today!

Firstly, it's important to state that there is nothing such a "haute cuisine" here. Yet the local produce is awesome and the fresh ingredients make up for anything that someone might require. I myself am more a fan of the terroir trend than of eating expensively, therefore I am 100% satisfied.

Nothing bellow have I cooked myself - I only took the photos, usually with a poor mobile camera. The transliteration is not the official one - I took the pronunciation as the rule, so think you're reading in English.

Fool

This fava beans dish is usually served as a breakfast course to be eaten with local bread. You can also add sausages or boiled eggs to eat if you want to have something even more substantial. Spices commonly added are salt, garlic, black pepper, cumin and parsley. 

My verdict: one of my favourites to be eaten at any time of the day. I even have my favourite street's kiosk to feed me on fool, but it seems that many people agree with me, because they start selling it at seven and by lunch time everything is gone. =P

Rice

This is a rice photo, not a rice pudding photo. It's incredible how people here can put the rice like this and yet,by some secret that passes from generation to generation and is oblivious to the Brazilian ex-pats, when you serve your rice, the grains pour at your plate like a Spring rain and do not stick together as Asian rice. The yellowish colour is somehow related to the countryside, as a friend of mine explained. Cooks in the capital city will serve you bright white rice.

My verdict: I have a rice tin here and I didn't know what it was for rice, but thought it was for pudding! Rice here troubles Brazilians who want it how the locals like it, but we are somehow unable to obtain the same results with the same product. The cooks I asked about their secret, told me they first fry the rice in oil before adding water, but that is exactly what we do in my state, Minas Gerais. Local rice is very yummie and is both the base and the side dishes for many recipes here. I'm for the countryside style and like more the golden-style rice. Additives that make the rice white are a big no for me.  

Waraq Enab

 

A roll stuffed with rice and wrapped in grape leaves. You can have vegetarian Waraq Enab with rice only - and maybe some herbs - but you may also add chicken or grounded beef to it. It's seasoned with tomato sauce, onions, lemon (here the green small one, that we call 'lemon' anyway, but the official name in English is 'lime'), salt, pepper and cumin. 

My verdict: another favourite. It's so nice to see the leaves being sold in the market, a proof that with creativity nothing in Nature is wasted.  I also like how everyday food has little meat in it, in a way that makes it balanced without the need of exaggerating anything. But I feel rather demotivated to cook my own rolls - the idea of working with the grape leaves seems to me to require abilities that my clumsy person doesn't fancy to. 

Yoghurt sauce (with chicken in the background)

I have eaten several different yoghurt sauces without a particular recipe to draw my attention to. I love them all, tho, I hope to leave the country knowing how to make one or two.

My verdict: although the sauces are very delicious and I enjoy having something creamy on the top of the salad that is not cheese - for the sake of some variation - I confess I had some very romantic ideas of yoghurt in the MENA Region. All the ones I have found so far have an ingredient list in which milk is just one of several ingredients more similar to periodic table elements than to things you would expect in a cookbook. The positive thing is that I can buy non flavoured yoghurt in an 1 kilo bowl. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have written about my liking for linking traditions and food for the occasion of Easter. Not having a reason to make any connection with the American Thanksgiving, but wanting to taste a pumpkin pie, I baked some anyway, and they became some friends' favourite.

Today, I had the opportunity to find out how a traditional Thanksgiving Day is. So amidst the conflicts of Gaza vs. Israel, the demonstrations in Jordan and unresolved situation in Libya I:

- ate Turkey for the first time;
- shared with a friend who was next to me, reasons I am thankful for;
- learnt that people usually write to friends to say that we are thankful for them!

So, here my friends, is a card for you. Thank you all for your friendship and support. I love you all!

Click HERE to see the card. By the way, that e-mail address that appears on the card is a false one. I don't want to receive spam in my inbox, right?

Big thanks for the host family for letting me be part of your Thanksgiving's tradition. :)

Reminiscences

These photos were taken last Brazilian Summer, almost one year ago. An afternoon in my parent's house porch, the grass smelling the sun and an important dilemma to argue about: do we agree with Devon or Cornwall folks? 

A tropical version of the Devonshire scone, with home-made pineapple jam. 

More traditional Cornwall scones with home-made strawberry jam.

HERE is a source about this Devonshire vs. Cornwall competition. Well, some people have asked about how is local food and for recipes. I am slow on this matter - I like eating the local food, but when it comes to cook, I am always referring to my old recipes. More than cooking, baking is a hobby. And even though now living in MENA, as strange as it may sound (but then it could be also strange living in Latin America), there is nothing that appeals more to me, than a lazy afternoon with home smelling baked goods and a warm cup of tea. (in a perfect day I would have sung the whole morning and will spend the whole evening reading). 

Now, to bake here during Summer was hell, because of the heat. So I gave up. But now that the temperatures are decreasing, the oven is turning active little by little. It's a sign that life is settling: the fact that "home-made" is not a false ad, but a true adjective to the foods I find in my fridge and cupboard. 

Better still is to be able to share. Now that I have a flatmate, sharing mouthfuls of yummies became very easy! : D And in a time of life when 'time' is what I don't have, this brilliant idea of scones is the most appealing to me - Ana Granziera describes scones as something in-between bread and cake that  are easily made by mixing everything together and putting it in the oven.  

But even then, when a holiday in on the way it helps a lot! Yesterday was the Islamic New Year. A very complicated subject that I am not going to attempt to explain. You can find information in the Wikipedia's article. Interestingly I didn't see a single shop closed and many people were working like a very normal day. 

I am looking forward to more 'normal' days for me: friends to share good conversations, home-made food and good music. 

Eid al-Adha

Working in an international school, you sometimes forget where you are really living. First, you don't speak Arabic at your work, which is the place you spend most part of your day. Even if the school has many native people, they speak the school language - English in our case. Then, you live in this "third culture" environment, as anthropologists call it. This mix of cultures: not the local culture, not your culture, not also the official culture - which would be american in our case, just because we use an American curriculum.

Then, you come across a scene like this:

And you remember: oh, yeah, I am living in the Middle East. And Eid al-Adha is coming (it's not because it's MENA that you'll see it everyday. A propos, in Brazil, I could sometimes spot a similar scene near where my parent's house is).

Today is the first day of Eid al-Adha. It means "Feast of Sacrifice",when Muslims celebrate that God provided a sheep to Abraham, so that he could save his son Isaac's life of being sacrificed. You can find the narrative in Genesis, a holy book for both Jews, Christians and Muslims, but the prescription of the Eid al-Adha comes from the Koran.

There is an special prayer for Eid al-Adha and people should dress their best clothes for it. Also, the rams in the photo are for sacrifice. If you have the economic means to buy an animal (it could also be a cow, or a sheep, or a camel, or a goat), you will sacrifice it. One third is for you and your family,one third for your relatives and friends, one third for the poor.

According to an information found in Wikipedia, "in Pakistan alone nearly 10 million animals are slaughtered on Eid days costing over US$ 3 billion". A holy day is also a possibility for a ceasefire when you have a war going on, like in Syria. Unfortunatly, an official truce doesn't mean it will really happen. You can check about Syria in the Al Jazeera's website.

For more information about the Eid al-Adha's traditions and practices, check out the Wikipedia's article. 

One week with Mom & Dad... WOW!

So, it really happened. Mom and dad came here and spent one week with me. After so many months dreaming and talking about, they appeared in that fateful arrival gate.

My "Lonely Planet Guide" gave the best description of the city so far: embrace the apparent chaos, crack a joke and learn to look through the dirt to see the city's true colours. Although the North is very different from the South and the capital different of everything, I would say that the description applies to the country. So we had one week together to see the true colours, listen the true sounds and taste the true flavours.

Here are some of the most remarkable moments:

1) Mom could cross the streets like a local in two days. It took me five months...
2) They both think the drivers here are the best in the world. With such a crazy traffic, so little car crashes...
3) Dad declared if he lived here he would only get taxi drives. Dirty cheap! 
4) They loved the onions, the tomatoes (actual red, with actual tomato's taste), "aish baladi" (the local bread), the nuts, the dates, the grapes (and this one was far from the best ones in high Summer), not to mention the fresh fruit juices;
5) They also learned some words of Arabic. I am very proud of this.
6) One week here and they saw a bit of rain. I'm here for six months and it was my first time too. 2 minutes of rain, but I was more than excited about that.
7) I was the one who wanted to come back home early, they were the ones asking: what are we doing next? 
8) They were marvelled by the desert, by the contrast between the desert and the sapphire blue sea, by the contrast of the green farming and desert along the road;
9) They tasted Turkish coffee - not filtered and flavoured with cardamom. But with so many different things to experiment with, they didn't have time to eat Turkish delight!
10) Finally, after seeing the biggest shopping mall of the Middle East, dad concluded: well, you can live well here. 

And then they went away. I love it here. But I miss them tenderly. And my dear friends: I miss you all. When are you coming to to look through the dirt to see the city's true colours?