Sabra & Shatila camp
Sunday - December 14 - 2008
Sponsors: Leen, Averyl
As they were finishing up with lunch, I paced up some old stone steps to get a better view of the remarkable Beirut skyline. One girl followed me up to admire the breath-taking view. However, after about five minutes, I turned around only to find her on the wet ground, off in a corner of some unmanaged grass, pulling out what I thought were weeds. She was so intent and methodic – like she had done this so many times before. I’ll never forget the concentration on her face. Confused, I approached her. Just as I was about to ask her about what she was doing exactly, her focus broke and she yelled, “Homayda!” Soon, all the kids came running up the stone steps. It was mayhem. The whole crew of kids were now swiping up this Homayda from a tiny corner of some forgotten about grass. One boy noticed my continued look of confusion, so, in order to quell me, gave me one of these Homayda stems and motioned for me to suck on it. I did. It was sour and a bit sweet – kind of like a sour candy. Now it all made sense. He looked at me and smiled, with a piece of Homayda in his mouth - rolling it around with his tongue. I smiled back, confirming my understanding finally. He laughed - and insisted that I take another Homayda stem for the road.
After some investigation and research, I found out, Homayda is Arabic Oxalis, or Wood Sorrel, but better known to some of us as, Sour Grass. :)
wonderful photos especially those taken in the telefrique....great job:)
ReplyDeleteyou brought back old memories...we used to pick homayda especially in spring...we also used to add some salt, you should have tried it....and the one who picked the tallest, thickest bunch was the luckiest...