I heard bad things abt the El Chadra Hospital – i.e. people were stealing there and I better left the things at home which were beautiful – it also had to do with the „eye“. That famous eye people have on you or your kids or your belongings. So all my jewels and all the nice things like the milk pump and the gadgets I had to leave at home. I washed an old sports bag and when it was washed it looked like new. Brilliant… I left my Tumi stuff at home – was too expensive.
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Salah went to the fish market the other day and brought a baby beaudroie (angler fish). I love that one. Unfortunately he had cut off the cheeks, the best part of that fish. They knew… In Libya you get all to buy or to stand with a “big” mouth… Salah wanted to buy one of those lobsters which look like a round plate – very ancient – like a fossil (no kidding). Yet the fish seller wanted 50 Dinars for it – that was stealing! Salah refused – he even replied: you are crazy, that is too expensive. Well – he witnessed a Japanese who paid the price… I told Salah when he was back – you see – some people pay anything even a hundred Dollars for a piece of a whale… Actually then the fish sellers are right: if the price is paid for that – they should sell it for that price. They would be darn stupid if they did not!
Japan had the biggest share of the fish market – they were buying most of the tuna and had it ready for export. Years ago they were fishing at night and sailing away i.e. stealing. Now they were almost in control of the tuna market. And with this the prices went sky high; above all tuna fish. At that time – in 2002/2003 you were only able to get canned Libyan tuna when having special connections – i.e. underhand…
There was this shop with an old man – he sold tuna fish sandwiches. Per day he made a turnover of abt 1’000 Dinars – ONLY with sandwiches – one sandwich cost 0.50 Dinars (half a Dinar). They were so delicious, the shop was ALWAYS FULL. Bankers, dealers, police-men YOU FOUND ANYONE in his shop! All were buying at least 4 to 5 sandwiches. He prepared the Harissa all by himself – the olive oil was fm his gardens and the olives, too – the tomatoes were fm the market. Salah knew him. Of course he never revealed his special recipe Also the buns he used were just matching – it was a delicious all together.
Salah brought them home and we have eaten them there. Unfortunately the old man gave his shop to his sons and they did not prepare the food the way dad used to so the quality rapidly went down the drain… WHAT A PITY!
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I prepared the anglerfish with fennel, butter, dill, Aceto di Modena, olive oil and some lemon. The bones I used to prepare the sauce. I added onions, fresh and young ones, some pepper corns and fresh parsley. Salah was full as a tick – he had eaten so much. The starter was a red beet with wasabi Roquefort sauce and a green salad with a mustard and fresh onion sauce.
The only thing which was really sour was the milk – he had ordered it the night before and only went the next day… Well his bad. Yet he went back to the shop and asked for compensation. Does any wife know a husband, who has got “one” mistake? I don’t. They are ALL perfect… At least that is how they see themselves so I will NEVER intervene! I had a discussion with the daughter of my gynaecologist – even she did agree on that.
She even had a story to it: there was an actress who said: men are the heads – even so her husband did not agree on it: she said: You are the heads, yet we are your necks, so wherever you want to turn YOUR heads to – WE will let you turn it the way you will have to turn… - oh how true and how
I told her the story abt Eve and God – had to explain it to her, because she did not get it in the first place. Then I said: God is neither male nor female – God is pure love and light. At the end we were just giggling so her father (my gynaecologist) asked what we were laughing abt: I told him – that he would not wish to know… i.e. it would be Gossip – (Gurma) and would be racist; i.e. hostile to men… We the three women in the consulting room had the time of our life; i.e. we enjoyed ourselves tremendously. The nurse said to my husband: you take care of your wife she is a precious woman; and woe betide you, then you will know me differently… Dr. Mermesh pretended not to have heard a word. I was only laughing, she was fm the south i.e. she had a dark skin and I just loved her. Felt as if she was my sister. I was never in that “color” thing for me people have a heart or nothing.
The two midwives who worked for Dr. Mermesh, were tough women but had a big heart. I really felt at home there.