Welcome to Litsy!

Reading the Luzumiyat (Les Impératifs : poèmes de l'ascèse) by Al-Ma'arri, the #Syrian medieval poet who is having a bit of a moment right now thanks to his “vegan poem“. Had I known this earlier, I wouldn't have paired this book w/ a Syrian beef, carrot, pea and tomato stew (Bazalia ou Ruz)... We ate bulghur with it, then cardamom-flavoured yogurt w/ dried apricot & pistachios in orange blossom water.
#FoodandLit
@Catsandbooks @Texreader

I've been eating lunch from the tagged #Syria cookbook all week for #FoodandLit. As I am feeling too lazy to plate it properly, here is a picture of my many lunch containers. 😆

Itsch Salad – Bulgar Salad
Baklava (store bought)
Shorbat adas – Red Lentil Soup
Lob el kossa – Zucchini with Garlic and Mint
Foul ma‘ala – Fava Beans with Cilantro and Garlic
Zahra – Spicy Roasted Cauliflower

@Texreader, @Catsandbooks

Les hirondelles se sont envolées avant nous (Swallows fled before us) is a great poetry collection by #Syrian poet Hala Mohammad.
It contains a poem titled “Cardamome“ (Cardamom) with the lines

A présent tu bois ton café
Ainsi descendit la révélation de la cardamome

Ainsi la pluie tomba sur terre

#FoodandLit
@Catsandbooks @Texreader

#NovemberNarrative Day 30: A lot of #Cooking in this story. With the help of her new friends from the Welcome Center, Salma will make foul shami! While I confess to not having tasted this dish yet, I was very moved by how the entire community in this small center came together to find all the ingredients Salma needed to hear her mother‘s laughter once again. My review: https://wp.me/pDlzr-njG

Absolutely loved Nowhere Boy. A forged friendship of two boys, one of whom is a Syrian refugee all alone in Belgium amid the 2015 terrorist attacks in France. Tropical Secrets, a more lyrical narrative, highlights a friendship of a Cuban girl and Jewish refugee while the island experiences turbulent times of WWII. #middlegrademarch #MGMarch

As the daughter of a child refugee, I find books about child refugees tough. I liked parts of this one - especially the friendship between the two boys, but it turns my stomach when books like these become page turning adventure stories and I felt like this one tried to toward the end. I‘m also kind of over the ‘white person learns and grows by helping a person of colour‘ narrative.

First #audiostitching evening of 2022 #bliss

Three outta five ain‘t bad

Salma is living with her mother in Vancouver while waiting for her father to arrive from Syria. Salma is trying to adjust to their new life and she desperately want to make her mama laugh again.

When she decides to make her mama‘s favorite dish the welcome center community comes together to support her in this beautiful story of new beginnings.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks
#ReadingEurope2020 #Belgium @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

What a beautiful, heartfelt book! 💚

A young Syrian refugee finds himself in Belgium. He makes an unlikely friend and together they each manage to save each other. Their kindness is inspiring. Despite the world around them saying that their friendship is wrong, they both choose to help each other and to do what's right, even if it's dangerous.