Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Week 7: Culture in Libya - Thomas De Saffel



Hello everyone, I am back again with a new adventure and a new visit to a specific country. Today, Libya is at his turn. A country that is located in North-Africa. Recently, the country was much in the news because of the Libyan civil war. Rebels supported by the Allies, fought against the army of Moammar Al-Quadhafi. But luckily, Quadhafi was defeated in time. So I can visit the country easily without being frightened. 
Libya has the same culture as most of his neighbouring countries and in general the whole Arabic community in North-Africa. The country considers to use Arabic as the only official language. So it's obvious that this language is important to this country. 
The Libyan cuisine is very similar to the cuisine in the Sahara. The Libyan food contains couscous, bazeen, which is a type unsweetened cake. I have eaten it in Benghazi. It's very delicious. The main ingredient is barley flour and is mostly served with a tomato sauce, eggs, potatoes and mutton. I tasted something new in this culture and I am impressed how simple the meal is made but it tastes so good. Shurba is also something that I never heard before. It's a kind of soup. The 4 main ingredients of traditional food in Libya are olives, palm dates, grains and milk. 
There are still a couple of old temples from the ancient Greek and Roman eras. One of them is the temple of Zeus in Cyrene. The temple is a big attraction that attracts a lot of tourists to Cyrene. I saw the temple with my own eyes. Don't underestimate it, these buildings are still miracles in the world. The architecture of the ancient Greek eras is still very interesting. 

Libya has also traditional music and various dances. Tuareg music and dance are very popular in the south of the country. I tried to take some attempts so I could dance with the local community. But it wasn't easy to learn a dance in one eve. But after a time, you learned the dance a little bit and it wasn't a shame to proof this. But it was certain that I couldn't reach the style and the smoothness from the local community.

Ok everyone, that was it for this week. I hope I gave you some new facts and new information about other cultures. Within 2 weeks, you can follow me again. I will continue my African tour to the Central African Republic. Cheers!

Thomas De Saffel

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