Re: Of Men and Henna!
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Posted by Babaganooj on May 12, 2000 at 17:11:45:
In Reply to: Re: Of Men and Henna! posted by Catherine Cartwright Jones on May 12, 2000 at 07:58:46:
Thanks for your compliment. I haven'nt been in Aleppo for a few years now, but here is my input on music there. Aleppo is a city throughout its long history has been obsesses with two major things in life. Music and food. In the arena of music, it excelled on not only local level but across all the Arab world. It was at the hands of Sabah Fakhri ( A proud Halabi singer) that the traditions of Andalucia music and songs (which was from the era of Arabs in Spain) that this form of music was revived, and later embraced by all Arabs again. Sabah Fakhri is still alive, and I think I heard recently he something about him making a concert in Houston ( I could be wrong though on the exact location.) Another famous singer whom you might be interested to know and is relevant to henna, is a singer named Mayada Hennawi, obviously the family name indicates that she came from a progeny of henna dealers. She made it big across the Arab World, and attracted the attentions of great musicians in Egypt (our Holywood) who flocked to compose music for her wonderful voice. Maybe it was the henna tradition in her blood that oozed so much talent :-) Food is a whole area of study when it comes to Halab (Aleppo) because the people there take their food very seriously. Kibbah, across the Arab world, is sometimes followed by the adjective Halabiya denoting excellence and precision. I don't if it is nostalgia or hunger that brings to mind the kibbah that my mother makes, whom I believe to be best chef in the world ( being very objective I guess :-) When I say they take their food seriously, I'm referring to the fact that a good worthwhile meal made by a Halabi cook would take around 5 hours of preparation. Don't even mention fast food stuff if you want to enjoy food the Aleppo way. When in Halab (Aleppo) do as the Halabis do. My simple advice to people thinking about visiting Halab. My Regards Babaganooj : Could you hang around this forum a whole lot? You write wonderfully, : and I really like hearing what you have to say!
: Henna certainly has a strong scent, and when a strong smell is : associated with something frightening or stressful in childhood, a : feeling of revulsion can stay long after the memory of the even is : largely gone. There is a men's aftershave that affects me that way. : When I was hennaeing a Moroccan family here, the teenage boy turned : white as a sheet when he smelled the henna, and began trembling. His : mother specifically hugged him and murmered "They don't do that here, : you don't have to worry." , and it was in reference to late : circumcision. She was very highly educated, she was a French teacher : in Morocco, and had come to visit her brother runs a business in : Cleveland. I think they were arranging to leave the boy with him for : high school and college. The man watched the henna, and wrote out : Arabic words for me to copy. I asked him to write the word "blessing" : and he didn't seem to know what I meant. I asked "baraka", and he : said, "oh. that bullshit we USED to believe in." : It's often difficult to keep in mind that every place is diverse, : because every person and their experiences are different. Am I : correct in thinking there is a very good annual jazz festival in : Aleppo, or is that another city in Syria? We have a CD called "The : Sultan's Picnic" that was recorded from a jazz festival in Syria, that : we absolutely LOVE, and I know there are more in the series but don't : know where to find them.
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