KHubesah Hunting
My mom is in Amman for the weekend, and the three guys are just hanging out here at home. So, today we took a little field trip to check out the Jordan River Valley and Wadi Mujib Nature Preserve, just close to the Dead Sea area, with Onf and Janette (she's the woman in the picture at the dinner table with us). It was really nice. First, we stopped and picked up some falafel sandwiches for lunch. And then we went to visit our Peace Corps friends for a few minutes before heading to the valley/wadi.
A wadi, in Arabic, is a spring or river outlet area, FYI. When we got there, we stopped at an overlook area where we could see a big portion of the valley, which was beautiful. Then, we drove down into the valley, just to check it out and see the new dam that they had built.
After that, we had planned to go around the area to see if we could find some KHubesah (similar to a wild spinach) to cook for dinner. Also, we thought we might find some chamomile or oregano or this cactus that is supposed to be really delicious. This was probably the best part of the day. It is amazing how often Jordanians go out and scavenge for native/wild plants. Its really cool.
Anyways, we found ourselves some pretty sweet KHubesah patches, in addition to some wild chamomile, and so we proceeded to fill our keyis (plastic bags) up to bring home and cook.
It is amazing how green the countryside is right now. It is really uncharacteristic of Jordan, even for the springtime. But, its been rainy and foggy nonstop for about the past week. It's going to be really great for all the farmers and the local ecosystem, and it made our drive today really nice.
Along the way, we were also able to spot some Jordanian poppy. The kind that they have here is endemic to Jordan, and they are really beautiful. They're bright red, which makes them fairly easy to spot in a field, even though they're pretty rare. They only blossom in the springtime, and its a real treat to see them. Plus, if we collected a bunch, we could probably make some sweet opium. Just a thought...
A wadi, in Arabic, is a spring or river outlet area, FYI. When we got there, we stopped at an overlook area where we could see a big portion of the valley, which was beautiful. Then, we drove down into the valley, just to check it out and see the new dam that they had built.
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Anyways, we found ourselves some pretty sweet KHubesah patches, in addition to some wild chamomile, and so we proceeded to fill our keyis (plastic bags) up to bring home and cook.
It is amazing how green the countryside is right now. It is really uncharacteristic of Jordan, even for the springtime. But, its been rainy and foggy nonstop for about the past week. It's going to be really great for all the farmers and the local ecosystem, and it made our drive today really nice.
Along the way, we were also able to spot some Jordanian poppy. The kind that they have here is endemic to Jordan, and they are really beautiful. They're bright red, which makes them fairly easy to spot in a field, even though they're pretty rare. They only blossom in the springtime, and its a real treat to see them. Plus, if we collected a bunch, we could probably make some sweet opium. Just a thought...
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posted by Aaron Berdanier at 9:16 AM Permalink
