The boring history of Libya...

One thing that has always amazed me is that the majority of Libyans know very little about the history of their country... and Libya is full of history! Historical sites can be found throughout the cities and countryside. I hear all kinds of excuses as to why the people here know nothing and it's usually blamed on the former regime and the poor education system. But in my (somewhat humble) opinion the reason Libyans don't know much about their country's history is because they simply couldn't care less.... total indifference.... apathy. And that just makes me feel sad... :(

Last week, out of curiosity, I posted this picture on my Facebook wall and asked the Libyans on my friend's list if they knew what it was, where it was, who it was used by, why and when .... 

There were only three Libyans that responded to my query - none knew the correct answer, but they tried. The rest of the comments came from non-Libyans, many who had lived here in the past - they didn't have the right answer either, but it didn't matter because I posted the picture to quiz the Libyans on my list.... yes, I know, I can be a pain sometimes.  The reason that I know about this historical site is because I visited it on a tour given by the Archaeological Society. 

Before the revolution there was an Archaeological Society in Libya that organized day trips and guided tours to various historical sites around the country. They charged a nominal yearly fee to become a member and for each trip that you wanted to go on you paid around 40 dinars to cover the expenses of the bus, tour guide, drinking water and a small snack (you brought your own bag lunch). There were only a few Libyans who were members. When I'd ask any of my Libyan friends, family and students if they were interested in joining, they all declined for various reasons, but mostly because they thought it would be boring and a waste of money.... sigh... apathy...

Anyway, enough of my complaints... here's the answer to my photo quiz:

The picture was taken in an area of Tarhouna, about 6 kilometres from the town centre, called Ain Sharshara (Ain Scersciara). The site is located next to a small waterfall (the Arabic word for waterfall is sharshara) and a small spring that's mostly dried up now. The surrounding area is planted with pine trees that offer a perfect spot to have a picnic. Way back when, a settlement was built on this site by the Romans, probably in the first century A.D. along a road that led to Leptis Magna (about 44 Roman miles away). The area was called Cercar by the Romans who developed the surrounding countryside into fortified farms, orchards and olive groves. The main export at that time was olive oil which was shipped in large pottery containers called amphorae. 

The Romans made full use of the site and built a factory there to make amphorae. They had everything they needed: the earth in the area was clay, the spring and waterfall provided water and the trees in the area could be used to fuel the fire in the great ovens (kilns)... yes.. the picture shows a pottery kiln! 

Actually, what you can see is the bottom part of the kiln. It measures approximately 6 metres across. The part with the holes is the floor of the kiln where the amphorae were stacked, and below it is the area where the fire was built up. The area below is constructed with supporting arches that radiate from a central pillar and was originally about four and a half metres deep. Only the bottom part of the kiln is visible so we don't know whether the upper part was a permanent structure or if it was broken down and rebuilt at the time of each firing. It is one of the largest known kilns of its type and there are only 4 known in the world (2 in Italy and 1 in Turkey). There are remnants of two other kilns nearby. It has a fence and wall built around it to offer some protection, but you can climb right up on the kiln to have a closer look and even go down below (if you're skinny enough to fit through the stoke hole).  

Reproduced from ‘Libyan Studies, Select Papers of the late R.G. Goodchild’ (ed. Joyce Reynolds) 1976.

Amphorae

Maybe it is boring... and who really cares what the heck the Romans did.... but I think learning about early civilizations is interesting. It certainly beats the heck out of sitting around watching TV all day, or wasting time drinking cappuccino in a cafe... or wiling away the day on Facebook... but that's just my opinion, isn't it?

Soaking...

The weather is starting to look better - just in time for the weekend. We've had quite a bit of rain this past week. One day as I was driving to work in the pouring rain a truck carrying a huge load of foam that's used for making cushions and traditional Libyan style furniture pulled out in front of my car. It's a gigantic sponge, soaking up all the rain! No doubt those big foam sponges are going to start smelling moldy because they will never dry out properly.

The weather report for the next few days says sunshine and clear skies. I've got plans to spend some time in the garden... soaking up the sun's rays. 

Winter

We're finally getting winter rains in Libya. Along with the rains come floods and treacherous roads and driving. The potholes are getting bigger and new ones are forming. The best thing though is that the kids are still on school holiday this week and we can stay at home where it's nice a warm.

What a holiday!

We've been painting the inside of the house this week. The kids have a two week break from school so I decided to keep them busy. They're doing a wonderful job, nearly finished now. So far it looks great. 

Yesterday they took a day off. They cleaned up all the paint mess and invited some friends over to celebrate Miloud - a not very Islamic holiday that commemorates Prophet Mohamed's birthday. Libyans have lots of traditions for this day, none of which our family bother with. The big focus is FIREWORKS, which can be found being sold everywhere on roadside stands in the weeks leading up to Miloud. Along with fireworks being sold are Christmas trees (whatever for?), candles and gaudy crepe paper flower arrangements that have a five candle candelabra on top, torches made from rolled up newspaper dipped in wax, traditional Libyan drums and tambourines and cheap plastic toys made in China. 

In my opinion it's all just a huge waste of money and has nothing at all to do with Islam because you can be certain that Prophet Mohamed never ever celebrated his birthday. One of my daughter's Facebook friends was bragging that she had spent 500 dinars on fireworks! Aside from the waste of money are the emergency room cases and even car accidents that result from the festivities which have been reported here: Firework Fun Turns to Tragedy in Tripoli 

Food is also a feature of this holiday. Depending on the family and region different traditional dishes are served, most notably is aseeda which is a flour dumpling served with melted butter and honey, or olive oil and date syrup certainly not for anyone who's looking to cut back on their carbs - but it is oh, so delicious!   

For me, the best thing is that I have a day off work and I'm going to take advantage of it to catch up on things around the house and visit my mother in law. 

To all those who celebrate, enjoy your holiday - Happy Miloud! - Please stay safe!

Another story

Going along with the theme of posts I've made over the last three months, here is another story detailing the arrival in Libya of Amoola, an Irish girl married to a Libyan guy. Her blog, Life is a Whirlwind, is an interesting collection of her thoughts and adventures of her life in Libya. You can read her arrival story here: Arriving in Libya

(c) 2006 Joseph A. Carr - www.JoeTourist.ca

Summing up 2012

Here we are at the beginning of a new year. I guess it's time for my annual recap of the last year's events. There weren't a lot of posts in 2012. Not because it wasn't a busy year, or because I was lazy, but because there were just so many things going on in parts of my life that I don't blog about (imagine that!) that I didn't always have time to write posts. Here's what was going on this past year:

January 2012

I started out the year with a visit to a private elementary school in Tripoli and was horrified at the behaviour of both the students and teachers, but at the same time I wasn't really that surprised. There were also the usual problems of traffic and winter weather to contend with. I also mentioned a story about how one of my husband's friend's wife had got some pretty interesting VIP medical treatment in Jordan - for free. Soon there were other stories on the internet and in the news about similar money making healthcare deals going on with money that had been earmarked for wounded Libyan veterans. I also wrote about charity drives and events, security issues and the kidnapping of one of my daughter's friends.

February 2012

It snowed in Tripoli! Schools closed for the day and the whole town was excited. I reported about more checkpoints and security problems and getting caught in the crossfire. One reader wrote to ask what they should bring if they moved to Libya and I wrote a post about what I couldn't live without. There was some good news  - an international aid organization was working in the area to clear unexploded ordnance. The end of the month brought foggy mornings with pictures of my farm enveloped in mist.

March 2012

Heavy rains made driving treacherous but the countryside was green and full of wildflowers. Meanwhile rubbish piled up along the sides of the roads and smoke from trash-fires filled the air. I came across a tweet posted on twitter that led me to ponder about Libyan women becoming owners of micro-enterprises. 

April 2012

Spring break and the weather warmed up and thankfully the garbage situation was sorted out. Two of my daughters got their driver's licences. There was still unrest in parts of Libya. I found life in Libya frustrating as it seemed that 42 years of isolation just left everyone and everything in a state of backwardness. Nice news for me personally was that my photos of Libyan Street Art that had been on show in a gallery in Madrid where going to also be shown in Montpellier, France. Yeah! I also raided my husband's camera and posted some interesting pictures he'd taken of things in and around Tripoli.

May 2012

My friend gifted me a beautiful poem she wrote at the beginning of the revolution and gave me permission to post it on my blog. The stress of the war and the months following were getting to me. It was time to go home to Florida. Time to have a much need break. Time to visit my family, take care of my ailing mother and recover from all I'd been through.

June 2012

I made it safely to my mom's house in Florida and adjusted to jet-lag  I also posted an update on beach safety in Libya - this year's beach safety post was about the danger of unexploded ordnance  landmines and the possibility of anti-ship mines that might be leftover from the war.

July 2012

Still in the United States, I weathered tropical storm Debby and attended my sister's wedding. I went to the beach, parks, restaurants, 4th of July celebrations, furniture stores, baseball games and I took my mother to doctor's appointments. All the while my family back in Libya were voting for the very first time ever. Ramadan started  - I hadn't spent the holy month outside Libya in 23 years.

August 2012

Ramadan ended and it was time to plan my return trip to Libya. 

September 2012

Re-entry depression struck hard.... but I did my best to get through it. Then to top it off the US Ambassador and other staff members were killed in an attack on the American consulate in Benghazi. But finally, after waiting for three years, the exterior of my house got painted at last. 

October 2012

More unsettled events in Libya, electricity cuts and security issues. I was pleased that the house was finally painted especially as the weather started to cool off and we were blessed with a few autumn rain showers. I also reported on more unexploded ordnance found in Libya, this time in the form of cluster bombs that no one seemed to know how to defuse. I made some plans for my to do list (that I still haven't done).

November 2012

I started the month with a minor car accident. Libya implemented daylight savings time for the first time in many years and the whole idea seemed to throw everyone off balance. I'm not sure if it's been very successful as most schools and businesses just started to open an hour earlier. Another blogger, Victoria, from Words on My Mind wrote a guest post for my blog in exchange for a post I wrote for her blog. We wrote about our first impressions of Libya upon our arrival. It was fun to do and we plan on doing another blog exchange sometime in 2013.

December 2012

There was only one lonely post for the month of December. It was a follow up of another blogger's (Old Momma of Trip of a Lifetime) first impressions and her renewed first impressions of Libya upon her return to the country after being gone for 6 years.  

2012 was a busy year full of ups and downs. I was happy to have been able to travel back to the United States and spend the summer with my family and friends there. I hadn't posted as much as I had in previous years because behind the scenes of my blogging life I've been really busy with personal and professional development. Also for the past few months I've been loaded with work while I get a new English language training centre up and running. All of this is super exciting and I'm looking forward to a year full of new adventures as well as lots of personal and professional goals to meet. 

I looked at my site stats today and noticed that so far I've had over 405,000 visitors since I started writing in 2004. Maybe by the end of this year the number will reach half a million - in order to do that I'll have to do some more writing and post more often.... maybe that can be a resolution?

To all my readers, family and friends: 

May you have a happy and safe New Year full of God's many blessings. 

Happy New Year! 

Happy 2013!

More First Impressions

My last blog post was an exchange with Victoria of Words on My Mind about our arrival in Libya. There's another arrival story by Old Momma, who is an American who lived in Tajoura for a while in 2006 and has recently returned. Her first impressions in 2006 are here: First Impressions. You can read her renewed first impressions from September 2012 on her blog: Trip of a Lifetime. I really enjoyed reading her stories... I hope she finds Libya an easier place to live this time around.