Harvesting Season

It is now harvesting season in Syria. The previously green wheat-farming fields have now all turned yellow. Actually, the landscape now doesn't look as beautiful as before. I prefer green. But after all, this is an important moment as the wheat is finally ready for harvesting. They plant wheat almost everywhere, even in front of Carrefour in Aleppo, even within the power station complex! (Oh... btw Carrefour is really a blessing coz I can actually find ikan bilis sambal paste!)

I do not come from an agricultural background - I don't even really know how paddy is being harvested and processed to rice. All I can describe about the harvesting process here is they use huge machines to 'tuai' the wheat. Then they are piled up in the field waiting for trucks to collect. You can then see long queues of trucks (those colorful trucks almost like what you see in India) sending the harvest to the processing plant (or maybe it's a storage). This has been a daily affair for the past weeks or so.

Correct me if I'm wrong.... wheat is used to make flour? And flour is pretty important here as the main staple is arabic bread which they call kubus. And again daily, you can see huge crowds storming the local kubus bakery as if they are distributing gold. It's kubus for breakfast, lunch and dinner here (Arabs are not really good in food variety!). Just get a huge piece of kubus (which is perhaps 1.5 feet in diameter), apply some olive oil, sprinkle some vege and chickpeas and it's a good meal for the locals.

I also get my kubus (albeit the mini version). But no chickpeas for me, I prefer my kubus with tuna or jam. I don't have a choice as sliced bread is hard to come by.

Oh... it's also the season for cherries. This fruit which usually sits atop the icing of a cake in Malaysia, is now available all over Syria and sold in huge boxes. All I need is to drop by at any of the offices of the client and there is always a tray filled with cherries which they always insist (practically force) that I savour some. And after that I'm always asked to join them for shai (tea). They are big tea drinkers here - I do wonder whether the 400 workers of the station comes to work or to drink tea?? Btw, 400 workers is almost 1 worker per MW. But I really have to make sure the amount of sugar they put into my glass. They are kind of sugar-inclined, 5 spoons of sugar into your tea, anyone?

Well... seems my post this time kinda scattery with a lot of diversions from the main line of story. Anyway, it's harvesting season in Syria. Soon the wheat will be completely harvested and they'll replant with a different kind of produce as summer is here and wheat don't go well with the heat.