Lebanonized

Tabbouleh in the Jungle

West Africa has always had a strong Lebanese contingency; we have been around for the last 120 years. But never have I felt the strong cultural Imperialism trace we left until the day I drove into what I thought was the middle of nowhere in Ghana.

It was a peaceful place away from civilization, with a nice beach and your regular palm trees and fishing boats. I was hanging out with a bunch of friends from The US, Canada, Italy and Ethiopia and we were getting hungry. So we searched around and found a nice little African hut with the word “Restaurant” clumsily written on a wooden board.

We got in and got our “menus”: Regular sheets of paper on which the food names were handwritten. I didn’t know what to feel when I saw the big two food sections: “Local Dishes” and yes “Lebanese Dishes”, was it pride? Maybe. But it was mostly astonishment.

The reason why I’m remembering this incident now is because I read this piece of news. It seems the Lebanese want to move into something bigger than cultural imperialism after all.