In the courtyard of our riad one evening, a soccer game playing upstairs, Karabek smoked his rolled cigarette (wink) in the shadows. The light filtered through a blue wrought-iron screen of hearts giving way to swirls and an open door to the kitchen.
On a leather couch the color of mud, the refugee camp manager picked the name “Karabek” for our public-facing discourse for its “mystical quality,” rubbing his fingers together. It means “black existence.”
Maria: Do you watch soccer?
Karabek: I do? No, I don’t. I used to do, but I hate it now.
Maria: Well…
Karabek: I just had a conversation with someone about that.
Maria: There’s an expression in Naples…
Karabek: Hm hm…
Maria: In Neapolitan…
Karabek: Hm hm…
Maria: Which is basically its own language, right?
Karabek: Yeah.
Maria: I love you more than Maradona. That’s like, an expression.
Karabek: (chuckles softly) Maradona, yeah.
Maria: As in Diego Maradona…
Karabek: Yeah, yeah…
Maria: That’s a serious declaration of love, okay?
Karabek: (laughs) Cra-zy.
Maria: I love you more than Maradona. Imagine someone telling you that…
Karabek: Yeah, yeah.
Maria: And you’re going to respond…
Karabek: Ok.
Maria: Thank you so…
Karabek: (laughs) I appreciate that…
Maria: That means, I mean it’s…
Karabek: I really love you…
Maria: It’s truly serious…
Karabek: It’s true love…
Maria: He’s Argentinian…
Karabek: Ok.
Maria: But he became Naples…
Karabek: Yeah.
Maria: …Neapolitan essentially.
Karabek: Yeah.
Maria: He’s considered to be a saint pretty much…
Karabek: Yes.
Maria: The graffiti all over the city just…Maradona. It’s like eat, pray, love, but the love is not romantic, it’s about all the cultures…
Karabek: Yeah, yeah…
Maria: …that go into one culture.
Karabek: Sounds really nice…a newsletter in Naples, right?
Maria: I was going to start in Naples because it was conquered by so many people.
Karabek: (Admittedly) Yeah, even the Arab world.
Maria: This is what I found out.
Karabek: Yeah.
Maria: The food in Naples…
Karabek: Yeah.
Maria: So many cultures went into the food. Naples was conquered by Sicily.
Karabek: Hm hm…
Maria: And Sicily…
Karabek: Was Arab…like thousand something…
Maria: So, you know the cannoli? The Italian dessert?
Karabek: Yeah, yeah, cannoli, yeah.
Maria: And the cassata…?
Karabek: Yeah, yeah.
Maria: This was probably an Arab invention.
Karabek: Probably, yeah.
Maria: I found evidence…
Karabek: Yeah.
Maria: Muslim women and Christian nuns were the two big bakers…
Karabek: Okay…
Maria: Of that world
Karabek: Okay…
Maria: So a lot of the desserts in Naples were invented in convents.
Karabek: Yeah.
Maria: Which I love as an image.
Karabek: Yeah.
Maria: The smell.
Karabek: (blows out the smoke from his cigarette)
Maria: Ricotta was something that was used, but the Arab people went: “why don’t you put some sugar in it?” And that’s when Sicilians started using sugar in ricotta…or so, a legend goes.
Karabek: They use so much sugar. The Arabs, they use so much sugar. Wherever you go, not just Morocco. Jordan, Egypt…
Maria: So apparently the cannoli…
Karabek: Yeah.
Maria: Which is a super iconic dessert in Naples.
Karabek: Imagine that?
Maria: The harems…
Karabek: Yeah, yeah…
Maria: That’s why I wanna go…
Karabek: …
Maria: That’s a connection that I think would be amazing, if it were true.
Karabek: For your understanding, it’s worth it. Just for your understanding of human, humanity.
Maria: Totally.
Karabek: Perfect.
Maria: After the harems closed down, I guess? That‘s a part of a legend. They went into convents…
Karabek: Hm hm.
Maria: And started baking with the nuns, and they invented the cannoli, apparently.
Karabek: Have you heard about the history of Andalouse? For 800 years, the region of North Africa, Spain, France, Sicily, they were under Muslim or Arab rule. During this time, that’s what I meant; it’s perfect for your understanding, you know?
Maria: Hm hm…
Karabek: People are used to…they start judging—I don’t like this, bad people. Stop judging. Just try to understand…
Maria: Yeah.
Karabek: You know? Do you know what I mean?
Maria: Hm.
Karabek: I know people, they used to be like this always…
Marco enters (from Abruzzo/Sicily but lived in London).
Marco: Hey hello, how are you? How’s dinner…
Maria: Someone paid for my dinner.
Karabek: (laughs)
Maria: The guys who work across the street…
Marco: At the bicycle place?
Maria: A couple of them were at the spot…
Marco: Oh, the chicken spot.
Maria: They paid for my meal, so I went over there and got a history lesson from somebody.
Karabek: Hm.
Marco: Ah.
Maria: I had a wonderful encounter.
Marco: A history lesson?
Maria: Of North Africa from a young man who studied linguistics.
Karabek: Hm.
Maria: He showed me Berber, the language, and he went into a whole thing about his family. Apparently, his grandfather was like the chef for the French ruler…at the end of colonization. They lost their lands because of la paperasse. [Guillaume].
Marco: Oh wow.
Karabek: Hm hm.
Maria: So…
Karabek: Hm hm.
Maria: Super interesting people.
Karabek: Yeah yeah.
Maria: We’re talking about Andalouse.
Karabek: Andalouse; yeah, yeah, yeah.
Maria: That’s what we’re talking about…
Karabek: Yeah, yeah yeah…I guess you know the history of Andalouse?
Marco: About Andalusia?
Karabek: Yeah, yeah, yeah…
Marco: I mean, I know it was colonized by Morocco, but uh, that’s all I know.
Karabek: (laughs) Yeah…
Marco: For 300, 400 years…
Karabek: Even more. 700 years…
Marco: 700 years…
Karabek: Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Marco: Okay.
Karabek: Yeah.
Maria: I liked what you were saying, about all the cultures that go into a place…
Karabek: Yeah. You see, here, they have a different perception of community if you compare to other places. It works! Somehow.
Maria: What do you mean, a different perception of community?
Karabek: Our eyes give us a lot of information…just look at the way they live. House by house, don’t know what’s behind the door. They have these hammams, big bakeries…there’s one big bakery that makes a quarter…
Maria: (did I hear that right, tbd, where do the baked goods come from) …?
Karabek: How do you live together? They have different regulations on how to live together. You see? There aren’t so many rules.
Maria: Yeah…hm.
More to come from Karabek.