I went to the library here in Valparaíso yesterday to kill time before going to the cinema. I found a book called AMRIK - PRESENCIA ÁRABE EN AMÉRICA DEL SUR. It's a very interesting book about the presence of Arabs and Arabic culture in South America. Especially in Brazil there is a relatively big community of mostly syrian-lebanese Arabs. Here in Chile the Arabic population is mainly originated in the Palestine. Eventhough there are a couple of Arabic restaurants here I can't say I've noticed really any Arabic presence here. But interestingly I secretly learn parts of the Arabic language while learning Spanish.
The Arabic language has had a big influence on the Spanish language. That's because the Arabs invaded and ruled the modern day Spain for hundreds of years back in the day. It's actually pretty amazing how much Spanish words derive from Arabic. You can find a list of them here.
The picture above is from the book Amarik. It's a picture of two young Arab-Latinos: a beautiful mixture of sweet Arabic mint tea and salty beef from the Pampa.
Man, the world is such a big ass mystery to me. I can't get enough.
2 comments:
YES! I think the Lebanese population of Brazil is larger than that of Lebanon!!
Wow, that list is too long for me right now. But you know I love stuff like that.
From what my professor told me "paella" is derives from Arabic too. The Arabic word is "baqiya" meaning "rest" (and obviously, paella is made from leftovers). The "q" is not pronounced in Moroccan dialect.. so it sounds more like baiya there. :) Then the Spanish used a p (which the Arabic language doesn't have) instead of the b.
Oh, wow! How uncomprehensibly cool! K.
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