So almost two months ago, Olive picking season started. There are olive trees everywhere!! In my village we have, supposedly, 2000 year old olive trees.
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| One of the many 2000 year old olive trees |
Picking olives is rather easy, its just time consuming. First, we picked up all the olives that had fallen to the ground. Although these fallen olives aren't really edible anymore, they can still be used for their oil. After all the olives from the ground have been picked up, large sheets are placed around the base of the tree to catch the olives that will fall to the ground once the picking begins. The family I was with had a pretty efficient method for picking their olives. One or two sons would prune the branches of the olive tree and throw the branches down to the ground. The "Old Timers" would then sit on the ground or on the sheets, rather, and hand-pick the olives from these pruned branches. While that was happening, someone would climb a ladder and start picking the olives from the top of the tree. For the "hard-to-reach" olives, someone would take a stick and beat the branches until all the olives would fall off. Meanwhile, other family members were collecting all the olives that were falling to the ground. I was one of those.....half "plucking", half "picking" the olives up from the ground or from the branches. And, more than occasionally, I was pinged in the head with olives falling from the sky. But as they say here "addi," "its normal," "no big deal."
Little Baby Sundus chillin' under the trees
So, that is basically what I did for 8 hours....either reaching up and picking olives, or reaching down and picking up olives. I was a little sore the next day. However, we did take a delightful little lunch break. Om Yousef, the matriach of the family, prepared Mansef, the national traditional meal of Jordan. It is a simple rice dish where hot liquid fermented yogurt sauce is poured over the top. That may not sound too appetizing, but it kind of tastes like buttery sour cream. After the sauce is poured on, you grab a blob of the wet rice with your bare hands, squeeze it into a bite-size ball and pop it into your mouth. The meal traditionally eaten with the hands and usually lamb or chicken is also prepared with it. The family brought a spoon for me to eat with. I was grateful, since I had no where to wash my hands and I had already drunk all of my water. However, the other family members didn't seem to mind to eat with their unwashed hands...more immune power to 'em!
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| Eating Mansef, YUM! |
Well, after all the olive picking is done, the women in the family spill the olive out on a big sheet and pick the edible olives from the non-edible olives. Its quite a long process. But as in any culture, its done as a family or community, so all the women help out and it goes faster. And what a better way to get caught up on all the local gossip:)
After this, the non-edible olives are sent to an olive press factory to get fresh olive oil. My village, in particular, is known in Jordan for some of the best olive oil. Last year, my landlady gave me a free quart of olive oil pressed from the olive tress in my very own yard! Pretty cool!
The edible olives are then bottled. It is also a bit of a process, and each family has their own seasonings they put in. I am posting a video that better describes the process, and is more entertaining than me trying to describe it:) Enjoy
And that is how you get yummy Green Olives!
The next week, my mudeera thought it would be a good idea to get the students involved and have them help out with olive picking. They loved it (well, most of them). They did a great job and ended up picking olives for 4 straight hours! Great Job Kiddos!
