Lebanon may not have a government, but it now possesses more world records in proud, slightly spiteful culinary undertakings.
The country now boasts the Guinness world records for – count, ‘em – three staples of Levantine cuisine: hummus, tabbouleh, and kibbe. Having broken the kibbe record earlier this year, Lebanese chefs assembled themselves this past weekend to break the hummus and tabbouleh records in a back-to-back effort.
Lebanon may not have a government, but its lads can sure play rugby.
To be sure, national pride swelled when Lebanon’s Rugby League team, the Cedars, demolished Italy’s Azzurri squad 86-0 in the first match of the European Cup. Lebanese-Australians tend to dominate the squad, but a couple of local players – utility Wael Harb and forward Yousef Helou – managed to chalk up some points in Lebanon’s only home game of the tournament.
Lebanon may not have a government, but young men and women can still flock to the beach in October – so can older men and young women, but that’s a story for another day.
Lebanon may not have a government, but (some of) its people can dance the night away, have a shawarma on the way to the chalet, and wake up and go to church, mosque, or four-hour lunch sessions possible only where the Mediterranean collides with the Arab world.
Lebanon may soon see the day of another assassination, power outage, or conflict. But that day is not today, so who needs a government? “Tonight,” to quote a comedian referring to Lebanese escapism, “we party!”
The Silent
