SuSu In The Souk

“In April 2010, a writing competition was held for the youth in North Lebanon as part of Beirut World Book Capital. Around 40 persons have participated in this project and the best stories were picked, collected, edited and constituted this book…”

That’s right; I finally got a hardcopy of “قصتي”. It’s a brilliant book, and it’s even more brilliant how fast it’s been put together and published! Here are the front and back covers:

But I have to admit, I was a little disappointed to see that instead of my illustrations, there were someone else’s. I asked why. And apparently, the printing press had asked for the book a little earlier than had been scheduled, so that by the time I had sent in my illustrations, the book was already in print :-|.

Here were supposed to be my illustrations (+ cover page):

Oh well, I guess it’s a sign I’m a better writer than I am an illustrator. Here’s the full text version of “Susu in the Souk” (Comments Welcome!):

SuSu in the Souk

Once upon a time, in a city by the sea,

That many know as Tripoli,

There lived an orange in an orange tree…

…

One day the orange was picked by a girl named Susu

Who bent down to tie her shoe

When all of a sudden, a gust of wind blew…

It rolled the orange down the street,

So Susu chased after it, under the summer heat

Till it rolled between an old man’s feet…

…

All around her, Susu saw shoes

But where had the orange gone? She needed clues

So she asked the old man, had he any news?

He said, “This is ‘Souk Al Kindarjieh’ my dear,

Shoes are all we’ve ever had here.

But keep on looking, your orange must be near”

…

So Susu walked on, till she saw a young man

“Can you help me?” she asked him, he said “Yes, I sure can”

“I’m looking for my orange; it’s of a yellowish tan”

He said, “Well it can’t be here in ‘Souk Al Siyaghin’

We only have gold, fit for a queen

Look, isn’t it the finest you’ve ever seen?”

…

Susu walked on, till she saw soaps of every shape and size,

Towering up towards the skies

She almost couldn’t believe her eyes…

She turned around to look at a sign

It read ‘Khan Al Saboun’ in a nice design

But Susu had to go make sure that her orange was still fine…

---

So Susu walked on, to the next path she chose

Where a scent began to fill her nose

And the smell of herbs and spices rose…

“Welcome to ‘Souk Al Atareen’” said a young boy,

Who stopped playing with his car toy

And he asked Susu, “Want some herbs? I’m sure you’ll enjoy!”

---

Susu walked on, till she reached a pool filled with water

She needed a drink, as the weather was getting hotter

When she heard a lady say “come sit with me, my daughter”

“Where am I?” asked Susu, the lady said, “‘Al Mallaha Pool’”

And she turned to join the old lady sitting on a stool

She was eating a plate of hummus and fool…

---

Susu asked “where oh where could my orange be?”

“Its right there,” said the lady, “can’t you see?”

And she pointed towards an orange tree

“Where we end is where we begin” she said,

Then she patted Susu’s head,

But there’s much more of Tripoli left for you to discover, so go ahead!