الجرجير

I'm invited to join a picnic at the SCI house. Abu Amr goes to the wall around the house and picks some grass. There's some other leafy greens some other guys have picked. We munch on bread, olive oil, tomato and a green pepper. Abu Amr gives me some of the grass to eat, telling me its garlic. I have no idea what's crawled through that 'garden', so fingers crossed there's no hookworm around.

They tell me to eat one leaf, that it'll make me strong and manly. I figure they mean something like put hair on my chest. It looked kinda like an oak leaf but tasted a bit like spinach. They joke its a shame I'm alone here in Jordan. Turns out this leaf is given to newlyweds. They're using words like "hadid" (iron) and "qoom" (standing), as well as a few others I don't understand, but their meaning becomes clear.

Turns out the leaf was الجرجير - al jarjeer. Aka arugula. Who knew?