• After the Egyptian revolution, Islamists dominate. After the Libyan revolution, ice cream dominates.
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[img]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/64985000/jpg/_64985427_composite_ic.jpg[/img] [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20850246[/url] [quote=BBC News][B]Since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, Libyans have begun a love affair with ice cream.[/B] It is often said that to taste real gelato, one needs to go to Italy; but now its former colony Libya may well be en route to becoming another ice cream haven. Never before has the decadent Italian influence on Libya been more visible. Before the revolution, there were only a handful of ice cream shops, known as gelaterias, in the capital, Tripoli. Since the uprising, gelato shops have been opening up in almost every busy street - with names such as Buenissimo, Limona and GilatiItalia. "There's a market for it here… Libyans are proud of things like this because we didn't have it before," says Hussein Bannour, the owner of Buenissimo. He says he fell in love with the idea and craft of making gelato when he lived in Italy for two years. His younger brother is the artisan in the shop. "He likes creating flavours. We specialise in the chocolate ones like Snickers, Baci, Nutella." Nutella is apparently his biggest hit. [img]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/64995000/jpg/_64995522_icecreamshop464.jpg[/img] Across town in the upmarket residential and commercial district of Gergaresh, another ice cream shop, GilatiItalia, has just opened its doors. Framed pictures of Italy's iconic monuments decorate the bright yellow-painted walls and there are three red tables and colourful stools to match. For owner Ruweida al-Rayes launching her second ice cream shop in winter has not been a problem - a throng of young and old quickly lined up for a taste minutes after the opening. "It matches the weather - but we still have sun," one customer enthused, looking at the dizzying range of 36 mounds of gelato on display. Children squealed with delight as they dug into the soft ice cream. "I love it!" one seven year old said. Ms Rayes' husband is behind these creations - from a new baklava flavour with notes of honey and crumbled pastry in the mix to a minty After Eight. "After the revolution, many guys wanted to open up Libya - the new Libya - with new shops and new cafes," Ms Rayes says. And with many Libyans loving to travel to Italy, they have brought back ideas for businesses such as pizza restaurants, coffee shops and ice cream parlours, she says. [B]Popular jingle[/B] Ice cream vans are also a feature of Tripoli with a few being spotted around the city since the summer. There are a couple of glossy, red, imported vans, complete with famous Pixar characters plastered on them, serving soft ice cream with colourful syrups. The unmistakable cheery jingles are also popular with locals who have been marvelling at such business ventures. [img]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/64992000/jpg/_64992100_464_van.jpg[/img] Local entrepreneur Mohamed Ghoulam's van is more of a home-made affair with colourful images of sweet treats stickered to the vehicle. He spotted the business opportunity on a visit to Tunisia and on his return, transformed what was once a taxi into an ice-cream van. "I bought this van, ripped out the seats, bought an ice cream machine, a fridge and a generator," he says. He has even hired a chatty Tunisian vendor, though the incongruous tune Just the Way You Are by US musician Bruno Mars blares out from the rickety radio - not conventional jingles. Failing to find a device loaded with jingles in Libya and other accessories like a large plastic cone to top the van, Mr Ghoulam has turned to friends for help. "The Italians wouldn't give me a visa… I asked my friends travelling there and to Malta to search for me." If all else fails, he will find a jingle on the internet and connect a CD player to a big speaker to play it, he says. But he says all this would not have been possible before the uprising - and it is proving profitable. "It was almost impossible to get a circulation [street trading] licence before. They would have confiscated the van from me - it's easier now," Mr Ghoulam says. "I'm working on another van that will hopefully be more luxurious than this one. This took me three months because I had no experience. "The second one won't - I'll finish it in a month." And all the ice cream entrepreneurs agree the secret to their success and the craze for other Italian eateries is Libyans' love of food. "Libyans like to eat. It is the most important thing here - eat, eat, eat, eat - especially sweets," says Ms Rayes, collapsing into laughter.[/quote]
Maybe the Middle East and Northern Africa won't be a shithole for very long.
Chocolate is the best flavor.
Vanilla for life
Neopolitan master race.
Ah, the sound of progress! [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nSRsyKrJ-U[/media]
It's all out in the open now, just like in Iraq the war was just an excuse for the USA to steal Libya's ice cream
ICE CREAM REPRESENTS DIRTY CAPITALIST IDEOLOGY BOMB ALL ICE CREAM SHOPPES
[img]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/64992000/jpg/_64992100_464_van.jpg[/img] Toy Story Spongebob and Patrick
Libya and Tunisia are the only countries out of this entire clusterfuck over the past decade that I have any hope for. [editline]2nd January 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=S31-Syntax;39062663][img]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/64992000/jpg/_64992100_464_van.jpg[/img] Toy Story Spongebob and Patrick[/QUOTE] Also Megaman in the lower lefthand corner.
Incidentally, Rana Jawad also wrote [url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20874795]another article[/url] about how Libyans are similarly getting into heavy metal after the revolution, because Western music was banned for decades "Heavy metal and ice cream" should be the national motto
[QUOTE=smurfy;39062749]Incidentally, Rana Jawad also wrote [url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20874795]another article[/url] about how Libyans are similarly getting into heavy metal after the revolution. "Heavy metal and ice cream" should be the national motto[/QUOTE] "Those fucking licks man, those fucking licks.."
If Libya keeps this up they're going to be setting a stunning example of progress for the rest of the Middle East.
[QUOTE=Strike 86;39062903]If Libya keeps this up they're going to be setting a stunning example of progress for the rest of the Middle East.[/QUOTE] And hopefully countries like Syria will follow them.
Maybe they will have a flavour of the week ice cream [editline]2nd January 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=ewitwins;39062686]Libya and Tunisia are the only countries out of this entire clusterfuck over the past decade that I have any hope for. [editline]2nd January 2013[/editline] Also Megaman in the lower lefthand corner.[/QUOTE] Also that's Ben 10.
[img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xr7rdh2SuIQ/TR-inEW9cnI/AAAAAAAAAoM/4g7ck7Qne0Y/s1600/napoleon_bonaparte14.jpg[/img] Napoleon ice cream 5ever
Theyre turning into America
[QUOTE=Black;39063514]Theyre turning into America[/QUOTE] No, they're turning into Italy. Truly the Italians were the only guys who got this whole colonialism thing right.
[QUOTE=Ereunity;39062555]Ah, the sound of progress! [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nSRsyKrJ-U[/media][/QUOTE] Isn't there somebody on FP whose relative was in one of those adverts? [editline]2nd January 2013[/editline] I remember seeing this in another news thread about ice cream. Or maybe it was about 'Weird stuff your relatives have done'.
[QUOTE=Doneeh;39062500]Chocolate is the best flavor.[/QUOTE] You have all these flavors and yet you'd choose a standard chocolate ice cream?
I love gelato, there's a mom and pop place that serves it near me and it's the best form of ice cream ever. However I don't like eating as much of it as normal ice cream, it's really flavorful.
i really hope this libyan revolution thing ends well and not like egypt
why did i read this. my tummy hurts :|
freedom tastes like vanilla
[QUOTE=smurfy;39062749]Incidentally, Rana Jawad also wrote [url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20874795]another article[/url] about how Libyans are similarly getting into heavy metal after the revolution. "Heavy metal and ice cream" should be the national motto[/QUOTE] Huh, another interesting thing in this article: apparently "Libya is free" is the Libyan equivalent of YOLO. You can do anything you want and then just say "hey Libya is free so w/e"
I wonder what a fully developed middle-eastern country with ideology similar to the western world and fair government and freedom for all will look like. [editline]2nd January 2013[/editline] Oh, it will look like London, just figured it out.
[QUOTE=S31-Syntax;39062663][img]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/64992000/jpg/_64992100_464_van.jpg[/img] Toy Story Spongebob and Patrick[/QUOTE] imminent lawsuit :v:
[QUOTE=deltasquid;39063985]No, they're turning into Italy. Truly the Italians were the only guys who got this whole colonialism thing right.[/QUOTE] I think many Libyans would dispute that; there were resistance movements during the Italian colony, and colonial resistance leader [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Mukhtar]Omar Mukhtar[/url]'s death is now marked by an annual public holiday called [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Mukhtar]Martyr's Day[/url]. Also Libya was wrestled away from the Italians during World War II and split between France and Britain, so it was they who designed and implemented the first independent Libyan state, not Italy. Perhaps Big Ice Cream was really behind the whole thing, though.
There's hope for Libya yet. It's not fully Islamified.
[QUOTE=Moustacheman;39062459]Maybe the Middle East and Northern Africa won't be a shithole for very long.[/QUOTE] I wish that for Iran, the country my family comes from. I'm born here in Sweden but I have plenty of relatives there. Sadly it seems like there is no way to stop the government without violence, which is something people are not very keen on. With reason if you ask me.
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