So today we went to visit my grandma after she got out from hospital. My two uncles and aunt were there too. It’s been a while since we’ve had such a gathering…
Anyways, we started off talking about diets, politics, work, how wierd guys are (well that had to be discussed in a classified session) and a variety of subjects…
Anyways, the most interesting part came afterwards. I was sitting with my cousin in her room watching her working on some design, when we heard everyone bursting into laughter. She was like: “At last! someone’s laughing here”…
The reason behind all these laughters was the one that has been the cgief cause of it. The were reminiscing the past. And when I say the past, I mean something like 50 years ago, in a small village in Palestine, Jerusalem, Silwan…
The stories of the people in “El7ara elfoka” (The upper hood) has always been a great amusement. And today, I’ve heard stories I hear for the first time. Things that make you think: “Those people were leading such a simple happy life”…
Imagine someone knocking at your door at 3 AM, would you rise from your bed, not only to open the door, but also to receive those night visitors at your home, and keep chatting with them till the break of the dawn. Well, it happened back then in Silwan. My grandma’s house was beside the bakery, so the women would come at 1, 2 or 3 AM… to reserve their turn in baking their bread first, or as my grandma would put it “be7meen dor”… And since the women can’t stay waiting in the street, they all go down to my grandma’s place, and stay there till the bakery is off and running…
Now, if you could imagine that, try to imagine you’re soemthing around 18 or 19, and someone tells you that he wants you to come with him now to ask for a girl’s hand in marriage for someone else, and you just say: “It’s cool, let’s get going”! Then you walk all the way through bumpy unpaved roads, in the dark, then stumbling and falling down, and yet keep going on your quest. Then when you get to the bride’s house, her mother tells you to go right from where you came, because two suitors are already carrying the chips over their shoulders for her… no need for more problems!
Even thsoe thatr happened to be scary bad memories, they become mere memories and you can clearly see the bright side now. Like when someone gave my fahter a bike, and told him to bolt down the road, without telling him that the bike had no breaks. So, my father figured that out as the bike sped down the road nad won’t stop. He was shouting and yelling, but peopel thought he was hooraying our of joy or something. He was faced with a deep drop-off in front of him, and at the neck of the time, he steered off, hitting the wall, flying over and landing between two graves in the Jewish grave yard… Pretty spooky!
Well, there are tons of stories, now if it’s my time to recall some stuff, I would remember how my dad used to tell us those stories over nad over when I was a kid… You can’t get enough of that! Who knows who will we be telling them to next…
Originally posted on Tuesday, September 19, 2006 on http://oeliwat.jeeran.com/archive/2006/9/95930.html
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