I'm making new friends. There is this lady that works at the guest house, her name is Linda and she's a Christian Arab. Every morning, before going to breakfast, I see Linda and Juliette, the women that clean the rooms on my floor. They are super nice and sweet, and they absolutely love that I can speak Arabic!
A couple of days ago I saw them in the morning and Linda ask me when I was planning to leave the hostel. I told her "tomorrow, in shah Allah (God willing)". I told her about my living situation and that I was looking for a place. She said she'd help me look- I think, by now, all of Jerusalem knows I'm looking for a place to live! That morning, I really wasn't feeling like sightseeing because it was pouring, so I just hung out at the lobby and used my computer. I got really cold so I went upstairs to find another sweater and I ran into Linda who invited me over to her house for coffee.
I accepted her offer and she took me to her house with her family. Her family was super weirded out that I was there and so Linda introduced me as a Palestinian coming back to the land for the first time. Her parents immediately welcomed me into their home. It was a tiny house with three main rooms, a small kitchen and a bathroom. It was just Linda and her parents there when I first arrive, but soon, other members of the family would come home.
Linda's mom came into the room and started talking to me. By the way, all the conversations were in dialect, or an effort on my part to speak it/understand it. We talked for a little bit and then Linda brought the Arab coffee she had prepared. In case you're not familiar, Arab coffee is black and super strong, but they can make it really sweet. So we had a couple of cups of it, and while we were talking she mentioned that she also had Nescafe. I smiled and (I guess I nodded) because she was speaking all in Arabic and all of a sudden she said a brand that I recognized. She took that as a sign that I wanted to drink more coffee, so after the two cups of coffee, she brought out a big mug of Nescafe. I was feeling pretty jittery after all that coffee and almost no food in my stomach.
More visitors came. First, Linda's niece. She's this cute little 13 year-old girl with quite some character. When she came to the room she just stared at me in silence. Then Linda told her to come give me a kiss and she said: "but who is she?!" Linda responded I was her new friend. Ten minutes later me and the little girl were besties :) although we couldn't understand each other very well, I think my inner child connected with her.
Then Linda's brother, Hanna, came to the house. He was in shock and in the beginning a bit rude, I would say. He started asking tons of questions and I was a bit intimidated at first, but then when he found out I was half Palestinian and was making my utmost effort to try to communicate with them, his way of communicating and his demeanor completely changed.
It was nice because we were all hanging out and laughing, just spending some quality family time together. We even went on facebook and they asked me to help them upload some pictures. By the way, tremendous pictures! They are super Arab!! Hanna had like 17 different pictures of him looking tough and posing in front of his car- he works at a car repair shop. Then he had a picture with a guitar so I asked him if he played and he said, oh no, it was just for the picture! Hilarious!
At a certain point in the conversation Linda started making sandwiches for everyone and she made me two! I told her I wasn't even hungry (with all that coffee I drank, I was pretty full), but she insisted. They were salami, pickle and hummus sandwiches- not necessarily a combination I would have come up with myself, but they were good. I could only eat one because they were pretty big. The family insisted I kept on eating, but I didn't want to because I was going to dinner with Aryeh's family later on that night. They kept on insisting, but I just left the plate with food on the table and thanked them a million.
Then, Linda brought out the coffee, again. My stomach was such a mess!!
After hanging out with the family for about four hours I was exhausted because I had been speaking Arabic non stop! Linda asked me if I wanted anything else and I told her I was tired and would like to go back to the hostel. Her and her niece walked me until I found myself in the suq and I walked all the way back.
What a nice Arab family gathering experience I had :)
A couple of days ago I saw them in the morning and Linda ask me when I was planning to leave the hostel. I told her "tomorrow, in shah Allah (God willing)". I told her about my living situation and that I was looking for a place. She said she'd help me look- I think, by now, all of Jerusalem knows I'm looking for a place to live! That morning, I really wasn't feeling like sightseeing because it was pouring, so I just hung out at the lobby and used my computer. I got really cold so I went upstairs to find another sweater and I ran into Linda who invited me over to her house for coffee.
I accepted her offer and she took me to her house with her family. Her family was super weirded out that I was there and so Linda introduced me as a Palestinian coming back to the land for the first time. Her parents immediately welcomed me into their home. It was a tiny house with three main rooms, a small kitchen and a bathroom. It was just Linda and her parents there when I first arrive, but soon, other members of the family would come home.
Linda's mom came into the room and started talking to me. By the way, all the conversations were in dialect, or an effort on my part to speak it/understand it. We talked for a little bit and then Linda brought the Arab coffee she had prepared. In case you're not familiar, Arab coffee is black and super strong, but they can make it really sweet. So we had a couple of cups of it, and while we were talking she mentioned that she also had Nescafe. I smiled and (I guess I nodded) because she was speaking all in Arabic and all of a sudden she said a brand that I recognized. She took that as a sign that I wanted to drink more coffee, so after the two cups of coffee, she brought out a big mug of Nescafe. I was feeling pretty jittery after all that coffee and almost no food in my stomach.
More visitors came. First, Linda's niece. She's this cute little 13 year-old girl with quite some character. When she came to the room she just stared at me in silence. Then Linda told her to come give me a kiss and she said: "but who is she?!" Linda responded I was her new friend. Ten minutes later me and the little girl were besties :) although we couldn't understand each other very well, I think my inner child connected with her.
Then Linda's brother, Hanna, came to the house. He was in shock and in the beginning a bit rude, I would say. He started asking tons of questions and I was a bit intimidated at first, but then when he found out I was half Palestinian and was making my utmost effort to try to communicate with them, his way of communicating and his demeanor completely changed.
It was nice because we were all hanging out and laughing, just spending some quality family time together. We even went on facebook and they asked me to help them upload some pictures. By the way, tremendous pictures! They are super Arab!! Hanna had like 17 different pictures of him looking tough and posing in front of his car- he works at a car repair shop. Then he had a picture with a guitar so I asked him if he played and he said, oh no, it was just for the picture! Hilarious!
At a certain point in the conversation Linda started making sandwiches for everyone and she made me two! I told her I wasn't even hungry (with all that coffee I drank, I was pretty full), but she insisted. They were salami, pickle and hummus sandwiches- not necessarily a combination I would have come up with myself, but they were good. I could only eat one because they were pretty big. The family insisted I kept on eating, but I didn't want to because I was going to dinner with Aryeh's family later on that night. They kept on insisting, but I just left the plate with food on the table and thanked them a million.
Then, Linda brought out the coffee, again. My stomach was such a mess!!
After hanging out with the family for about four hours I was exhausted because I had been speaking Arabic non stop! Linda asked me if I wanted anything else and I told her I was tired and would like to go back to the hostel. Her and her niece walked me until I found myself in the suq and I walked all the way back.
What a nice Arab family gathering experience I had :)
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