The title comes from a conversation we had with the father of one of the friends we made in Farkha. My response, "Except for the Occupation it's a wonderful place". Our friend's name is Hussein (though everyone calls him Sein) and we visited him and his family in Beit Anan last week. He was born in Brazil and holds Brazilian citizenship along with his brother and mother, though he speaks only Arabic (and shway - a little - Hebrew). He met us in Ramallah with his cousin Muhammad (Karlos) and they showed as a good time around the city and an awesome time in his sister's village of Beit Duku. We spent the afternoon picking grapes and walking up hills though Roman ruins (until about 8 Israeli soldiers politely told us there was "no problem" and we "could stay as long as we like"). Sein's father works in the Ministry of Education in Ramallah and is a member of Fatah. He also knows how to make you feel really guilty when it's time to go home.
Some more notes:
On the service taxi from Beit Duku to Beit Anan, I met a 16 year old kid who looked 12. He was with (I think) his grandmother. He was born in the US and an American citizen. His grandmother flashed his passport at the checkpoints. She isn't an American, though she told me that some.. I think 2 or 4.. of her children still live in the US. At least one lived in New Orleans and was displaced after Hurricane Katrina, now they live in Mississippi. My vagueness with the details comes from the time delay and the fact that all conversations recorded (exceptions noted) are in my lousy Arabic.
I saw that kid the next day in Beit Anan when I returned for a wedding.
Even in the villages, the girls are saucy once the headscarves come off. They congratulated me for being unmarried at the ripe age of 31.
When you're invited for dinner, be prepared to eat.
There's a fine line between a warm welcome and a kidnapping. Our visits have always ended with a nonviolent struggle, an insistent invitation to return again, and heavy feelings of guilt.
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2 comments:
My son told me that he met an American about a year ago, I think it was you. I was searching for Beit Anan and your article came up on Google. It described my son to the T. I think I know the guy you talked about Hussein, their dad's name is Mohammed who was my English teacher. I am glad that you visited our village and saw how Palestinians treats people and how hospitable they are.
Yes, you're right about Hussein's dad. I met a few people in his family and everyone was wonderful. I'm curious to know who your son is. I wasn't in Palestine a year ago but I was there about 6 months ago so maybe it really was me.
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