Nostalgia
There is just something different about Palestine, it's in the air you breathe... It's in the streets... It's in the noise of traffic and sellers calling you to take a look at what they have... It's in that old woman selling Na3na3 (Mint) on the sidewalk... It's in the 3 am Mais el Reem falafel place... Our only hunger savior after a long party night... It's in that mouthwatering smell of Shawerma restaurants spread all over downtown... It's in the hiking trips... The gatherings at 5 am with people you never met before... It's in that old house where everyone from a different background goes there for a drink... Sheesha and a warm night among friends... It's in the literature carved on trees... It's in the art painted on the walls... It’s in the feeling you get when you touch the walls of an old building… *Sigh* Time transfers… History talks…
It's in the sweet tea and bitter coffee... It's in the smile of a kid walking home after a long "tiring" school day... It's in those face wrinkles of an old man singing some old -very long- love songs... It's in his voice that makes you want to live in the old times, where everything was easier to believe in... It's in the stories you hear from my grandmother... Telling us about their journey through life... their lives under occupation... Taking us to a different era... Just like a time machine... The stories she tells... You can never have enough of going back to that time... When they lived in those old houses... Small towns... And when a trip from Hebron to Gaza took my father only 15 minutes... To buy a pack of cigarette, say hello to a friend and go back home... It's in the birds singing in the morning... Ok actually in most times not just in the morning... It's in that annoying bah-baahh-baaahhh sounds sheep make that used to wake me up in the morning! It's in the cold breeze you get at night when setting at the balcony with a friend... It's in the dark sky... No, Not always a clear sky... But there is something about it though... Even when it's cloudy... It's just beautiful...
It's in the people, their warm welcomes and their pure hearts -Well not all people to be fair. It's in the laughs... It's in the stories and adventures we share and all can relate to... It's in the dabke nights... In el Koufeye and el Toub el Felesteeni ( Palestinian traditinal scarf, dress)...
It's in the Qalandia never-ending traffic "lakhbata" ... And the kids seizing their chances there with dimmed eyes trying to sell you a pack of gum or a newspaper... hoping for a profitable day with the increase of cars stuck in traffic.
It's in the seasons... In the nature of Palestine... It's in the sun that lights up the days... And the rain washing the streets... It's in "soubbet el hattab" (the Palestinian term and not-so-fancy creation of a different kind of a fireplace)...
It's in Friday prayers... Sunday prayers... It's in the non-Israeli Jews who live in Palestine feeling loved and welcomed... Because they truly are...
It's in the taste of fresh olive oil with Za’atar (Zeit ow Za3tar – Oil &Thyme)… Taste of Msakhan and tase of Ma’aloube… Yummmy! It's in that mind-taking smell in al souq... It’s in the scent of the Nabulsi soap... It's in the simplicity in a complicated life...
It's in the feeling that this could be your heaven... Yet it can honestly be your hell...
It's in the fact that Palestine is more than a political cause… more than just a sad melody... It's more than what they paint it to be...
It is what brings back your soul... In a world full of million reasons to leave you in shattered pieces...
BY ABEER ALLAN
