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Published: September 22nd 2006
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The day I met Mary was a usual warm middle eastern summer day. The air was dusty even though the sky was dark blue competing with the intense yellow-brown of the sunscorched palestinian scenery. I didn't sleep too long that long morning since the Mu'azzin summoned muslim residents of the old city to start the day with the obligatory salAt, the morning prayer which usually starts before dawn.
After the prayer call I tossed and turned in my bed and eventually I decided to get up and have a cool morning shower before having a look around town. Impressions were magical and amazed me over and over. It became noon and I decided to take a trip to the other side of the "wall" that separates the palestinian territory the westbank from the rest of the country.
I met Mary in Bethlehem coincidently through Nayyef, the friendly palestinian taxi driver who showed me around the area.
Mary is an elderly palestinian woman with suncaused wrinkles in her face is a christian woman who has been living all her life in Bethlehem in nowadays palestinian occupied territory, the westbank.
A look into her face tells you most of her life-story, a second look at her body tells you the rest of it. Her crooked spine indicates a life full of hard physical work, hands worn out by years of field work, spotted skin coming from long periods of exposion to the sun. Wrinkles drawing a firm character onto her face. She must have been a very tough and strong-minded woman in the past and certain lines in her face bespeak her sense of humour she kept throughout her life. Her eyes are dark-brown and deep surrounded by luxuriant black eye-lashes. Yes she is a tough woman you don't wanna mess with. However she has a certain softness and kindness in her look, a face emanating humility and wisdom.
In the moment she saw me the first time her eyes examined me curiously until her smile exposed only 3 teeth and she said with a strong arabic accent "hello, welcome" Her english wasn't very good but still she managed to bring her thoughts across. Later she would tell me how Nayyefs wife, a former teacher taught her english. She invited me to join her to have a drink at her place. We left Nayyef and his family and she took me up some small stairs until we stood in a room that acted as bedroom, kitchen and bath at the same time. It was very simple but I felt comfortable there from the first moment on. Some crosses decorated the unevenly painted walls next to some neatly arranged obviously old pictures all displaying the same person, a middle aged man in his early forties.
Mary insisted on me sitting down on an prehistoric armchair and offered me to have some bread. When she opened the cupboards it became obvious that she didn't have much more than some bread at home but still she truly insisted on me having some. Only when I emphatically pretended to have an upset stomach she would let me get away with having just a glass of sugarsweet juice. For a while we sat in her room with merely looking at each other curiously.
I tried to break the ice by asking whether the young man on the pictures would be her husband and that was when she told me in a mix of broken english and arabic phrases about parts of her life. The man on the picture was her only brother and
last close family member she had but he got killed by soldiers a long time ago. Her parents died when she was very young along with 2 of her siblings, a brother and a sister who got killed in the 40s. Since the death of her brother she has been living in this small place by herself and never got married but Nayyef and his family kind of adopted her, protected her, helped her out as far as possible. She cries a lot because she's old now and also her health causes her a lot of problems besides the difficult life circumstances. She got tears in her eyes when telling about the actions the israeli military has been carrying out in the late and recent past. I kept on listening to her and watched her changing emotions showing up on her old face. Sadness, anger, pain and even a bit of sarcasm. She was a lovely woman and I felt so drawn to her.
She was also asking me about my life in germany and I told her a few things about my family, about my small room in the students residence and about my work. She seemed really interested in hearing about my life and asked me to come to palestine for a couple of months to work. Nearby Bethlehem there's a babie's hospital Nayyef showed me on the way back to the checkpoint. Who knows... Maybe one day I will go back... Life can be very hard there according to what everybody expressed but they stick together. It was amazing to see how people from 2 different religions lived together like in one family. Mary.. being an elderly christian woman, Nayyef and his family being strong believers of islam. Their relationship appears full of acceptance and respect for each other.
I am thankful to have met those wonderful people this day. My stay was not a very long one but it was intense. I'm still thinking of them regularly. I tried to call Nayyef but never got hold of him again
May God bring peace and justice to Mary.. to Neyyef.. to his cousin... to his wife and baby girl.. to the entire family. And may god bring Mary's family back so they will be united again in the new world alltogether with everyone who lost loved ones through war, sickness and age. PEACE
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