Shadow of Resistance

Chapter Eight

The rest of the semester flew by in a whirlwind of exams, and late-night study sessions. Before I knew it, I found myself in the summer holiday. Also June and July passed in a blur. I spent the long summer days hanging out with friends, chatting and becoming closer with Sarah, and assisting my father in his work.

7 August, 2013. Today is a very special day, it is the first day of Eid el Fitr. Me and my family wake up very early and get ready for Eid prayer which is at 5:30 AM. We start walking to the Omari Mosque while repeating "Allah is the greatest". We chose this Mosque because it is the largest and oldest one in Gaza. I love walking early, the fresh air breeze hitting my face and its refreshing smell filling my lungs.

We reach the mosque and we pray. I really adore Eid vibes, everyone seeming happy and smiling while wearing their new Eid clothes. I feel like everyone is so pleased and that whatever challenge they face or problem they have , vanishes this day.

After praying, all families meet and celebrate together. For us, we are going to visit my mother's family. We are going to meet my aunt at my grandmother's house. My aunt gave birth to twin girls just a week ago and they named them Jasmine and Mariam. I saw some pictures of them that my aunt sent, but I can't wait to see them in real life.

We drive to her house and park in front of it. Her house is in old Gaza and has an old-style design, her parents bought it when they were displaced to Gaza. The house is a spacious two-story structure with white walls and an impressive, grand door.

Behind the door, there is a short corridor for privacy. This corridor leads you to the house yard which is in the centre of the house, while all the rooms, kitchen and bathrooms are around it. The yard is open to air with no ceiling for better ventilation and lighting for all of the house.

I open the door and as I place my first step in the corridor I can smell a fabulous scent. This is the smell of my grandmother's food and specifically the Maqluba.

Maqluba is a palestinian dish and it has a fascinating distinct taste as it contains a unique mix of ingredients. It is made from rice, eggplant, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, and either chicken or meat. All of this is cooked in a single cooking pot together, I know the combination sounds weird but it is my favourite food. That is why I always ask my grandmother to make it, also as she is the best one that makes Maqluba.

I enter the yard, and I see my aunt and her husband with their cute little identical twins sitting in their chairs. Both of them have small rounded faces with chubby cheeks, big wide blue eyes, and cute tiny nose. They are wearing small pink dresses with some white flowers on them. I think this is the cutest thing I have ever seen.

We greet my aunt and her husband and head to the sitting room. I then go directly to the babies, to play with them and do all the clichés, such as shaking their tiny hands with my index finger, making funny faces, and playing peekaboo by hiding my face and then revealing it with exaggerated expressions.

I keep playing with them until my grandmother comes out of the kitchen and greets us, then every adult in the room starts giving me and Omar money, this is like a tradition we have. The tradition is that every adult in the family gives money to the youth in the family. My grandmother enters the kitchen again and returns with the cooking pot and a huge plate on the top of it. She then turns the cooking pot upside down on the plate and that is why it is called Maqluba as Maqluba is an Arabic word that means turned upside down. We all start drumming with our hands on the pot then lift it and we eat the best food in the world.