jerusalem in exile tangible memories

 

     

 

Huda Al Nashif

 

It's funny because I often reminisce about my visit 28 years ago. I was only 10 then, and unfortunately my only real blurred recollection of Jerusalem, is of my prayer at the Dome of the Rock.

 

I wish I was able to take it all in. I wish I was able to remember the smell, the details, and the sensation. Instead, all I remember were the two funny looking foreign ladies who were watching me; trying to keep a straight face, as I murmured the prayer in great awe and hopelessly tried to keep my head dress in place.

 

Unfortunately my memory jump starts and the next scene is outdoors; in the cold. The sun was slipping away and it was time to head back to my uncle's home, in Taybeh. I didn’t look back at Jerusalem while we were driving away.  My only excitement was the frozen rain; my first experience of snow."