Visit

I visited a friend's MIL, an old Palestinian lady who live by herself and happen to speak fairly good English yesterday. I was planning for an hour visit but every time I stand up getting ready to leave she kept telling me to stay. I ended up staying for three hours. We had a nice conversation going mainly about her grown children, things that happen in our neighborhood and of course Palestinian food.

I always love to hear her talks about life growing up in old Palestine. Since I can't talk to my MIL this women is close enough for me to get to the real story. About how life is so self-sufficient in the villages. Until now they can fairly live independent of the outside world when it comes to food supply. The abundance of green houses that grow tomatoes, cucumbers, string beans and what not. Turkey and chicken farms right in the village. And of course the grand olive trees that are source of olive oil, soap, moisturizers, and fuel. Especially for villages in Palestine this is true until about 30 years ago. People make their own cheese, bread, tomato paste, oil and soap. They are all made in huge amount at a time and involving quiet a few neighbors. This is to ensure sufficient supplies for months if not a year to come. I guess this is true to some extend to all parts of the Mediterranean at that time. But now even my MIL buys her bread!

They also have their own water supply which is rain water conserve in huge underground containers and of course water wells. The thing that I am so fascinated about is the soap. This is not your grandmother sabun cap kapak although the color is quiet similar.



Picture is courtesy of this website . This is exactly what the soaps my DH brought with him from the West Bank look like. A humongous chunk that lasted forever made by my MIL. There is a particular smell to it not fragrant but not bad either. It leaves skin silky smooth and it helps a lot especially in the winter when skin tends to get drier. When my children were younger I love to use the soap on them especially on the ones that were prone to excema.




I hope to see Palestine soon. It is time for the kids to see their huge bunch of cousins, visits all the historical places of Prophets and people of all nations that had been in there, explore the remnant of the thousand of years of human live, wash their eyes with the beauty of the land and to breathe the air of Palestine.

A little piece of Palestinian history can be found here.