Habibti Taita

This is just summarizing my adventures with tracing relatives and family
homes....it will be boring for most people but before I forget
all the names to tell Taita...

I shall share with those who care (apparently me and my interest
is weird) which family members I have met.
  Firstly, Nahla and Xena are the girls of Hanna Deeb(Taita's 1st cousin)
who have children from my age to Jamiel's age. They live in Nasara
where Nadira lives.  Nadira's beloved father George (Taitas 1st cousin) lived in Acko,
where her mother still lives.  He died, but her mother is fit and
gorgeous with two other children who each have young children like
Nadira.  They are all gorgeous.
  Another 1st cousin, "Uncle Yousef" everyone calls him, lives in Haifa.
He's married to Mona (who gave me a bag of clothes and began organizing
my week as soon as I met her - she's a travel guide), and together they
had Lena and Salim who had more wonderful children around my age - all
very intelligent and interesting.  They all live in the same building.
  Uncle Yousef is the fittest of all of Taita's cousins.  He still works
as an engineer with his son, downstairs, and his daughter recently joined
them too with some other helpful job.
  They live in a happy little building.  Mona and her husband recently
had another baby, so when I was there everyone was sleepy eyed from
sleeping in the same room with the baby who never sleeps.

  In Acko I was swept over to Hanna's wifes home.  Hanna was another
of Taita's cousins and so far they've all been children of Shafeeq.
Taita's father Amin had two brothers; Naim and Shafeeq.  All brothers
lived in Ramie (a village maybe 20 minutes from Acko) and Hanna
(the eldest brother) was the first to move to Acko.
  They're first son Shafeeq lives upstairs at Hanna's family home.
He married Nahla - another Deeb! - her mother who now lives in America
is Taita's second or third cousin, and she too was born in Ramie.
  On this occasion it was Waleed's birthday so all the family (Hanna's
children who I've mentioned thus far plus their families) were over.
I ate a lot of cake/knafe after my lunch of cursa and wurra and we sung
and laughed.
  The whole Deeb family is very actively humerous.  When we were singing
Happy Birthday, everyone made such a loud exciting fuss that
the tables and delicate coffee cups shook and the candles went out
from the collective breath as we sung.
  Shafeeq and his wife Nahla have four children: Ola (21) Maha (18)
who very close, Nadine (12) and Hanna (6).  Theyre all the sweetest
things and Ive grown to love them.
See, after meeting them they invited me back to their house to stay next
wednesday!

I will skip my first two days of Acko so that this post is a boring family
one.

  The first night in Acko, a couple with their children came over for dinner.
I knew the man whose sername is Hanna was distantly related to Shafeeq,
but to my surprize we figured out over dinner that his wife's mother, too,
was Taitas cousin.  The family live in Ramie, where Taita was born, and they
said I was welcome to visit this friday and next friday (their weekends).
So on friday we head off in the afternoon.
  We arrive, and drive through the village.  Its much larger than I expected
and looks much like the other villages I've seen, in terms of the array of
50s style houses.  Ramie is much greener, however, blossoming with flowers
and many many humungous Australian eucalpytus trees which look older
than any Ive seen in Australia....they probably just grow well here?

  Within Reems home, I was awaited by Faizi (first cousin on Taitas mum's side
 and Irhad (married to Taita's cousin).
  Faizi wondered whether Taita knew all her siblings had passed away,
and asked about Taita's younger sister in Damascus; about her health and
wellbeing.  She asked why Taita stopped sending letters, greeting cards,
particularly to Assad, who too questioned me later when I met
him (and his wife Abla).  He was also good friends with Jidi,
 they worked together in Jordan, and he was
sorry that while he lived in Perth he never visited us.
  The answers to the ambush of questions were hazy in my mind
 but I said that Taita's hands lacked
blood flow and writing letters is really hard for her, especially
after cooking all her delicious food she does.
  Faizi remembered the dresses Taita made for her when she was younger,
and the details of when they last ate together in Amaan.
  Faizi also knew that while Taita was born in Rami, and visited often
to see her extended family, she lived in Acko.  Where I'd just been
staying.  So I've another house to visit on my list!!

  Everytime Ive met one of Taita's cousins I have shared the 5 or 6 photos
i copied from Taitas albumns to share.  In 2 of them, no one has known
who the people are (dont think Taita knew either, perhaps they were Jidi's
photos???) but the other photos Were exciting enough.

  Later, Reem's sister took me for a walk.  It's funny, they knew
I wanted to see Taitas house which is three minutes away and so
sudenly i catch in the conversation that we're driving there !!?????
 I repeated a few times that I
REALLY didnt mind walking and Reems sister heard my prayers.
She was a really delightful guide: She later admitted that she's
been wanting to give her own children the history of the village,
though I'm afraid even Ramie has been introduced to technology.


  The sun made me nervous;
 it was just about set when we head
out of the house and I knew all that I wanted to see couldn't
be seen within the time frame.  Aditionally, the country side
had a cloudy mist which had been spreading across the fields
since I'd arrived.  It seemed to add to the pressure of the
coming darkness.
  First I entered the old Church
which is now opulent with golden tinkets, the traditional
architechture (with the starry rooves) painted with a different
bright colour on each section!
The big chandelier had one of Taita's cousins name on it -
for he had donated it to the church.

  Then up the cobbled streets to Taitas house.  The slim, stone path
winds through the streets with a thick gutter right in
its centre.
  Taita's cousin's wife Noha still lives there all by herself,
but she works all day in Acko and so was not home at the hour.
As it is such big house there are also a few other families inside
 - Druze families.  One corner of the house is also a supermarket.
The smoky blue sky became a blurry darkness upon arrival, and the
building became a spooky gray colour, save for the balcony.
On the balony sat a family were noisily relaxing, framed by
the bright green and purples
of their grape vine.  Around 10 young children were bouncing from
the walls and running through the garden, oblivious to me as I
photographed their house.  It wasn't the fantasy
home Taita drew in my head, but childhood memories seem to live
only in our own minds anyway.  Moreover,
im confused as to if this house was Taitas or not...but it certainly
belonged to the Deeb family and Taita certainly visited
it very often.
From there, we delved into the old city (which was much smaller then)'s
streets.  Its a really beautifull village with houses tightly squeezed
together, balconies touching so kids can visit eachother easily,
with ropes swung across the baloncies which (apparently) the
children used to send baskets of messages/sweets to their
neighbours.
  Reem's childhood house (Taita's mother's brother's house)
had three houses all joined together with a really abstract stairwell.
  Her grandma lived in the house below
 while her uncles family lived next door... the three
buildings all fit together like Tetras pieces, bound by the
outdoor stairwell where they would call out to eachother through
their windows or doors.


  Though the Deeb family came from Lebanon origionally, they
became one of the most well-known dwellers in the village
of Rami wherein lived Christians Druze and Muslims.
  Moreover, Taita's mother was from Rami - the Jacki
family.  So many houses in the old village (and generally the more
beautifull houses) belonged to Taita's relatives.
`Hanna gave me a history book based on Ramie to give to Taita
(its in arabic) which too looks very interesting!

  Rami was an emotional experience, possibly because I was tired
with hopes to see things only light can reveal....

I'm welcome back there though, and photograph the village in
the light of day.

Back in Nazareth, I have since met Taita's cousins Laila and
Ilaine.  Shafiq's children, sisters of Yousef.
  Laila is in good health, as is her husband Khalil.
They are sooo lovely; village people and like Taita would, Laila kept pulling
me into her arms and kissing me.  She made delicious stuffed eggplant
and kofta and recognized all the people in the photos I took from Taita's
photo albumns!!
Ilaine unfortunaetly is sick, but this is kept a secret from Taita
i repeat: a secret from Taita.  One I will not help break, thankyou.
  The whole family was there when I visited, lifting the atmosphere.
  She is sooo beautifull, like Laila.  Two absolute stunners.

  To my delight, they too were delighted to meet me.  I'm praised
here for my respect, for like in Australia, the western culture
fully exists here and distances grandchildren from their history,
culture, and their grandparents.  Though its not as bad as in Australia
because the taitas and jidis live upstairs...