Thursday, November 27, 2008

Yuppi Park

Sunday - October 12 - 2008
Yuppi Park – Sabra & Shatila camp
Sponsors: Leen, Kaline

She grabbed my hand – tightly. I’d mumble random Arabic expressions to her, knowing they didn’t at all make sense. She laughed and then would “one-up” me with an Arabic tongue-twister, looking at me, as if to say, “Now what do you got?” –and again, I’d mumble my non-sense Arabic. Back and forth, back and forth - we went. She wouldn’t let go of my hand. And she squeezed it as if we were long-lost cousins. Her hands were filthy from the playground, but her face was glowing.










Iftar at Burger King

Monday - September 29 - 2008
Iftar at Burger King – Burj-el-Barajneh camp
Sponsors: Omar & Carine, Cynthia, Sarah


It was his eyes that got me. On the bus ride back to the camp from the Burger King feast, while the sky fused a curious purple and yellow, his whole face remained buried in his Eid holiday loot bag -pulling out pencils, bouncy balls, and note-pads -trying to inspect each prize using the dim glow of the ceiling light. I just fixated on his eyes; they were enormous. However, his facial expression was one, ironically, of angst – as if worrying about whether this bag of goodies was really for him. Will anybody take it from him? His eyes exclaimed, “Wow,” but his face expressed, “Please, I hope this is real.” I smiled and knew his anxiety would soon exit. It did. The bag was for him.