As we were walking, this teenage girl in a passing car literally leaned over a full back seat to stick her head out the window and scream in Arabic something along the lines of, "Oh my gosh, you are soooo tall!!!" Then a few minutes later, the same car came back around on the street and beckoned us over. At this point, we could see that the car held an entire family, with the grandfather driving and the high school aged girls and a baby in the back seat. They were so excited to talk to us, well mostly Sam, and offered profuse compliments and exclamations about how amazing he was. Then they said, "Please, you must come over to our house!" Sam and I looked at each other and responded, "Uh, we can't tonight, but maybe another time." So the conversation ended with Sam offering his name for them to find him on Facebook, and the two of us walking away smiling and laughing at the encounter.
I had my doubts about this girl actually finding Sam on Facebook, but really I shouldn't doubt these things. Fast forward to the next night and we found ourselves in their living room sitting on the couch with what appeared to be the entire extended family staring at us [seriously, I counted and there were 14 people]. We spoke mostly in Arabic and soon learned that the family worked with olive wood to make these beautiful necklaces for sale in the old city near the Church of the Nativity. After showing interest, we were invited to see the details of this firsthand.
With great pride, the family led us through each step of the process that takes place in a workshop nearby their home. We saw everything from the slicing of the olive trees into smaller workable pieces to the punching of holes then the cutting out of beads before being smoothed and shined then finally strung together. They explained how everyone in the family has a different role in helping to create the final product. I asked if it would be okay to take a picture as they were demonstrating how to cut the beads. The younger boy jumped in to create a scene of three generations working together:
The workshop employs about 12 men in the community, while the women help to string the beads together to create the jewelry. Their business is very reliant on tourism which often fluctuates, but they said it generally does pretty well. We were offered necklaces as gracious gifts, and also purchased many more. Needless to say, some of you will be getting souvenirs with a very special story behind them :)
On another note, before leaving, we were brought to visit each of the neighbor's homes in a succession of 5-minute coffee conversations and a chance for a photo-op with the tall American. Sam cheerfully obliged, as hey, this was the reason we made it there in the first place!
Sam being a good sport,
holding the finished necklaces
Overall, what a unique invitation: both the way it was given, and also what we were given a glimpse of as a result.
No comments:
Post a Comment