City of Candy

Rain? What do you call this thing pouring down from the sky? Are the clouds crying, and the raindrops are just their tears?.

If you don’t go outdoors, the sky will remain sad for you.

Behind your closed doors, are shadows in the rain. Behind your windows, are branches blown by the wind. Behind your walls, there are creatures feeling cold .. Go out for warmth, for rain and fertility.

I am that girl who gets a wintry delirium, makes a silver necklace from raindrops, adorns her face with the wind, and goes to the castles where one becomes crazy. Snow is her coat, and God is the secret.

I wanted to take off my shoes and walk barefoot on the sidewalk, but suddenly, I felt like an innocent child, fearing her angry mother, because her feet are stained with mud. I walked slowly, cars passed by me quickly, watching birds shaking wet wings,  hidden in their nests.

 Oh, the beauty cities show in winter. Everything seems more real in the rain: people’s eyes, women’s faces, men’s hands, voices, conversations, even the waiter seems very sincere when he says to me, “I made your shay (tea) with rainwater.. I love you.”

The taste of winter inGaza, will be senseless without roasted chestnuts, nabulsia, and baklava (Palestinian candy).  These delights are offered in small, beautifully decorated shops where one sits on wooden chairs at wooden tables surrounded by candy smells, paintings hanging randomly on the walls, the warmth and simplicity of the place,  and the sight of the trees dancing behind the shop’s window glass.

Here, I invite you all to spend a winter day in Gaza City, the city of candy, love, and songs.