August 14th: Nablus

Today we ran the kids’ camp and English lessons as per usual. But instead of L&T after English, we all boarded a bus and set off to Nablus. We arrived there in the evening and set off to find Qasr Tuqan, the old mansion belonging to a famous family of poets. It was tucked away in the alleys and markets of the old city, and on our way there, Doha lead us through the souq and past a mosque, where plaques dedicated to martyrs covered the walls. A man approached us and told us that most of the names were from the family in the house across the street, which had been completely bulldozed by the Israelis during the Second Intifada, and the children buried alive. The grandparents had survived for a week down in the basement before being rescued.
Nearby the mosque was a narrow street with windows in the buildings arching overhead. Doha pointed up and said, “My uncle lives there!” When we finally got to Qasr Tuqan, people were tired and confused, but they milled in after Doha and I, and we made our way up to the roof. The house had a courtyard with an empty fountain, and a huge flat platform where the men used to sit, covered by an arched ceiling. Crumbling stairs lead up to what once was the master bedroom, and the girls made their way up these gingerly, some of them opting to stay behind. On top of the bedroom was a huge dome, like most old Palestinian houses have, and we clambered up onto this across a stone arch and stood looking at all of Nablus, spread out like a postcard around us. The city stretched out in every direction into the foothills of the mountains, and doves flew from rooftop to rooftop. We also saw a couple kittens on the roof nearest us.
We left the castle to go shopping in the Old City of Nablus. We walked in a hurry, because the shops were starting to close, and the owners to make their way home in order to break the fast. We had wanted to go to a soap factory (Nablus is famous for making olive oil soap) and found the one of the main street closed. Fortunately, we found another one hidden away in the Old City, and we went in and crowded around the huge vat built into the floor. The owner gave us a lecture in English and Arabic on the making of soap, pointing out the steps leading down to the oven beneath the vat, and the large wooden oars used to stir the soap a it was cooking. We thanked him and bought some soap to take home, then rushed out into the streets to make the most of the shops before they closed. We went to a spice shop, book shops (looking for toys and other supplies for the camp – I was trying to assemble materials for the girls to make poi), and what everyone told us was the Best coffee shop in Nablus to buy fresh ground Arabic coffee. Then we rushed back onto the bus to go to the only restaurant still open, and break the fast.
Dinner was chicken and rice, and afterwards we piled back onto the bus and drove up onto the Mountain of the Blessing, one of the two mountains overlooking the valley where Nablus sits. On the other side was the Mountain of the Curse, where the Samaritans live. As we drove up, we saw endless strings of Ramadan lights blinking at us from the houses, and all of Nablus was lit up below us. The bus stopped at an overlook with picnic tables and families sitting around snacking. Over the railing of the parking lot was the whole city of Nablus, sparkling in a million colors. Doha and the Palestinians pointed out different buildings to us, and we crowded around to take photos. The Muslim girls found a building to pray in, and I went and bought coffee and rented an argileh from a stand on the other side of the parking lot. Soon the other girls came back from their prayers carrying ice cream, and we all sat around the picnic tables eating and chatting and generally enjoying ourselves. Asia had bought ice cream with jelly in it, and later she ran back to buy corn on the cob from another vendor. We passed around the argileh between the Americans, and send an ambassador to buy more ice cream. We had to go home early because Arifa’s friend was getting engaged, and we wanted to get her to her party. On the way home we sang to Sha’bi (popular/traditional) music and clapped and danced in out seats. It was wonderful.