Saudi neighborhood.. a mini UN

Our neighborhood resembled the United Nations. Families from Germany, Holland, England, the USA, Cyprus, Greece, Lebanon, and a few other European and American nations lived in homes lining a central paved circular road, and rubble and dirt roads extending off the...

Abu Issa

The compound backed the sea. At times I heard the waves, smelled the salty water, fish and seaweed.  On Thursdays, a skinny, older man named Abu-Issa came carrying a woven basket filled with fish and prawns.  He wore a wrap-around long checkered skirt, a wife-beater...

Saudi home.. Dammam

Our Saudi home was in a gated community on the outskirts of Dammam, close to Kateef. It must have been built in the early sixties. It housed two larger double story homes, and forty some mid-size homes.  It was gated in by a palm tree branches (sa3f) fence.  The...

summertime and pistachio ice cream

My favorite summer treat was Syrian ice cream; while many family members enjoyed the creamy ice cream served in cones by street vendors near Sibki Park, I savored this Syrian summer delight. I loved because it was a feast for my senses.. the ice cream maker prepared...

Hama delicacies

One of my oldest memories of Hama was in the kitchen in Jiddo Mohamad’s house. The smell of the warm buttery crust, the spiced meat and toasted pine nuts flowed down the halls of the old house, leading me to the kitchen. My step-grandmother “Khaleh...