by rchakaki | Jan 8, 2011 | Recollections
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...
by rchakaki | Jan 4, 2011 | Recollections
Everyone in my family spoke Arabic, and they spoke it with a relatively uniform accent. Therefore references to our Turkish, Kurdish, North African heritage didn’t really make sense to me until later in life. When I visited my great maternal aunt (Khalto...
by rchakaki | Jan 3, 2011 | Recipes, Recollections
Food in Syria is a tradition, a source of pride, a way of life. Volumes can be written on recipes, their names, serving traditions, cultural relevance, and origins. Breakfast (kasr el sufra) consisted of: Jiddo’s delicious homemade fruit cocktail; its...
by rchakaki | Jan 2, 2011 | Recollections
Spending summers in Syria meant taking part in traditions. Some I welcomed, others I dreaded. Lunchtime with mom’s family was one of the most memorable traditions. Khalo Ameed (Uncle), Khalto Hazar and Khalto Nowara (Aunts) and later my younger cousins, sat...
by rchakaki | Jan 1, 2011 | Recollections
Allan de Botton’s book Status Anxiety is my favorite read. I read it at age 32; it explained feelings of discomfort, displacement, social anxieties and the yearning to belong. At age four, my mother and I traveled from Damascus, Syria to Khobar, Saudi Arabia to...
