In a few days, I’ll have to go up and wash
out the roof or ‘sattih’. Last year,
we’d sleep on top of the roof on the hot nights
without electricity. We lay out thin mattresses
on the clean ground and wet some sheets to cover
ourselves with. It’s not too bad until around
6 a.m. when the sun rises high in the sky and the
flies descend upon the sleepers like... well, like
flies. These last couple of weeks have been somewhat
depressing for most people. You know how sometimes
you look back at the past year and think to yourself,
“What was I doing last year, on this same
day?” Well we’ve been playing that game
constantly lately. What was I doing last year, this
very moment? I was listening for the sirens, listening
for the planes and listening to the bombs fall.
Now we just listen for the explosions - it’s
not the same thing. |