image : AWL IMAGES |
Old house in Misfat Al Abriyeen |
Having demonstrated his might , he turns to me . “ Are you married ? Would you like to be my wife number two ?” I wait for a teasing laugh , but it doesn ’ t come . “ I have 35 palms ,” he adds , to try and sweeten the deal .
A TASTE OF HONEY
Today , the rials brought in by travelers like us are put toward restoring the ancient homes . Hilal leads us through a maze of alleys to an old family house he ’ s rebuilding .
The high stone walls are studded with Arabesque niches stacked with cracked and warped wooden shelves . There are fragments of pots lying around and heavy timber doors ,
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splintered by time , still hanging squarely in their frames .
We weave the 4x4 around switchback bends , the car floured in fine dust . It seems as if the Earth has been tipped on its side and spilled out onion layers of ochre and grey smoke limestone rock . Shoehorned into the shadow of these ragged hills are homes that are as white and square as sugar cubes . We stop for lunch in — the rather unnervingly named — Snake Canyon . Hanna spreads a blanket over the goat droppings that litter the floor and we snack on hummus smeared onto chunks of bread and halva ( honey-sweetened sesame seed paste ), trading intense
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spring 2022 // 33 |