…or so she thought
snippets of a recent light hearted - and somewhat silly - conversation inspired by a group of Arab men hanging out in the parking lot of a strip mall in a Chicago Suburb one evening, greeting us with whistles as we passed by …
She: I remember when I first moved to Ramallah…walking down its streets felt very flattering… each time I passed by a guy he would say “aish ya lamoona” … “aish ya bateekha” … It felt so good…I felt special…no one has ever called me a lamoona* or a bateekha** … then seconds later, I hear the same guy say the same thing to another girl passing by. She continued with an obvious sarcastic tone, I didn’t feel so flattered or special anymore… I wanted to be the only lamoona…the only bateekha!
*lamoona: Lemon
**bateekha: Watermelon
