Druze Weekend- Part 2

And so my story continues...

We woke up Saturday morning to a delicious breakfast of pita dipped in olive oil and zatar, and fried omletes. The rest of the day was a blur of alternating between walking around the village and hanging out at Nahed and Tomador's houses.

A few highlights:
- We climbed up a rickety wooden ladder onto the roof of Tomador's house. From this vantage point we were afforded a stunning view of what felt like the entire Galil. Directly below us we looked down upon the winding roads of Yarka, crowded with cars and the continuous explosion of fireworks. Beyond that were rolling hills and the neighboring villages. In the hazy distance we were able to see as far as Haifa and the Mediterranean.
- I learned how to make Arabic coffee. Nahed was an excellent teacher and guided me step by step through the process of spooning the coffee into the small pot and then alternating between stirring and holding over the fire. After last weekend I promised myself I would by such a pot and the accompanying tiny cups before I go back home. Best coffee ever. Seriously.
- We visited several more sites in the village including a cemetery and the outdoor courtyard where they gather after someone has died.
- I rode a horse around the town square. (I don't know whether I was more terrified of the fireworks or more scared the horse would become terrified of the fireworks.)

It was less what we did together but the implications of the weekend. Here we were: four American Jewish girls in a foreign country spending a weekend in a strange village with people we had barely met. And despite the unorthodoxy of how we came to spend the weekend together, we all left it feeling that we had been friends for years instead of mere hours. It's difficult for someone like myself who grew up in New York City to not be utterly floored by the level of hospitality and warmth we were shown at every house we visited. Nahed's and Tomador's bubbly excitement at having us with them was so infectious that I suspect I didn't stop grinning the entirety of the weekend.

They're already asking us when we are coming back to visit. We're asking ourselves the same things.