It was the night before teachers day,
We got all the stuff ready , of course we didnot know what to give but sure we need to give a smal souvenir present that is nice, usable , and cheap , we cannot afford to give ten teachers ten expensive presents so we checked what we could afford around 50 dollars plus or minus ,
Tomorrow is teachers day and every year my son would take something to his teachers , he likes to give gifts . It runs in thefamily, i guess . whenever we visit we usually take something to whoever we are visiting even if there is no occasion ,in case we were stuck not knowing what to take along , two one liter juice bottles would do . "Giving leads to loving "' as we learned from our prohet mohammed pbuh , that gift giving is a great way to love each other , it means thinking , it does not necessarily have to be an expensive gift .my sister told me she got a nice gift , you can. Offer like it , that sounded fine because we really didnot know what to give . One year we gave each a hand towel and a Dove soap bar. Another year we gave a picture frame with a nice quote in it , and once we gave a small nice flower pot and the flowers were colorful dusting washclothes . This year we needed some new ideas, the teachers expect something useful and practical from me . That was a nicechoice ! we went to wholsale stores and chose the mugs , nice better quality than those one dollar mugs ,and then to the candy wholsale store ,we got the nescafe one cup envelopes , and a Hershey chocolate box and a Galaxy flute box , then we ordered a panadol box and May hurried to the stationary shop by the house she got red pens .
Now all ready , in each mug we put a candy bar of each kind, a red pen , a nescafe ,onemug size envelop , and half the panadol paper , a twelve count paper , then we wrote for each teacher two special rhyming lines and happy teachers day , from mjitani . At last came the wrapping , then we arranged them on the desk ready for the next day , we looked at them just like men in a row waiting to do their chores , they have to wait one whole night on the desk before leaving ...
Still wondering about contents , well well nescafe for the teacher to be awake and up , chocolate to give her energy , panadol to ease her headache and of course the red pen to correct those nasty papers , and of course the MUG .
Thursday, March 08, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
In Gazzeh
It was february 1990 or 1991 or almost the end of january, the weather was snowy.. And of course life in Beqaa is tough but it was our choice to live here ,and not to leave for good for Canada or Australia as my brother , or to England as many members of the family did , and my sister with her family too. The war in Lebanon was a series.. Some episodes you can manage others one cannot survive them ..So we decided to give Beqaa a try.... And if things didnt work out we can leave ... It was worth to consider this decision because it isnot that costly, and we are still in our country, and near our families, we dont have to cross borders to visit them , as a matter of fact i consider being near my family and husband's family as a good reason to stay in my country.. Besides i have my daughters that i cont want to be broought up in the States . I was living there and my eldest daughter was brought up there ,completely different ,i mean the way to raise kids there is not as we hope for ...Our decision and we never regretted it ,my husband would teach at OMEC and the girls will go there too , six girls ranging in age from 11 to 1 .. They would be my chore ..here life is no fun, tough life reminded me of {the little house on the prairie} that i used to watch when i was younger. No phones, no central heating, no electricity for most of the time, but alhamdulillah ,a big house, empty, bare but nevertheless it has a fenced vineyard and a gate ,thats good . The house owners left for Brazil and they need someone to stay in the house , so it doesnt get occupied from strangers , thats why they didnt ask for a big rent ..
We settled here in September just before school started in 1989.. um Lameie house was special... Baba started making some wooden stuff , bookshelves and shelves for toys and he made a wooden frame for a closet and i covered it with a bed sheet { a Cannon flwer printed sheet Pink in color} and we hung in it a silk line for hangers, we managed without a fridge first because in winter food lasts and we brought our fridge from beirut later and the oven range ,Abed, my husband bought me a new washing machine, a white westing house big top loading machine ,that was a treat for me so i finish laundry easier but it turned out to be trouble that washing machine needs stable electricity and it kept bugging me so i washed most of the times in the twin tub washing machine .
We bought a heavycast iron sobiya (heater) that used wood , and we bought a and a regular one that uses gasoline , the sobiya was a must there , and Abed bought a saw and a good axe .
I brought my sewing machine from Beirut and 3 or four trunks of clothing for the girls , at first we put the clothes in Pampers diaper boxes each of the girls had a box .
The girls except for Bayan attended OMEC ,Bayan was not school age yet , tthe kids didnt like school at first, they were nicknamed as Beyrutis ,,, .... It was an experience for us all ,my husband was in beirut when a big snowstorm hit, and of course i didnt expect him to come to gazze , i have a car with me , a Plymouth volare an american car and he usually drives the datsun to Beirut , because it saves fuel , and we dont have to pay a lot for gas .. Dahr Albaydar was closed ,two days, three days and no sign of the road openning or the storm ceasing . kids stayed home, no school , even the milkman didnt make his ususl morning route ,so my neighbor would give me the milk free of charge knowing that iconsume milk products , labneh and yougurt and ,hence it doesnt spoil . i kept some milk in two cooking pots in the snow covering the car well it kept well and i made all these labneh balls, and jarred them in oil, because all this milk would not keep for long . My daughter reminded me lately : " do you still remember ? 55 liters of milk or 11 pails
" With no signs of hope i grew desperate , i know Abed would be worried how we are managing , i thank god that my mom was visitng us and got stuck with us , that gave us some support in cutting wood and managing extra milk and the stories and the cuddling of the kids ...
Phones would have been helpful but it was out of mind to have a phone during the war and in Beqaa.
It was Thursday , The sky was clear but it was white with cotton like clouds and its going to snow as it shows, though it was sunny , so before it did we took some carpets out to air them from humidity inside and to clean them from black soot that sometimes seeps through corners , i was mopping when i heard keys tapping on the window, HIS regular tapping sound , i shouted telling the kids ija Daddy, but i didnt hear any car, well a car can't move anyway, roads are packed by knee-high snow.... Then we heard the door knocking, it was him He came ,his face was red and nose bluish from the cold he came through Syria, my father drove him to Tripoli and there he took cabs to Homs then to Baalbak then to Gazze , it was the best he did and thought of , Baba was in beirut without mama but now we knew that they kept daily trials to come to Gazze but no use , the storm lasted for ten or twelve days well it doesnot matter to me how long it lasts now ,and the schools were off for a month . February was a no school month this year, Baba came after 15 days to take mama to Beirut .. Now i talk about the memory but back then i was in such a fuss that i couldnot talk ..![]()
We settled here in September just before school started in 1989.. um Lameie house was special... Baba started making some wooden stuff , bookshelves and shelves for toys and he made a wooden frame for a closet and i covered it with a bed sheet { a Cannon flwer printed sheet Pink in color} and we hung in it a silk line for hangers, we managed without a fridge first because in winter food lasts and we brought our fridge from beirut later and the oven range ,Abed, my husband bought me a new washing machine, a white westing house big top loading machine ,that was a treat for me so i finish laundry easier but it turned out to be trouble that washing machine needs stable electricity and it kept bugging me so i washed most of the times in the twin tub washing machine .
We bought a heavycast iron sobiya (heater) that used wood , and we bought a and a regular one that uses gasoline , the sobiya was a must there , and Abed bought a saw and a good axe .
I brought my sewing machine from Beirut and 3 or four trunks of clothing for the girls , at first we put the clothes in Pampers diaper boxes each of the girls had a box .
The girls except for Bayan attended OMEC ,Bayan was not school age yet , tthe kids didnt like school at first, they were nicknamed as Beyrutis ,,, .... It was an experience for us all ,my husband was in beirut when a big snowstorm hit, and of course i didnt expect him to come to gazze , i have a car with me , a Plymouth volare an american car and he usually drives the datsun to Beirut , because it saves fuel , and we dont have to pay a lot for gas .. Dahr Albaydar was closed ,two days, three days and no sign of the road openning or the storm ceasing . kids stayed home, no school , even the milkman didnt make his ususl morning route ,so my neighbor would give me the milk free of charge knowing that iconsume milk products , labneh and yougurt and ,hence it doesnt spoil . i kept some milk in two cooking pots in the snow covering the car well it kept well and i made all these labneh balls, and jarred them in oil, because all this milk would not keep for long . My daughter reminded me lately : " do you still remember ? 55 liters of milk or 11 pails
" With no signs of hope i grew desperate , i know Abed would be worried how we are managing , i thank god that my mom was visitng us and got stuck with us , that gave us some support in cutting wood and managing extra milk and the stories and the cuddling of the kids ...
Phones would have been helpful but it was out of mind to have a phone during the war and in Beqaa.
It was Thursday , The sky was clear but it was white with cotton like clouds and its going to snow as it shows, though it was sunny , so before it did we took some carpets out to air them from humidity inside and to clean them from black soot that sometimes seeps through corners , i was mopping when i heard keys tapping on the window, HIS regular tapping sound , i shouted telling the kids ija Daddy, but i didnt hear any car, well a car can't move anyway, roads are packed by knee-high snow.... Then we heard the door knocking, it was him He came ,his face was red and nose bluish from the cold he came through Syria, my father drove him to Tripoli and there he took cabs to Homs then to Baalbak then to Gazze , it was the best he did and thought of , Baba was in beirut without mama but now we knew that they kept daily trials to come to Gazze but no use , the storm lasted for ten or twelve days well it doesnot matter to me how long it lasts now ,and the schools were off for a month . February was a no school month this year, Baba came after 15 days to take mama to Beirut .. Now i talk about the memory but back then i was in such a fuss that i couldnot talk ..
Mama
mama
This note was written on dec 9 at 7:50 am for my UFS class
mama a nice word, a lovely word,....a world of life, a word that brought life , but for me mama is a vigorous life , vigorous by all its meanings.Mama means quickness...action...all her life she had been a fast actor anything you ask for is ready in a wink , till the minute she passed away she was energetic , even her soul passed away fast now she was sitting ,then she bent , and thats it .. life as a ribbon thats has to be cut somewhere it can be cut sharp and neat or it can be ripped while cutting no matter what, the ribbon will be cut ,somehow ,someday ....
Since childhood i remember Mama sewing . I remember her sitting at her sewing machine ,or standing by the table, cutting the fabrics, the measuring tape dangling around her neck, while the scissors is always handy within reach ,a big smile on her face , and humming a song , well in fact she had 2 scissors and a zigzag one specially for anti- ripping , we enjoyed cutting with that zigzag scissors she made us shapes with it ,she folds a paper and cuts shapes when she unfolds the design many smaller designs come and she smiles as if telling us her do like that !When we moved to Rawshe the house was a big apartment compared to the other house in Sadat, here we have our own apartment ,a two bedroom apartment ,two bathrooms, living room , reception room and a long hall , that was luxury for us .Mama had her own life here , we also felt more bonded with her and dad, we have mamas rule to obey now whenever she would frown and hymmmmm a short hym means we are wrong we stop and fetch whats wrong , oh we were really sensitive or mama was great in her rules , a look is enough for us to straighten things out , she always told me that my kids dont understand eye language like we used to , maybe i wasnot skillful as she was , here in Rawshe mama had more privacy , i have never seen her before in make up , even at home but i do, i see her nice home sleeveles dresses or in nighties, i see her live , in Sadat i saw her as a daughter in law. Here in rawshe mama decided to start her life ,her own life.In the living room she wanted to put her sewing machine. She chose the most lit corner facing the balcony door ,she would sit facing the hilly green field opposite our building , { i dont want to face the wall , i want to view nice scenary and the blue sky } , i guess she knew she would be clenched to her sewing machine when she set it . On the other corner stood a square table where mama kept her sewing stuff and she used the table surface for cutting . Over the table a stack of fashion journals , an agenda ,which was an outdated diary, she jotted on it ladies' measurements and some dress styles and cuts , blue Prym pins and the sewing chalk ,and thimbles scattered on the table , the pin cushion was attached to the machime ,mama never looked for a pin or needle while she was sewing she would get another one in case she dropped or lost it by accident ,pins were pinned to her dress , we didnot hug often because of those pins on her dress, mom doesnot like kissing and hugging ,only in occasions , although she calls me azzooz or azeeza ( which means DEAR) she even didnot like us to kiss her hand .But as we grew older and after i married we used to kiss more often, in her last days we hugged more and kissed eachother even more .
Many times she hurts her hands from pins stuck in the mop while she is cleaning the floor or pins stuck in the machine, in the washing machine because she forgets to take them away from her dress . That was a big issue for Baba,[ they ruin the machine].
On the opposite wall of the living room was a big couch and on the other wall a big dresser ( dorsoire, we used to call it ) it has four panels -closets, it is for tableware but mom put in one of its closets her sewing stuff , that was the sewing room , no carpet, well a carpet wouldnot be seen anyway. { i remember the first carpet mama bought for this room a persian ajami farhan carpet for 450 l.l. That was a lot then ,and Her her own sewing earnings , mom says"a good carpet or no carpet "
Fabric , fabric , fabric .... every where big pieces, small pieces, long strips, short strips, empty thread spools, pins... this what you see in the sewing room . The handwheel on the machineg goes fast , mama installed and attachetd a small motor to the machine , she doesnot use the treadle anymore , the motor is corded to a small foot pedal , so easy ,S.I.N.G.E.R. Inscripted just above the treadle where we used to sit and play , we turn the big wheel pretending it is a real car steering wheel and we always fought who is to drive !
mama needed to sew, and she liked to sew .She hated housework and these final touches. Om suleiman , a kurdish ,lady came over regularly to do the cleaning. Mama says house work is a waste of time , spending your life dusting and cleaning .it is not a fruitful work . Cooking was no fun for mom ,too. It goes down the drain in the end . However She cooked , she never spent more than one hour preparing the best meal , she was fast, quick i dont deny it , and everyone believes so, she is energetic ,but she never spent time on garnishing dishes or decorating cakes or setting the table , we were fascinated and didnot believe that mwe had all those fancy chinaware and beautiful napkins when we invited my newlywed aunt Yeser and her husband Ammo Sameer for brunch .
We usually take the two cooking pots to the table, and the salad bowl, dishes, spoons and bag of bread , Mama scoop food for us and rice ,lunch is served.
Apples in a big bowl are swiftly peeled and sliced and here is our fruit, oranges will do as well or bananas , practical, that was mama as if we were in a boardingschool . now i excuse mama , how she could manage, we were five in a five year span i was born in 1955 and my youngest brother in 1960 .
Everyday we had new food though ,with freshly cooked rice ,after we eat mom would directly do the dishes and cleans the place and back to Sewing .
I never did housework at home , mama never asked me to, and besides we never wanted neither me nor my sister, mama , also recalls that she never did housework when she was our age .,all she wants us is to be good at school,and yalla (laheen) meaning you will be fed with housework later .
In the morning , mama would boil a big tea kettle, on the table she sets a bowl of olives black olives, a plate with cheese, a bag of bread, a stack of five teacups and 5 teaspoons, and of course a jar of sugar . we gather round the table , we crouch on the floor and mama and baba would sit on the couch , the table was barely 25 cms high from the ground , each kid will take his teacup, mama pours the tea we put sugar to tastebutnot more than 2 teaspoons , of course we all put two and we sneak a third spoon , sure she knew it , anyway before we stirr the sugar the table would be full of "Maide," what is Maide ? It is an arabic word for a small feast ,the Maide was bites of bread either with olives or with cheese we eat and sip tea by the spoon, it is too hot to be drunk directly . Mama would urge me to eat more than two or three bites , i used to sip my tea and didnt eat well !
These are mamas moments in the kitchen , and she never regretted it ...
Sewing was her life .
I remember my aunt bringing in stacks of precut toddler outfits ready to be sewn .My aunts husband has a wholesale store in downtown Beirut, bundles of cut fabrics come in the morning and leave as sets of toddler outfits all ironed and ready to be worn .
Mama quickly opens the bundles and sorts them and rearranges them on the table,these are the sleeves, here the backs, there the right front sides, thesewill have to have pockets, here are the collars and here the pants . Help me put them inorder "she would ask me " as wagons in a train , now off to the machine .First she usually grabs the sleeves, the edges are hemmed, then inside seams ,now the pockets are applied, then the shoulder seams then ...the top is ready , next the pants which are way easier with elastic waists . The machine is off ,it is time for hand work , every thread coming out from the garment is cut, she shakes it to make sure no more extra threads, some times she asks me for help in shaking and folding, i agree but how much will you pay me ?i always ask for a charge ,"how much do you want", i say i want" a franc for each" she smiles and nods " and this nodding usually goes into my head " i should have asked for more , next time Inchalah " . I always helped mom with sewing although i hated sewing but it sure brings pocket money .
then comes the crewel embroidery bag . She embroiders a small design on the pocket , in a hurry , she stitches a bunny with floppy ears and a carrot, or a circle with two triangular ears and a long tail ,six whiskers , huh, thats a mighty cat , or the circle with one triangular beak and its a chick ,at last comes ironing ,folding and slipping each set in a bag ready to be picked up in the evening ..she used to finish a dozen or two depending on the demand , and in seasons she would work till late. One lira per set is not bad , mama would say i am staying home with the kids and working .i remember sometimes when my sister was young and sick , she would sit on the floor and stretches her legs and put a pillow so she rocks my sister while the hand sewing work in her hands and my book wil be by herside to recite for me science or history lessons . This was mama a teacher, too.
mama was a great seamstress, she learned at Fuad Atwe, in Hamra when she finished her elementary school. A girl wasnot allowed to complete her education so she wouldnot penpal a boy and all these old beliefs ...so only boys would go to secondary schools well that was the rule in Ras Beirut i guess in Among muslim families.
Mama thpught shedoesnot want to waste her time in sewing toddler outfits she thought it is not creative ,it is only machine work, no creativity, no crafting so she and baba took a step forward .baba would tell his customers in the store that mama is a seamstress , they may be interested, she can also shorten pants or dresses or change a zipper , and that was the start . Most of residents in Rawshe in the late sixties were foreigners canadian, american, english, french ,austrian, from east europe were many also ... And so were mom's customers ... A mix ,mom needed my help to translate for english speakers and she did well in french . For the others specially russian, sign language mixed with englidh and arabic .
Marene, a canadian from montreal ,used to bring her dog along,a d Zendara from youguslavia , oh she had a big chien loo, . Once we were home ,Zendara brought her dog along as usual ,and when we saw the dog we all screamed and shouted scaringly, but the poor lady thought we wanted to play with the dog so she took it inside to our room and the sreaming increased and mama hurried following her telling her to retrieve , they are afraid and frightened .later She would keep the dog out if we are home .
Mama seemed contented in her new sewing , she can show off her art in sewing , any dress a lady chooses from the fashion journal can be sewn , without a pattern ! she focuses well in the style then draws the front and back for the lady telling her all the cuts in the dress ,and whether the zipper is in the back or it is a side zipper ,then she jots down measurments near the style ,of course the name goes on top . Her agenda had many names from marene to zendara to mrs. Bluff etc .. Strange names for us .
Mama found life in her new artistic work ,but we hated sewing , it took mama away, and this dzdzdzdz of the sewing wheel , the messy floor ,although we are at school but we feel and smell sewing . Mama, daily ,before we return home she sweeps the room with a fine broom,and collects all the trash ,she sorts the fabric pieces and throws the small ones then she gets a magnet to pick up all pins and thimbles then sends the dust to the dust pan then to trash .
Mama would charge 15 l.l. For a dress but she charged the maids less , 8 or 10, they work hard and left their families maybe they cannot afford ,georgette came all the way from yaroon to work at Captain Baydoon, in Beirut, and kadija came from kfarhette ",no i will not charge them the same as others" .besides , she believed that." Allah will bless this money , moreover sewing cost nothing" , to her , she has the machine" this the only investment, the only cost, i have nothing to loose even if i charged one lira for a dress it is all profit "... Very true ,
Beloved mama , she passed away and her dream that i become a seamstress for people like her but i didnot. I like to sew and i do sew for my childten and grandchildren ,i sewd everything for my kids when we were short on cash and while they were in the university . I love sewing .
It seems weird that things you didnot like about your parents,turns out you do them and you like them when you are older.
Mama sewed all my dresses but i always wanted ready made dresses when i was young ,they look beautiful in the front windows but Mama would say they are very expensive ,while the cheap ones arenot properly sewn , the dress may shrink, i may rip, low quality fabric so i never bought a ready dress till i was in the states and i really found the difference .
Mama would ask me to chose any style i want from the window or from the journal, and she buys good fabric and suitable matching designs, complimentary trims and accessories my dress is ready and i rarelygotno comments how nice mydress was .
Mama visits Antoine bookshop every season to buy latest fashion journals, she keeps still the special edition ones !
Patient mama , i was a nagger or may be just spoiled ,i realized now how pretty those dresses are , how practical mama was.
When i married she sewed everything for me and for the house from curtains to bedspreads and sheets ,bath robes , nighties and a whole array of dresses , a coat and a jacket ,and of course my wedding dress , she made it with wide inside seams incase i got a little fatter , "they usually do get fater after marriage, then i can widen it," she also suggested long sleeves so i can wear it when i return from pilgrimmage
Mama sewed all her life .. Of course she stopped sewing for people but for family she never stopped.
In her last 5 years she would buy cheap fabrics or discontinued prints and makes them prayer clothes and gives them as gifts or donations , or for the needy , it costs nothing to help others, sewing is cheap and valuable , very true .she died and a stack of sewing was on the machine .sewing was a must for girls her age back then but some people excelled, others just managed, a girl would prosper her living or she would buy precious jewelery بتستر حالها او بتتقل خلخالها .
Mama sewed all my daughters wedding dresses ,she excelled .
Now sewing is not comon any more , but i sew .
The last dress sewn by mama was a mermaid style dress for Bayan, my youngest daughter, black with knit like fabric , five days later mama passed away ,in a hurry , nothing was wrong she was sitting on the couch and ....
The funny thing is that bayan told her grandma the dress is very nice inchala you dress like it ,mama grinned and shook her head as if saying noway now but bayan continued i mean in jannah in heaven ........ That was her last sewn dress ...
May you rest in peace and may god bless your soul
I Love You
This note was written on dec 9 at 7:50 am for my UFS class
mama a nice word, a lovely word,....a world of life, a word that brought life , but for me mama is a vigorous life , vigorous by all its meanings.Mama means quickness...action...all her life she had been a fast actor anything you ask for is ready in a wink , till the minute she passed away she was energetic , even her soul passed away fast now she was sitting ,then she bent , and thats it .. life as a ribbon thats has to be cut somewhere it can be cut sharp and neat or it can be ripped while cutting no matter what, the ribbon will be cut ,somehow ,someday ....
Since childhood i remember Mama sewing . I remember her sitting at her sewing machine ,or standing by the table, cutting the fabrics, the measuring tape dangling around her neck, while the scissors is always handy within reach ,a big smile on her face , and humming a song , well in fact she had 2 scissors and a zigzag one specially for anti- ripping , we enjoyed cutting with that zigzag scissors she made us shapes with it ,she folds a paper and cuts shapes when she unfolds the design many smaller designs come and she smiles as if telling us her do like that !When we moved to Rawshe the house was a big apartment compared to the other house in Sadat, here we have our own apartment ,a two bedroom apartment ,two bathrooms, living room , reception room and a long hall , that was luxury for us .Mama had her own life here , we also felt more bonded with her and dad, we have mamas rule to obey now whenever she would frown and hymmmmm a short hym means we are wrong we stop and fetch whats wrong , oh we were really sensitive or mama was great in her rules , a look is enough for us to straighten things out , she always told me that my kids dont understand eye language like we used to , maybe i wasnot skillful as she was , here in Rawshe mama had more privacy , i have never seen her before in make up , even at home but i do, i see her nice home sleeveles dresses or in nighties, i see her live , in Sadat i saw her as a daughter in law. Here in rawshe mama decided to start her life ,her own life.In the living room she wanted to put her sewing machine. She chose the most lit corner facing the balcony door ,she would sit facing the hilly green field opposite our building , { i dont want to face the wall , i want to view nice scenary and the blue sky } , i guess she knew she would be clenched to her sewing machine when she set it . On the other corner stood a square table where mama kept her sewing stuff and she used the table surface for cutting . Over the table a stack of fashion journals , an agenda ,which was an outdated diary, she jotted on it ladies' measurements and some dress styles and cuts , blue Prym pins and the sewing chalk ,and thimbles scattered on the table , the pin cushion was attached to the machime ,mama never looked for a pin or needle while she was sewing she would get another one in case she dropped or lost it by accident ,pins were pinned to her dress , we didnot hug often because of those pins on her dress, mom doesnot like kissing and hugging ,only in occasions , although she calls me azzooz or azeeza ( which means DEAR) she even didnot like us to kiss her hand .But as we grew older and after i married we used to kiss more often, in her last days we hugged more and kissed eachother even more .
Many times she hurts her hands from pins stuck in the mop while she is cleaning the floor or pins stuck in the machine, in the washing machine because she forgets to take them away from her dress . That was a big issue for Baba,[ they ruin the machine].
On the opposite wall of the living room was a big couch and on the other wall a big dresser ( dorsoire, we used to call it ) it has four panels -closets, it is for tableware but mom put in one of its closets her sewing stuff , that was the sewing room , no carpet, well a carpet wouldnot be seen anyway. { i remember the first carpet mama bought for this room a persian ajami farhan carpet for 450 l.l. That was a lot then ,and Her her own sewing earnings , mom says"a good carpet or no carpet "
Fabric , fabric , fabric .... every where big pieces, small pieces, long strips, short strips, empty thread spools, pins... this what you see in the sewing room . The handwheel on the machineg goes fast , mama installed and attachetd a small motor to the machine , she doesnot use the treadle anymore , the motor is corded to a small foot pedal , so easy ,S.I.N.G.E.R. Inscripted just above the treadle where we used to sit and play , we turn the big wheel pretending it is a real car steering wheel and we always fought who is to drive !
mama needed to sew, and she liked to sew .She hated housework and these final touches. Om suleiman , a kurdish ,lady came over regularly to do the cleaning. Mama says house work is a waste of time , spending your life dusting and cleaning .it is not a fruitful work . Cooking was no fun for mom ,too. It goes down the drain in the end . However She cooked , she never spent more than one hour preparing the best meal , she was fast, quick i dont deny it , and everyone believes so, she is energetic ,but she never spent time on garnishing dishes or decorating cakes or setting the table , we were fascinated and didnot believe that mwe had all those fancy chinaware and beautiful napkins when we invited my newlywed aunt Yeser and her husband Ammo Sameer for brunch .
We usually take the two cooking pots to the table, and the salad bowl, dishes, spoons and bag of bread , Mama scoop food for us and rice ,lunch is served.
Apples in a big bowl are swiftly peeled and sliced and here is our fruit, oranges will do as well or bananas , practical, that was mama as if we were in a boardingschool . now i excuse mama , how she could manage, we were five in a five year span i was born in 1955 and my youngest brother in 1960 .
Everyday we had new food though ,with freshly cooked rice ,after we eat mom would directly do the dishes and cleans the place and back to Sewing .
I never did housework at home , mama never asked me to, and besides we never wanted neither me nor my sister, mama , also recalls that she never did housework when she was our age .,all she wants us is to be good at school,and yalla (laheen) meaning you will be fed with housework later .
In the morning , mama would boil a big tea kettle, on the table she sets a bowl of olives black olives, a plate with cheese, a bag of bread, a stack of five teacups and 5 teaspoons, and of course a jar of sugar . we gather round the table , we crouch on the floor and mama and baba would sit on the couch , the table was barely 25 cms high from the ground , each kid will take his teacup, mama pours the tea we put sugar to tastebutnot more than 2 teaspoons , of course we all put two and we sneak a third spoon , sure she knew it , anyway before we stirr the sugar the table would be full of "Maide," what is Maide ? It is an arabic word for a small feast ,the Maide was bites of bread either with olives or with cheese we eat and sip tea by the spoon, it is too hot to be drunk directly . Mama would urge me to eat more than two or three bites , i used to sip my tea and didnt eat well !
These are mamas moments in the kitchen , and she never regretted it ...
Sewing was her life .
I remember my aunt bringing in stacks of precut toddler outfits ready to be sewn .My aunts husband has a wholesale store in downtown Beirut, bundles of cut fabrics come in the morning and leave as sets of toddler outfits all ironed and ready to be worn .
Mama quickly opens the bundles and sorts them and rearranges them on the table,these are the sleeves, here the backs, there the right front sides, thesewill have to have pockets, here are the collars and here the pants . Help me put them inorder "she would ask me " as wagons in a train , now off to the machine .First she usually grabs the sleeves, the edges are hemmed, then inside seams ,now the pockets are applied, then the shoulder seams then ...the top is ready , next the pants which are way easier with elastic waists . The machine is off ,it is time for hand work , every thread coming out from the garment is cut, she shakes it to make sure no more extra threads, some times she asks me for help in shaking and folding, i agree but how much will you pay me ?i always ask for a charge ,"how much do you want", i say i want" a franc for each" she smiles and nods " and this nodding usually goes into my head " i should have asked for more , next time Inchalah " . I always helped mom with sewing although i hated sewing but it sure brings pocket money .
then comes the crewel embroidery bag . She embroiders a small design on the pocket , in a hurry , she stitches a bunny with floppy ears and a carrot, or a circle with two triangular ears and a long tail ,six whiskers , huh, thats a mighty cat , or the circle with one triangular beak and its a chick ,at last comes ironing ,folding and slipping each set in a bag ready to be picked up in the evening ..she used to finish a dozen or two depending on the demand , and in seasons she would work till late. One lira per set is not bad , mama would say i am staying home with the kids and working .i remember sometimes when my sister was young and sick , she would sit on the floor and stretches her legs and put a pillow so she rocks my sister while the hand sewing work in her hands and my book wil be by herside to recite for me science or history lessons . This was mama a teacher, too.
mama was a great seamstress, she learned at Fuad Atwe, in Hamra when she finished her elementary school. A girl wasnot allowed to complete her education so she wouldnot penpal a boy and all these old beliefs ...so only boys would go to secondary schools well that was the rule in Ras Beirut i guess in Among muslim families.
Mama thpught shedoesnot want to waste her time in sewing toddler outfits she thought it is not creative ,it is only machine work, no creativity, no crafting so she and baba took a step forward .baba would tell his customers in the store that mama is a seamstress , they may be interested, she can also shorten pants or dresses or change a zipper , and that was the start . Most of residents in Rawshe in the late sixties were foreigners canadian, american, english, french ,austrian, from east europe were many also ... And so were mom's customers ... A mix ,mom needed my help to translate for english speakers and she did well in french . For the others specially russian, sign language mixed with englidh and arabic .
Marene, a canadian from montreal ,used to bring her dog along,a d Zendara from youguslavia , oh she had a big chien loo, . Once we were home ,Zendara brought her dog along as usual ,and when we saw the dog we all screamed and shouted scaringly, but the poor lady thought we wanted to play with the dog so she took it inside to our room and the sreaming increased and mama hurried following her telling her to retrieve , they are afraid and frightened .later She would keep the dog out if we are home .
Mama seemed contented in her new sewing , she can show off her art in sewing , any dress a lady chooses from the fashion journal can be sewn , without a pattern ! she focuses well in the style then draws the front and back for the lady telling her all the cuts in the dress ,and whether the zipper is in the back or it is a side zipper ,then she jots down measurments near the style ,of course the name goes on top . Her agenda had many names from marene to zendara to mrs. Bluff etc .. Strange names for us .
Mama found life in her new artistic work ,but we hated sewing , it took mama away, and this dzdzdzdz of the sewing wheel , the messy floor ,although we are at school but we feel and smell sewing . Mama, daily ,before we return home she sweeps the room with a fine broom,and collects all the trash ,she sorts the fabric pieces and throws the small ones then she gets a magnet to pick up all pins and thimbles then sends the dust to the dust pan then to trash .
Mama would charge 15 l.l. For a dress but she charged the maids less , 8 or 10, they work hard and left their families maybe they cannot afford ,georgette came all the way from yaroon to work at Captain Baydoon, in Beirut, and kadija came from kfarhette ",no i will not charge them the same as others" .besides , she believed that." Allah will bless this money , moreover sewing cost nothing" , to her , she has the machine" this the only investment, the only cost, i have nothing to loose even if i charged one lira for a dress it is all profit "... Very true ,
Beloved mama , she passed away and her dream that i become a seamstress for people like her but i didnot. I like to sew and i do sew for my childten and grandchildren ,i sewd everything for my kids when we were short on cash and while they were in the university . I love sewing .
It seems weird that things you didnot like about your parents,turns out you do them and you like them when you are older.
Mama sewed all my dresses but i always wanted ready made dresses when i was young ,they look beautiful in the front windows but Mama would say they are very expensive ,while the cheap ones arenot properly sewn , the dress may shrink, i may rip, low quality fabric so i never bought a ready dress till i was in the states and i really found the difference .
Mama would ask me to chose any style i want from the window or from the journal, and she buys good fabric and suitable matching designs, complimentary trims and accessories my dress is ready and i rarelygotno comments how nice mydress was .
Mama visits Antoine bookshop every season to buy latest fashion journals, she keeps still the special edition ones !
Patient mama , i was a nagger or may be just spoiled ,i realized now how pretty those dresses are , how practical mama was.
When i married she sewed everything for me and for the house from curtains to bedspreads and sheets ,bath robes , nighties and a whole array of dresses , a coat and a jacket ,and of course my wedding dress , she made it with wide inside seams incase i got a little fatter , "they usually do get fater after marriage, then i can widen it," she also suggested long sleeves so i can wear it when i return from pilgrimmage
Mama sewed all her life .. Of course she stopped sewing for people but for family she never stopped.
In her last 5 years she would buy cheap fabrics or discontinued prints and makes them prayer clothes and gives them as gifts or donations , or for the needy , it costs nothing to help others, sewing is cheap and valuable , very true .she died and a stack of sewing was on the machine .sewing was a must for girls her age back then but some people excelled, others just managed, a girl would prosper her living or she would buy precious jewelery بتستر حالها او بتتقل خلخالها .
Mama sewed all my daughters wedding dresses ,she excelled .
Now sewing is not comon any more , but i sew .
The last dress sewn by mama was a mermaid style dress for Bayan, my youngest daughter, black with knit like fabric , five days later mama passed away ,in a hurry , nothing was wrong she was sitting on the couch and ....
The funny thing is that bayan told her grandma the dress is very nice inchala you dress like it ,mama grinned and shook her head as if saying noway now but bayan continued i mean in jannah in heaven ........ That was her last sewn dress ...
May you rest in peace and may god bless your soul
I Love You
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