5 years ago - Being Welcomed

Although I told my uncle that we'd get a taxi, he insisted to meet us at the airport. I was excited to meet him again and the process of come out of the airport felt too long. When I finally came out and saw him, I suddenly felt like a shy little girl which surprised me.

"Asalamu'alaykum," I said with a nod.

"Wa'alaykumsalaam," He replied, embracing me. I met his wife next and shook hands with their daughter. Then, I introduced Isa to them.

"He looks a lot like your dad," Isa said when the introductions were over and we had started walking towards the car.

"No he doesn't. He acts like him, sure. They have the same style of walking and talking. But they don't resemble each other visually."

"Are you blind? Yes they do! If your Abu was here, they'd pass as twins!" Isa argued.

"Are you blind? Abu had a longer nose, his is round. Abu had jet black straight hair and his is dark brown and slightly curled," I responded.

"Oh please, that hair could pass as black. Everyone's hair becomes a little brown in the sunlight. And they have the same look in their eyes," Isa explained.

"That's true. But I'd regard that as their expressions resembling. Their features are very different," I argued.

"No! They're very similar. There are more similarities than differences," Isa said and I decided I didn't want to argue.

"Let's just agree to disagree," I said and Isa agreed.

It was when we got to the car that Isa uttered his first complaint.

"Why does the heat feel like it's trying to bury me?"

"What sort of description of heat is that?" I asked, as we climbed into the car.

"It's like I can feel it pushing down on every part of my skin. And I'm breathing in heat too," Isa explained.

"You'll get used to it," I comforted him and turned to the people who came to collect us. My cousin was able to converse with Isa but my uncle and his wife struggled. I did my best to translate the conversations so no one felt left out.

When the conversations died down, I started noticing how people looked into the car to see Isa and I found the stares hilarious. I didn't blame any single one of the curious Pakistanis who looked fascinated by Isa. While we went through the cities, it wasn't so bad. People had seen foreigners. But in the secluded villages, people from outside of South Asia were only seen on TV. Everyone was curious as to who this was.

When we got home, my cousins were waiting for us and we all hugged. I fulfilled formality with the ones I was less familiar with and chatted with the ones I knew. It was half way into a conversation about the crops which got ruined by heavy rain last year that I realised Isa was sitting alone after a failed attempt at communicating with my uncle.

I excused myself to sit next to him.

"He doesn't understand a word I'm saying. No one does. Let's win this place and go back!" Isa said, sounding as if he was homesick already.

"It's okay, I understand you. Come on, enjoy your stay. Go play with the neighbour's goats," I replied and Isa narrowed his eyes at me.

"How old do I look?"

"No one's too old to play with goats! And if you don't want to play with animals, then go and milk a cow."

"I think I'll just pray and take a nap instead," He replied.

"Fine! You boring man. The toilets are there and I don't know what condition they're in so I apologise in advance," I told him. Isa shook his head and walked off.

I went back to chatting with my cousins when I suddenly heard Isa shout,

"ESHA!" He repeated my name a few times, alarming me.

"What? What happened!" I asked, leaping from my seat and knocking on the door.

"Don't knock on the door! There's a lizard on it!" I sighed in relief.

"Remember what I told you? These lizards are everywhere. As long as you don't mess around with them, they're harmless."

"I remember what you told me! One bite can kill you!" I wondered if it would be sinful to lie just so he'd stop being scared.

"They never bite! Usually they run away from you. Just open the door, it'll be okay."

"Esha, it's crawling around!"

"Just undo the lock and I'll open it, okay?"

"Okay," Isa replied weakly. It was a couple of minutes later, after much encouragement, that Isa managed to unlock the door. I opened it for him and he walked out, looking frightened.

I looked back at the faces of my amused cousins.

"Don't worry, the lizards don't bite," One said and the others joined in, comforting Isa though Isa looked mad.

"I gotta go pray," He told me and I pointed him to the main bedroom.

"There's a prayer mat in the grey suitcase," I informed him. He went to pray and I began to explain to my cousins how there aren't any lizards in our houses in England. Even I was a bit freaked out by them as a child. But then my father took away my fear by something quite cruel. It was fun at the time but then I realised it probably wasn't a good thing to do. He taught me how to kill a lizard in a way that the tail would come of and flap around on its own. At least it took my fear away.

"Esha, there's these weird little bugs and these fat ants everywhere, even inside the room. They're crawling around on the bed! How are we going to sleep? Can we stay at your cousins' house until the insects are taken care of?" Isa asked after coming back from praying.

"You'll get used to it, Isa. Don't worry."

"What do you mean? We're not going to do anything about it?"

"It's summer, there are insects everywhere. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is. Besides, they're harmless. Most of the time."

"So you're saying... Oh. Darn." Isa looked annoyed and frightened. "Can we at least install air conditioning, I feel like I'm going to melt." I was expecting him to complain about the weather again soon.

"That's expensive! What's the point if we're only going to stay for a little while. Besides, we have this huge fan, courtesy of thoughtful uncle," I pointed out and Isa responded with a frown.

"I wanna go home," He muttered.

"Oh come on! We just got here! You'll get used to things and look at everything positively."

"How do people live here?"

"Okay, stop now. This country is awesome! Open your eyes to see it. Come with me," I said, taking his hand and telling my cousins we were going to see the fields behind the house. They all got up and followed.

"I'm too hot and jet lagged to walk," Isa complained. I sighed with annoyance.

"Just come!" I took him to where there were acres of fields with crops and close by, there were huge hills too which I loved to climb.

"Look around you, Isa. Isn't it pretty? Doesn't it make you feel content? And look at all the crops! Fresh organic food grown right in front of your very own eyes. It's all so amazing. And look in the distance at all those buffaloes and cows roaming around, eating grass. And can you see a few goats near the hills. Now stop being negative and enjoy your time here, for me? Please?"

"Visually, it is quite nice I guess."

"Have I ever disrespected Kenya? No! Now don't disrespect my Pakistan or my Palestine," I said, crossing my arms.

"I didn't know you were patriotic," Isa said, surprised.

"It's more like an emotional attachment because it's where my parents grew up. I've only been Palestine once but I've come here a enough times to remember most details of this place. Of course I'm going to feel like it's a part of me. It was a huge part of my father," I explained, voicing feelings I didn't know I had.

"Interesting," He replied.

"I mean, it's natural, isn't it? Wasn't the Prophet, peace be upon him, attached to Makkah?"

"Yeah but-"

"Stop arguing with everything I say and let's go back now," I said, pulling Isa's arm.

"Don't you want to go on the hills?" A cousin asked.

"Not today. I'm tired," I said. I felt jet lagged too.

We went back to the house and sat on the beds made of wood and woven straw. I noticed Isa kept fidgeting and I asked if he was okay. He was about to say something but he nodded instead. I guessed he was trying not to complain.

It was late into the evening, after Isha, when my cousins left and Isa and I got ready for bed.

"Why are the beds so hard?" He asked, barely lying down.

"Because you're spoilt. It's not that bad."

"That doesn't make sense! How can the bed be hard because I'm spoilt. Besides, I'm not complaining about the ants, am I?"

"Maybe you're not complaining..." I smiled, trying not to laugh again at how Isa was dressed. He had tucked his shirt into his trousers and he tucked his trousers into his socks so that ants wouldn't get into his clothes and bite him at night.

"How can you be so comfortable?"

"Because I know I'll get used to it in a few days. I always do so there's no point in acting like you are. Also, I feel a bit defensive of all these things you're worrying about because this is what makes the villages so awesome," I said, feeling strangely affectionate of everything.

"So when are we going to start the court case?" Isa asked, changing the subject.

"Chacha (uncle) Ijaz has started it already for me. It may take some time," I told him.

"How long are we talking about? I have to get back to work," Isa reminded me.

"If it takes that long, you can go back and I'll stay."

"Alone?" He asked and I nodded. "There is no way I'm leaving you here alone. Besides, there's no point in going back if you're not there," Isa said in a quiet voice.

"Elaborate please."

"You know what I mean," He scowled. I grinned and stared at him, waiting for him to continue. "I don't want to be at home without you. I'd rather stay here and sleep with ants and bathe with lizards and be with you than be at home without you," Isa said shyly.

"Aww! You are so cute!" I squealed and Isa chuckled. I forced some more nice comments out of him before we decided to sleep.

I wasn't sure how much I had slept before Isa woke me up.

"I think I've gone blind!" He told me. I looked around, unable to see anything.

"Relax, the electricity's gone. You're not blind."

"But I can't see anything! I'm not sure if my eyes are even open." Isa's grip on me tightened. I thought Isa was so big and brave! But he was being such a kid that I couldn't help but laugh, only in my head of course. I didn't want him to feel like he was being laughed at.

"Your eyes shouldn't be open, Isa. Go to sleep," I said, turning around. There was a moment of silence before Isa whispered,

"Esha, I am holding onto you, right?" I bit back laughter when suddenly, evil thoughts filled my mind.

"Are you sure you're holding onto me? Maybe it's the pillow." I could feel Isa's strong hold on my arm loosen.

"It feels like an arm," He said, sounding terrified.

"Are you sure?" He then pinched me and I gasped in pain.

"You're an idiot, Esha!" Isa shouted with a tone of relief. I laughed uncontrollably, shaking the bed. Isa continued to tell me how horrible I was, making me laugh harder.

It was when I calmed down that we tried to sleep again.

"Esha, it's so hot!" Isa complained after a while again.

"Take your socks of then!"

"But... ants," Isa replied.

"Then suffer."

"You're more mean than usual here."

"You're more wimpy than usual here.'

"I'm not wimpy!"

"Please, for the love of Allah, go to sleep," I begged.

"Okay, I'll try," Isa replied. I felt a bit bad so I added,

"Love you." Isa mumbled something similar back before finally, falling asleep too. Though it was hot, too hot to cuddle, I couldn't help but hug Isa. Wherever I went and whatever the situation, he always had the ability to make me feel better whether he tried to or not.