At our home in the
Lakes Fateeha was much happier and conversed with Syb in their own
Arabic/English language, she was most interested in the way Mum ran the house.
She was so naive about the west that she had even packed an iron to press their
things because she wasn’t sure if we had them in the UK. I can’t remember much
of our day to day holiday together but one or two high lights will do. Mansour
wanted to see a Christian church and there was a nice old one in the village
that we went to. In those days churches were left open for people to use.
At the door I had
to stop the two of them taking their shoes off as they would at the mosque.
Once inside the girls stayed by the door at the back of the building while
Mansour and I went for a walk round as I explained how the service was
conducted and the church used. Suddenly a middle aged lady appeared from
nowhere and took Mansour on a guided tour pointing out all the features and
dates of the church and its history. She really was knowledgeable and also made
some kind remarks about the influence of the Arabs on the world. However she
was one of those people who naturally have a loud commanding voice, poor
Fateeha who understood little English stood at the back convinced that Mansour
was getting the riot act read to him for entering a Christian church. When we
left it took her husband a few minutes to convince her otherwise, in fact he
had enjoyed the tour and learned a little about our history.
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