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Because evil
walks free in this world some people have to flee from their homes and their
country.
"Don't worry they are only playing with
us." Her mother said as they found
safety in their house in Gaza, Palestine.
"That's why I'm here, in Sweden." She explains.
She is beautiful: Big brown,
round sharp eyes. Small hands like butterflies,
wrists of an angel; thin, narrow, white, soft.
She translated English and Arabic to Gaza refugees. I asked her if she saw people getting hurt in
the explosions, the bombs. "Yes, of
course," was her short, abrupt answer.
But she said it with closed eyes.
I could see her pupils moving behind her eyelids as if she saw those
images again behind them. Her face
twitched.
She lost her cousin in a bomb explosion in a mosque in
Palestine. Her mother told them,
"Don't worry, they are only playing with us," every time they heard a
bomb explode. She woke up with sounds of
disaster and explosions every day.
"I was scared".
She wears a black jacket with big black buttons and
check pink and black lining. The scarf
around her head matches the make-up on her eyes every day. Today her scarf is pink which matches the
pink eye-liner on her eyelids. The day
before, she wore a sky-blue scarf which matched the color on her eyelids. I am amazed at this. I met her while studying. She studied Swedish with me and was one of
the favorites in the class (as well as one of the strongest students). She was chosen as one of three of the class leaders,
the only female and had to represent us on occasional meetings. I ran into her after class. We were both on our way to the library. While we crossed the street, she took my
hand, maybe out of pure reaction, I don't know.
And thus began her story telling.
Her family arranged a marriage with a family they knew
in Palestine. She "met" her
future husband-to-be on MSN messenger.
They spoke briefly. Then the trip
was planned and finalized. But first she
had to get married. In Palestine. Her future husband lived in Sweden.
The next day she brought her wedding pictures to class
and she showed them to me with a proud stillness in her eyes and on her lips. She looked beautiful in her white wedding
dress. She was in a big hall with family
and friends. The pictures celebrate the great
occasion and the Palestine photographer grabs your attention by putting
emphasis on the glitter, extravagance and beauty of it all. You will find Hebba posing in pictures with a
Photoshop-background of "I love you".
This was the only and first time I saw her hair. A reddish, dark brown with highlights put in
for the wedding. She got married, had
the whole glittery wedding day with her family and friends, but there was one
thing missing: The groom. The last couple of pictures, with the
background of "I love you", were made for the groom, to be showed to
him when she arrives in Sweden.
When she made her way towards Sweden, it was her first
time traveling. She really wanted me to
know about the people who helped her along the way. On the airport "a man with blond
hair" helped her without her having enough courage to ask. She lost her baggage at the stop over, but
luckily he helped her retrieve it. Her
husband now (as they married in Palestine without him being present) waited for
her at the airport in Gothenburg. He
later told her while waiting for her at the airport, he saw a small black woman
who smiled and looked at him. He thought
it might be Hebba (as they never saw each other before) and asked the women if
she was Hebba. He admitted to Hebba that
he was really afraid. But when he saw
the real Hebba, he picked her up and hugged her.
When she talks about her new husband she
smiles shyly and the love that she so obviously feels for him glows all around
her, like an extra, protective blanket embracing and protecting her. And then she told me shyly "I am
pregnant". Happiness could be described
if only I could describe her face at that precise moment.
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