‘Meron! It’s you! Where have you been?’
Just for a second, I am hesitant in acknowledging her: compared with me, she seems to be another nobody mindlessly plodding along Bole, so why talk to her? And within that same second, I remember Selam and then Madame and Nazia, and all the pointless superiority acts those frightened people employ that fool no one and fail to understand the equality of life. No, that’s not me. I greet Tsehay with a true smile and a long hug. I give her the real Meron.
‘Lebanon . . . I was a maid.’
‘How was it?’
‘Well, look at me!’
‘Wow! Can you recommend it?’
‘Actually, not at all, it was a total nightmare, I was reduced to nothing . . . but you’ll still go . . .’
Tsehay’s envy is difficult to conceal. It’s caught in her eyes, midway between the false smile and the frown.
‘Yes, I might . . .’
It’s her turn to make the mistake.
Ecclesiastes 1:9: ‘What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done: and there is nothing new under the sun.’
Now to find myself a worthy man.
About the Author
Son of a Fleet Street journalist, Paul Timblick has travelled and taught English in numerous countries over the last fifteen years. One of them – Peru – inspired his first book Perune Juice, a humorous ramble through the highs and lows of Peruvian culture. Completed in 2011, this was the year he met his wife-to-be, Fasika Sorssa, in Ethiopia. She recounted her horrifying experience as a domestic worker in Lebanon, under the Middle Eastern ‘kefala’ system, while also revealing a quirky set of survival skills. The idea for a book that was simultaneously riveting and awareness- raising stirred Paul into writing Fasika’s story. No Lipstick in Lebanon aims to open eyes, minds and hearts.
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This edition first published in 2015
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© Paul Timblick, 2015
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ISBN 978-1-78352-108-1 (trade hbk)
ISBN 978-1-78352-110-4 (ebook)
ISBN 978-1-78352-109-8 (limited edition)
No Lipstick in Lebanon Page 33