Olives in Marda
cathi on October 20th, 2004I?m fifteen feet up, cradled by the branches of an ancient olive tree and with a fine view to the hills all around, dotted with villages.
The branches are heavy with purple olives and the villages are trying to get most of the harvest in before the month of Ramadan starts and they begin fasting from sunrise till sunset. Imagine working all day under the hot sun with no food or water! The olives are hard to the touch, but dig in a nail and the oil oozes out. The trees are beautiful, some are hundreds of years old and they are tended with love and care, as are the rocky terraces in which they are planted. The soil is red here and there?s not much greenery but if left untended the terraces soon become choked with thistles and prickly shrubs. The trees are a silvery colour ? the bark is pale and the leaves silvery-green. Everything is dusty and we?re soon also covered in dust.
Reaching out to another branch I squeeze off the olives from the ends and they drop to the tarps laid out below with a sound like fat raindrops falling. The annual harvest from each tree is worth about 200 shekels ? about thirty pounds sterling ? a considerable contribution to the village?s economy which is so stunted by the restrictions imposed by the occupation. It?s slow, steady work, and whole families come out to do it, laughing and bantering in quick Arabic. I look over to the opposite branch to see a grandmother balanced gracefully amidst the topmost leaves ? she must be in her 60s, dressed in a traditional Palestinian black robe adorned with embroidery, headscarf and beautiful gold earrings. She climbs trees like a teenager!
I?m amazed at eh way the family works ? from 6.30 till 11.30 without a break. By the time we stop for lunch I?m really hungry. The family shares delicious food with us ? potato, cauliflower, hummus and bread, and we manage a conversation in Arabic, English and much laughter.
By the time we get home in late afternoon I?m hot and dusty. Tired, too, but in a relaxed way, and sitting on the steps of our house in the late afternoon sunshine, looking out to the hills on the horizon, I feel very satisfied that we?ve been a part of this village?s life, even if only for a few days.
