Damasco, some years ago (Jose Javier Martin Espartosa/flickr)
Sana Aljendi is a Syrian migrant, currently living in Turkey. For Sana, today Syria is just a box full of jewelry and memories of Damascus, her home city
The Damascus of my childhood is now just a colorful fairytale. So begin instead here, in my little room in Istanbul. On those days when I cannot pretend to myself anymore that the street outside could be a street in Syria, that around the corner could be the jasmine-scented home of my childhood, I sit in my little room and open my secret box.
First, there is my birth jewelry, golden gifts from family members and their friends to celebrate my arrival. There are blue stones, glass and turquoise, set in gold – in Arab culture, these blue eyes are given as blessings to protect the infant from evil eyes. My first ear-rings. The first letter of my name in gold. S for Sana. S for the person I used to be and the country that I left behind."
Read more at Laundry , a literary magazine about fashion.
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