I watch headlights slowly approach the border checkpoint on the hillside opposite. “When we came from Syria, each one of us had a backpack and a pair of underwear,” Maher Kiwan laughs, a broad smile lighting up his eyes. He waves his cigarette as he gestures, his other arm is draped affectionately on his wife Rufaida’s shoulder.
“We came with nothing. We’re proud of ourselves that we’ve worked hard to build our lives, our home, our business,” adds Rufaida as she raises both hands and gestures for us to start eating. She’s been cooking all day. Us, we’re her business. And tourism has become central to the life that her and her family have built for themselves.
