Nura's Magical Tatreez

Girl Tales

The final episode of season eight follows Nura, a young girl in the town of Freshwater, as she navigates the heartbreak of outgrowing her fa

Key takeaways

• Nura's grandparents, Sido and Teta, immigrated to Freshwater from Palestine following an open-door policy.
• Tatreez is a traditional Palestinian embroidery style featuring symbolic designs like stars and moons.

Main topics

• Palestinian heritage
• Tatreez embroidery

Notable quotes

Our creative juices sometimes flow the best when we're in a pickle.

Conclusion

A heartwarming tale that teaches children how to embrace change and fi

Transcript preview

Speaker 4 (0:00) Hey, Tale Blazers. I'm Rebecca Cunningham, and this is Girl Tales, a kid's podcast packed with girl power and stories where every child's voice Speaker 2 (0:15) matters. Speaker 4 (0:19) Today is our final episode of season eight. I cannot believe that a little dream I had back in 2017 has made it this far and has reached all of you. I am so, so grateful that you listen to our stories. It means so much to me. The Girl Tales team is taking a break until later on this year. If you want to stay updated on when our new episodes will be out, grown-ups, you can sign up for our newsletter, and you'll find the link in our show notes. Before we get started, I'd like to send a lot of special shout-outs and a lot of birthday shout-outs that we've got to cover because we're taking a break. So first, some special shout-outs to Shay, Josie, Lola, and Nicoletta from Carlsbad. And to Scarlett and Zach in Scotland. And some birthday shoutouts. Not everybody's birthday is this week, but there will be a lot of birthdays that we're going to miss, so these are just in case. Happy birthday to Ren and Ryan. Sydney. Roxy. Eleanor. Helen. Paloma. Taryn and Bryn from Collingwood, Ontario. Nettie, Leah, Reed, Josiah on Bainbridge Island. Emily C. Audrey McGrath, Spike, Ziggy, and Rocket, Bernadette, Felicity, Cora, Sloane, Speaker 1 (1:45) and Speaker 4 (1:45) Helena. I hope all of your birthdays are awesome. Thank you to each and every one of you for listening to Girl Tales. It means so much to me. Grownups, Girl Tales is brought to you by families like yours. If you would like to hear your child's name at the top of our next episode, Or if you would like me to wish them a happy birthday, head to patreon.com slash girl tales and join a team today. Oh, and hey, do you love girl tales and making your own stories at home? Well, the girl tales starter pack is made just for you. It includes a vintage book of fairy tales, a tail blazer pencil, a girl tales notebook, bookmark, and sticker. Everything you need to dream up your own magical adventures. Grownups can grab one now at girltalespodcast.com slash shop. Now on to our episode. This is Noora's Magical to Trees, the final part in our open door series. Enjoy! Speaker 4 (2:52) I'd like to tell you about a friend of mine. Her name is Noora. Noora was born in freshwater, but her family originally came from Palestine. Noora's grandparents moved to freshwater back when Mayor Lucinda announced her open-door policy many, many years ago. You see, back then, Noora's grandparents had been forced out of their home in Palestine. and lived as refugees in tents that offered little protection from stormy winters and sizzling summers. A refugee is someone who had to leave their country because it wasn't safe to live there anymore. Freshwater's open-door policy gave them a chance to build a real home again. Speaker 4 (3:39) In Palestine, Noura's grandparents lived in a beautiful village called Deir Yassin. They had an orchard filled with olive, fig, and guava trees. When he wasn't working as a stonecutter, Noura's grandpa, Sido, was outside taking care of his beloved trees. He would water them and watch their branches dance with the wind and the chirping sunbirds. Noura's grandma, Teta, was known as the most skilled Tatris dressmaker in the village. Tatris is a special kind of embroidery in Palestine. Women and girls would wear Tatris dresses that were bursting with fun designs like stars, moons, and the many creatures and trees of Palestine. As a matter of fact, Noura's favorite dress in the whole wide world was the one her Teta made her on her ninth birthday last year. Teta chose her favorite colors, pink and turquoise, and designed the delicate embroidery into Noora's favorite things, popcorn, popsicles, and pizza. She even embroidered in Noora's beloved freshwater magical friends. This dress will keep Speaker 3 (4:57) you connected to both your past and your present, Teta told her. Speaker 2 (5:01) Oh, Teta! Thank you. I will wear this dress forever. Speaker 4 (5:06) Noora had promised as she twirled around. Speaker 4 (5:11) When Sito and Teta arrived to Freshwater all those years ago, Sito opened Freshwater's very first shawarma restaurant. He used his stone-cutting skills to shape the best sizzling shawarma wraps in town. Pizza may be Nura's favorite food, but Sito's shawarma is a close second. Nura would sit on a stool and watch Sito wrap layers of juicy, marinated chicken or beef. into the shape of an upside-down mountain around a vertical skewer that would rotate the meat round and round, like a merry-go-round, as it cooked to a smoky sizzle. Nura's taste buds did somersaults as Sito shaved off thin slices of the spiced shawarma with his knife, sprinkled the meat over a warm loaf of pita bread, and drizzled his special lemony-garlicky tahini sauce. Noora would always help with the last step, sprinkling chopped tomatoes, parsley, and pickles like festive confetti, and wrapping the sandwich into a tight roll.