Building homes

This piece was originally written in 2020, for the yearbook in the village where I grew up. It’s about moving home, and building new ones.

Buildings in Baghdad’s historic old city. Credit: Lizzie Porter

How many ways can you build a home? In my case, four, at present. There is my calm, mid-century second-floor flat in Beirut, Lebanon, which I share with my dear friend Leila and our dogs Freddie and Bunduq (‘hazelnut’ in Arabic). That home was badly damaged in the enormous chemical explosion that…