Wednesday, August 8, 2018 2:27 AM

On the square around the clocktower, the new is layered on the old. Strings of electric lights run along the fronts of the buildings that face the tower. Chain clothing stores and currency exchanges are nestled next to small eateries catering to tourists' tastes. I see the first American-style fried chicken place that I've noticed since moving here. I'm tempted to try it, but I go for the hummus joint next door. The workers speak English to everybody, even the group of women speaking German to one another. As I sit and wait for my order, I see how the building has been changed for modern times. What must have been a single long room is now subdivided. Recent plaster fills the space under older arches made of stones and mortar. The long slabs, flat and pale, echo the bits of lamb that spin silently on the vertical shawarma spit below the apex of the arch. Beige meets beige, though in my mind as I picture it later, gold reflects gold.