I will miss the men at the market by my apartment that make me come inside when they see me waiting for a taxi, so that they can stand outside in the heat and flag one for me, and then negotiate the price to make sure I’m not overcharged. I will miss Dr. Fathi (Santa Claus) and his wife Mona, who makes dishes I wouldn’t touch in the States… yet I haven’t disliked one thing she has cooked. I will miss Yazan, Sereen and Tarek, without whom my experience in Ramallah would have been stunted. I will miss walking home through the winding streets of the old city to the open roads and sprawling hills, even though it leaves my feet screaming and legs burning. I will miss the stories that everyone seems to have… of tragedy and injustice, no matter how much it breaks my heart. I will miss the little girls in Jenin, who line up to shake my hand or kiss my cheek. I will miss the sunsets over a land which harbors such important and captivating history, yet bears the scars of occupation, hate, mistrust, and injustice.

Palestine has grown inside of me, and its roots are digging deeper and deeper within me.

“If the olive trees knew the hands that planted them, their oil would become tears.” -Mahmoud Darwish

It sounds silly, but Israeli intelligence is out of control, and although I’m not engaging in any illegal activities… I’d rather just play it safe. I did get held for 12 hours for simply having Arabic on my water bottle, afterall…..

By the way, I leave Ramallah on Thursday to complete the last portion of the trip with the group. We’ll travel to Tel Aviv, then on to Jordan before leaving back to the States next Wednesday…. I’ll be back on the night of the *edit* 29th!

I traveled to Jerusalem early Friday morning to start the journey. A few of us met there to catch the bus with our old driver Eiman from the beginning part of the trip. From there we went to pick up some people in Neve Shalom and Tel Aviv. After picking everyone up our first stop was Acre or Akko. We grabbed a quick lunch in the old city and wandered through the winding streets….

It was hot, but we had plenty of time to soak in the views…. hookah anyone?

The cats are everywhere…

And of course the Mediterranean….

After that we headed to the Israel/Lebanon border. You’re not actually allowed to travel into Lebanon from Israel and vice versa, so the one border crossing is for UN officials only.

But the view was absolutely gorgeous!

After that we headed to Akhzivland, the land of Eli Avivi, commonly referred to as Israel’s first hippie…. read about it here. It’s about 2 acres and right on the Med, with plenty of camping spots and a few “rooms” you can rent, which were kind of like caves. We were staying in a few rooms since there were 20 of us, but I would love to go back and camp some day. It was packed with families, couples, biker groups, students, and anyone else you can imagine. The atmosphere was incredible, but I’ll to post pictures of it later because they are on a friend’s camera. After swimming for a bit a took a nap and woke up just in time to stumble out of the cave for the sunset. We had a bbq that night and built a great bonfire after eating. The next morning we ate a quick breakfast and headed on the the Golan Heights. Just a quick explanation of the Golan Heights… it’s considered by the UN as occupied Syrian territory, although Israel controls 2/3 of it and has extended Israeli law into the area… making it a de facto part of Israel proper. Read more here. The views were breathtaking…

We then headed to a famous Golan Heights winery for lunch and wine tasting. I’m not a big fan of wine… at all, but the lunch was delicious and it was a great experience overall…

To be continued…..

Sometimes I’m so motivated and so encouraged about the situation, about wanting to come back and really do something… but it’s times like these that I feel like I’m truly wasting my time. It’s the little things that count, though, in my opinion.. making small differences can really add up. But then I go back to my struggle with just easing the situation without addressing the bigger issue. Because if you’re just making things easier the root cause still persists and the problems will never cease. You can patch a wound as much as you want, but it will still bleed and bleed and bleed.

Something big has to happen, I don’t know what exactly, but it has to happen. These people don’t deserve to simply survive, they need to thrive.

Thursday: A few of the girls and I caught a bus to Jerusalem to wander around for the day before going to an interfaith dialogue at a settlement. We walked around the Old City and down Via Dolorosa looking for small gifts and jewelry. I’ve gotten some gorgeous jewelry since I’ve been here. When we got back Matt and Tarek picked us up and we went by an old building that was shot up after the start of the second intifada in 2000. Some guards showed up because the president was going to be heading home soon and they all post up to every corner as he drives through. While they were standing there some little boys ran up wanting to shake their hands, it was so cute… they really look up to them. I’ve uploaded pictures of the building and the kids.

Friday: Tarek and I went out to the Intercontinental Hotel in Jericho to go swimming. The drive was gorgeous as always and the pool was so refreshing. The hotel and pool are kind of like an oasis in the middle of the desert. Once we got back we had a great evening with friends. The other people in the program love to visit Ramallah so we always have guests, I love it. I’ve mastered mint tea now, I can’t wait to make some for everyone back home. Be sure to check out the pictures I posted of the drive to/from Jericho.

Saturday: I rode with Tarek, my boss (Santa Claus), and his wife Mona to drop off Mona and Santa at the Jordan border before Tarek and I went to a meeting. The drive to the border usually only takes about 45 minutes each way, but on the way there we were held up for about 30 minutes due to checkpoints. The way back turned out much worse, though, and we were stuck waiting for around 2 1/2 hours. Kind of ironic, considering the articles I had read on bbc just the day before about Israel easing checkpoints… read here. Sitting in a line of cars is not fun, particularly when it’s so hot that you can’t keep the car running due to risk of over-heating (read, no ac in the desert), anddd especially when you a woman with a small bladder that’s trying to stay hydrated. Now, I was willing and ready to go find a spot in the bush outside, but to an Israeli military officer, seeing someone get out of a car and go hide in the bushes…. well… let’s just say I could hold it only due to the risk of being shot.

Sunday: Sunday was wonderful. After breakfast Sereen and I went to her friends salon to get a manicure and pedicure and then met up with some of the guys later to cook a late lunch. We sat on the porch and smoked hookah (nothing illegal, I promise). Hookah, or argileh, is very common here and you often see old men sitting together in the evenings outside of their shops smoking and talking with each other. I’ll take pictures soon. I usually work on Sunday’s, but since I worked a bit on Saturday I took Sunday off.

Monday: Another pretty laid back work day, but I had an amazing shawarma sandwich! That’s right, I’m eating red meat.

Today: I’m working from home today on some workshop reports… so it’s another relaxed day. Tomorrow I move into a different apartment, surprise! There has been a bit of drama around the Ramallah apartment, but everything has been resolved. Becca is leaving Neve Shalom and she and I will be moving into an apartment just a block or so from my boss’ house. Our landlord is a vet and has around 30 cats and kittens running around (outside of course), 2 dogs, and some turtles! I’m really excited about the move and can’t wait to get a little settled in.

On Thursday I’ll be in Jerusalem at an Independence Day celebration at the US consulate. I’m going as a representative of Tawasul since no one from the office has a permit to go. The next morning I’ll head up north with the group for a short trip to the Golan Heights and the Galilee !

2. Mango juice boxes. The fruit juice here is incredible…

3. The cool nights. Oh my gosh the weather is absolutely beautiful here at night. It becomes quite chilly actually in Ramallah, but it’s perfect for watching the stars and imagining a Palestine without the occupation.

4. The people. Life here is simple, not to say it’s boring.. although it can be, but life here isn’t complicated. It’s incredible, I seem to always stay busy, yet I never feel stressed. No one demands anything of you.

5. Israeli soldiers. This makes my heart pit pat in a different way. I have a feeling I’ll get used to it, but I really don’t want to get used to it. I feel like people here get used to so much injustice that they become accustomed to being interrogated and stopped every few miles, it’s disheartening. Part of their job is to intimidate you, to make you feel like you are less than them, it’s humiliating and terrifying.

On Wednesday night Matt and I headed to Neve Shalom/Wahat al Salaam (Oasis of Peace) where two of our friends from the program are interning. Neve Shalom is the only intentionally “mixed” community with both Arabs and Jews. It sounds lovely I know, but we affectionately refer to it as “Fauxasis of Peace”, or “Peacekatraz”, the former because of the lack of actual interaction between those living here, and the later because of the fact that it is completely secluded from Israeli and Palestinian society. Anyway, I was going to Neve Shalom because the organization I work for, Tawasul, is “co-programming” with them and we are working on a grant proposal for the Japanese government. Since everyone in my office is Palestinian they are not allowed to travel to Neve Shalom because it is in Israel, so I went on behalf of Tawasul to discuss the proposal. As you might have noticed, this isn’t a coffee run internship… I’m actually writing grant proposals for USAID and the Japanese, I love it!

Being the “peacekatraz” that it is, we had to hitchhike out of Neve Shalom and on to Tel Aviv on Friday morning. No worries, this is completely safe and common in Israel… so much so that we even saw a settler hitchhiking with her baby. So we made it to Tel Aviv nice and sweaty from standing on the side of the highway for a bit, but the rest of the day made up for it. Once in Tel Aviv we had a great lunch (I don’t think I’ve had a bad meal since I arrived here), and then did a little shopping. Becca and I found what we thought to be a normal dress shop, but were shocked to find out each section was actually separated by designer… and all the designers were there. We figured this out when we emerged from the dressing room and were bombarded by people (the designers and designers’ assistants) pulling and tugging on the dress we tried on, making sure it was fitting right. It was a bit overwhelming for us, so we got out of there as quickly as possible.

Soon after that we headed to beach. Oh. my. gosh. I have never seen such a crazy and busy beach. There were people EVERYWHERE… and everyone was playing this ping pong-like game, minus the table, so wherever you walked you were always dogging scantly dressed men and ping pong balls (trust me, it hurts when you are hit). But… the water was fabulous, it is the Mediterranean after all! We had a wonderful dinner after cleaning up and then headed out to experience Tel Aviv night life. In case you didn’t know, which I didn’t, Tel Aviv has a… thriving… homosexual community. Some stats suggest at least 20% of Tel Aviv is homosexual, others say it’s even higher, I’m with the others. This might be politically incorrect, but you know whereever there is a gay population that high… there are great night clubs! Whether you are a “partier” or not, you have to experience Tel Aviv night life.

The next day was the perfect beach day, and my skin shows it. The journey back to Ramallah last night was an adventure to say the least. We were all exhausted and wanted to be in bed. Public transportation here is a bit of a hassle and communication barriers only exacerbate the situation. We took a taxi and dropped off Becca at the nearest stop to Neve Shalom and then headed to Jerusalem to drop of Keki and catch another cab to the checkpoint before Ramallah. Walking through the checkpoint is usually much easier than driving through since cars get so backed up, so we usually get dropped of at the checkpoint, walk through, and then catch another cab on the other side. I took a few very quick photos of the inside of the checkpoint since it was late and not many guards were around, it’s actually illegal to take photos there… so you’re lucky you get to see them. There weren’t many guards because we were going back in to the West Bank, there is always heavy security going the other way, into Israel. The checkpoints are humiliating, you’re herded like cattle into separate chambers and occassionally yelled at by an Israeli soldier behind some glass who wants to interrogate you. Anyway, after walking through we noticed there weren’t many cabs, so we started walking while hoping we could find one on the way. It was late, dark, and in a rough city right outside of Ramallah. It was definitely the first time I felt a little nervous… mostly because of the fact I wasn’t dressed properly, I was still in a dress from spending a day in liberal Tel Aviv. No one really gave me trouble and I was with two other guys, but I still stuck out like, well, an American girl in the West Bank. We were finally picked up in a van that I’m still convinced wasn’t actually a taxi, but it got us to where we needed to go for cheap.

I’m very happy to be back in Ramallah, Tel Aviv is a great place to visit and have fun, but Ramallah is where I feel most comfortable. This weekend a few of us might head to the Dead Sea and stay in a kibbutz for a night and spend a day at the spa. I feel as though I’m taking advantage of every last moment here, but it’s still flying by.

He’s right.

We all sat, Tarek, Yazan, Serene and I, watching the sunset over the hills of Ramallah and listened to the adhan sing out in all directions, as Yazan said he wished he could be on the beaches of Tel Aviv watching the same scene. But he can’t, and neither can Serene or Tarek, all because they are Palestinian. A few days ago I excitedly invited them all to come with us to the Dead Sea in a few weeks, and to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv this week for Becca’s birthday, and it took me a few minutes to catch myself after I realized they can’t come. It’s humiliating for them… to be stuck and not able to travel around freely like other human beings. Freedom of movement is a human right.

A few nights ago a small group of us went out to eat with Tarek. As we sipped our hot tea he began telling us a story that will haunt me for the rest of my life, a story about being chained to a fence, his right wrist to his left ankle, after being stripped of his clothes and beaten by the IDF. His crime? None. He was caught standing by a supposedly stolen car. A car which he had never seen before. A car to which the IDF had keys to and forced him by gun point to drive to the middle of nowhere. These stories are becoming common to me, though, and every Palestinian you meet has their own experience to share. Last night Yazan told me about being beaten and arrested at a checkpoint not far from Ramallah after mouthing off to an Israeli officer, it’s even on tape.

These are not stone-throwing anti-semites. They are educated, well off, and respectable human beings. The most shocking thing to me is they don’t seem angry. I mean sure, they don’t laugh about it, but they’re not instigating violence or strapping bombs to themselves. Honestly, I’m shocked there isn’t more violence here, because if I had endured what they experience in just a year…

What would you do? Sit on your hands and wait for the powers that be to decide that you deserve basic human rights? I’m not promoting or justifying violence or terrorism, but it’s about time we see these people as people. As human beings just like you and I.

Peace and Justice.

Hope to update more later, love from Ramallah!

Needless to say, this program is exhausting. But no matter how sleep deprived I am, I enjoy every moment of everything we do here. We are speaking to heads of NGOs, politicians on both sides, editors and contributors of newspapers like the Times and Ha’aretz, it’s absolutely incredible. The amazing thing about it all is that all of us, even those of us who consider ourselves very educated about the conflict, are as confused as ever.

Anyway, I have to brag about going to the Dead Sea. I posted pictures, but no photo can do that place justice. It was absolutely breathtaking. The feeling of being in it is indescribable and so strange, and the mud makes your skin so soft! The locals were incredibly nice and helped us find the “good mud” rather than the “tourist mud”. I wish I had photos of us all covered in it, hopefully I can take more pictures when I go back. I’m planning on taking a day to go back to one of the spas there for a massage and such, I need it!

Going to Haifa tomorrow, be ready for pictures of the Bahai Gardens!!