Jacob's Well

Friday, March 31, 2017

Today, I just stayed in Nablus.  In the morning, I went to the market to get some vegetables because there would is nothing available on Friday evenings.
In the afternoon, I took a taxi with Elizabeth and Will to the Church of Jacob's Well.  We arrived at 2:05 and the sign on the gate said it's open 9-12 and 2-5.  We walked down the street a little to stall for some time.  The church is right at the entrance to Balata Camp.  We walked down the street to look at the entrance a little.  (I had been there before.)  Balata has a reputation as being a rough area.  People have told us we shouldn't go in the camp unless we have a local person with us.  As we walked down the street, a group of teenage boys came up to talk to us.  They didn't do anything wrong and they were polite, but it feels like when you talk to kids in a rough neighborhood at home.

Then we went back to the church and rang the bell.  A man came and invited us in.  When I was there two years ago, there were crowds of people. This time, it was only the three of us.  He showed us around and took us downstairs to see the well.  It is said to be Jacob's well and also the well where Jesus met the Samaritan woman.  He poured some water into the well and told us to listen carefully to hear how long it takes the water to reach the bottom.  It was quite a while.  It is definitely a very deep well.  We drank a little of the water.  This is an orthodox church and the priest there is Greek and was sent there by the patriarch in Jerusalem.  I saw this man the last time, painting icons.  Today, he was in Jerusalem.  He has painted all kinds of paintings on the walls of the church and has painted many icons.  He also makes mosaics.  Here's the man who gave us the tour:

Here is the well

Icons for sale

Before this priest, there was another priest.  He was killed by an Israeli settler.  He was chopped into pieces with an ax.  After that, all the Christians who had been coming to this church were afraid and left.  There is no congregation anymore.  There are no services at the church.  The priest goes into Rafidia on Sundays and has a service there.  Sometimes, groups of Russians, Greeks or Armenians come and then there is a service in the Jacob's Well Church.

As we were walking back, we decided to look for Tell Balata.  It is the ruins of the original city at Nablus.  Will study archeology, so he was very interested in finding it.  We followed signs and found it.  It's bigger and more organized than I expected.  It has a visitor center also.  We saw a short film and wandered around the tell.  They charge 10 shekels for that.  Then we took a taxi home.

A little while later, we went out for one last walk.  We walked around our neighborhood and looked for the Roman amphitheater.  Heide had told us she saw it.  Right about when we had given up and bought ice cream in a store, we saw it.  It's very overgrow and full of garbage (including an old washing machine!)  It's really a shame that it has been so neglected.  

Sebastia

Thursday, March 30, 2017
Today, I took a day trip to Sebastia with Elizabeth and Will.  They are two new volunteers who came just this week.  Sebastia is very close.  We didn't need to leave early, so we had breakfast at the market at around 10:30 and then left Nablus at 11:30.  We had a traditional Palestinian breakfast: salad, hummus, felafel and pita.  (I think I took the photo too early - before he brought the hummus and the tea.)

It took only 20 minutes in the shared taxi and cost only 5.5 shekels to get there.  It has lots of ruins.  We went into the visitor center and the man there came out with us to show us the ruins.  He showed us around for about 90 minutes or more.  The ruins are quite amazing.  They have some from the Canaanite period, the Hellenist period, Roman and Byzantine.  Unfortunately, there were very few people there.  It really would be a wonderful tourist site if more people would come.  Sebastia also is supposed to be the place where John the Baptist's body is buried (not his head - that's in Damascus).
Here are some photos:

Some pretty wildflowers

Here's a rock from the Hellenic period that has the Olympic symbol on it.

I climbed up a hill to take a photo with the Palestinian flag.

Here's an interesting mural that was on a wall on the road going into old Sebastia

And, just as we were going to look for the shared taxi back to Nablus, we passed a man selling cotton candy!

Getting more roommates

Monday, March 27, 2017
I don't know if I mentioned that I have a roommate, now.  Originally, I had my own room.  Now, I share with Citgem.  Heide shares with Elizabeth.  Reema still has her own room.  Silvia was sharing with Lina, but Lina has gone back home.  Apparently, more volunteers will be coming for the festival, which starts April 5 and we will be getting additional people in our house.
I thought I would mind sharing my room, but actually, it's fine sharing with Citgem.  I'm not sure if I am spelling her name correctly.  It's a Turkish name, pronounced cheatem.  She is half German and half Turkish.
The weather is getting warmer, so things are getting much more pleasant.  I also have to say that I am feeling more and more comfortable here.  At first, lesson plans seemed to take a really long time and I felt like I never had a spare minute.  Now, everything feels easier and I feel like I have lots of free time.
Sorry.  No new photos.

Some market photos

Saturday, March 25, 2017
I think the market looks like a typical Middle Eastern market, but here are some photos.  I don't know whether I mentioned that all the vendors in the market are men.  There are plenty of women buying, but none are selling.  Also, traditionally, men should not touch women, so when they give me my change, they always drop it into my palm without touching.  I like that here they do talk to me in Arabic.  In Fez and Beirut, people would always talk to me in English.  Here, I ask the price in Arabic and they answer in Arabic.

Vegetables for sale:  They are very cheap.  You ask the vendor for a plastic bag (small).  Then you put whatever you want in it - as if it's your basket at the supermarket.  When I'm done, I hand it to him and he will take things out to weigh them separately.  Then, he tells me the total, ties the bag in a knot and gives it back to me.

I don't know what this is, but the Palestinians must like it a lot because I always see it in the market.

A pizza stand, shawarma stand and juice stand.  A personal-size pizza is less than $2.  I haven't tried the juice at the juice stand.

Fish and meat.  I haven't bought any of it yet.   I've gotten cooked meat, here, but so far, I have only cooked vegetables and eggs.  We don't have the best kitchen.  But we will probably cook some meat in a small group soon.

Olives (often sold at the same stand as olive oil). Olives are expensive, but delicious.

Sheesha pipes I'm not going to buy one, but I did taste sheesha in a cafe in Hebron.  Everyone smokes it in cafes here.

Ramallah

Thursday, March 23, 2017
Today, Heide, Andrew and I went to Ramallah.  Heide had a friend (Majdi) who works in Ramallah and commutes there every day.  He offered to drive us there.  It was about a 90 minute drive.  Mardi dropped us off in the center of the city and we had breakfast and walked around a little.  Then we walked to he Mahmoud Darwish Museum.  It's not very big, but the architecture is nice.

Then we went to the Yasser Arafat Museum.  Arafat is definitely considered a hero by all Palestinians - and they all believe he was poisoned.  Here's a photo of his tomb.

At around 3:00, we met Majdi and he and Mohamed drove us back to Nablus.  We first stopped just outside Nablus at Majdi's home to meet his father and brother and have tea.  Palestinians always insist on giving you tea.  Anyway, it was nice weather and an easy day where we didn't have to deal with public transportation.  I would like to go back to Ramallah some time.  The Arafat Museum is similar to the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis - too much for one visit.

A day to get stuff done

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Last night, we had a professor from AnNajar University come and talk to us about the conflict.  It was very interesting and he was also very funny.  The room was completely full.  After the discussion, the professor asked us to go to the Al Yasmine Hotel for tea.  About ten of us went.  The tea was good there.  It had sage in it.  It was very different to walk through the old city late at night.  When we left the hotel to come back, it was midnight.  The market/old city looks so different then.  And the professor was leading us down the streets singing Palestinian national songs.  It was lots of fun.

Today was a nice day.  I usually have Arabic from 8 to 10:30 in the morning, so I have to get out early, but Jameel's mom was having surgery today, so I told him we should cancel the class.  Then, it turned out that he didn't need to go there, so he called Heide and me and asked if we wanted to go out for breakfast.  We went to a little place in the market.  We just put all the dishes in the middle and shared:  hummus, omelet, and yogurt with mint and spices in it.  You dip your pita bread in it.  Then, we walked somewhere else to get a coffee.  And, after all that, it was time for the three of us to go to the Askar Camp to teach the boys.  Heide and I were saying tonight that we have really come to like those boys.  They're very sweet and enthusiastic.  It's fun to teach them.
I also used this afternoon to get stuff done.  I washed clothes, went food shopping and washed my hair.  And now the weekend here!

Heide knows someone who is going to Ramallah tomorrow.  If he has room in the car, I will go, too.  We might just stay for the day and then come back.  Or, if there's a lot to see, we will stay overnight.

And, I forgot to say, Jameel's mom's surgery went fine.

Mothers Day in Palestine

Tuesday, March 21
I thought today would be a boring day with nothing to write, but it turns out it's Mothers Day!  Children give flowers and gifts to their mothers.  Everyone is selling flowers on the street.

Nora called Jafar (my local guide) to say that my after-school class was cancelled.  (Maybe for Mother's Day.)  I still went to teach my classes at the public school.   I haven't ever put any photos of the school up and it's very beautiful.  Here are some photos:
The principal's office:

The entry area:

Two of the hallways:

I'll take some photos of the kids and classroom another time.  (I'm usually busy teaching when I'm in the classrooms)
Today, the children's moms had brought lunch for the teachers because it's Mother's Day.  (The school has both boys and girls in classes together, but the teachers are all women.)  They invited me to their lunch.  Afterwards, we had coffee (always little cups of delicious Arabic coffee with cardamom.) in the principal's office.

Starting to have routine days

Monday, March 20, 2017
I think I'm reaching the point where there just isn't very much new each day.  I had Arabic class this morning, as usual.  Then, since Jameel is also the volunteer who accompanies Heide and me to our class at the Askar class, we went together to the training center for 20 minutes to use their internet and their bathroom.  (Also, just to kind of waste time since we didn't need to meet Heide yet).  Then we walked down to the taxis.  Heide caught up with us on the way.
When we first went to the Askar Camp, the principal told us that he would give us a different group of kids each week, so we thought we would probably get new kids this week, but it turned out to be the same kids.  We like those kids, so it was good.  We had come prepared with a new lesson (fruits) in case we got the same kid.  We have learned that you can never count on things being the way you expected.
Then, when we got back, we stopped for pizza.  It's quite different from our pizza.  They make it in a wood fired oven.  You can get it open or closed.  And they put eggs on it.  They just put the eggs right on the pizza and then beat them.  Then they put olives and all sorts of other stuff.

Here's the menu if you're interested:

Tonight, Ahmed said he wanted to celebrate getting his driver's license.    He failed the test the first four times, but this time he passed.  Heide and I invited Jameel.  We thought it would be at a restaurant or something, but later, it turned out to be at the "Boys' House."  We aren't allowed to have Palestinians in the PH houses.  PH feels that we might meet Palestinians who are not good to hang around with, so they don't want us bringing them in the house.  They also had some robberies last year.  But Jameel is actually a PH employee and volunteer.  So, I asked Ahmed if he would be permitted to come.  He said it was fine with him, but I needed to get permission from Taufiq.  Jameel and Taufiq know each other.  When I asked Taufiq he said it was fine, because Jameel is a good guy, but this gives you an idea of how complicated it is here.
Guys are not allowed to come to any of the girls' houses.  So, often activities are planned at their house.  (There are 3 Girls' Houses, but only one Boys' House).  Edd has been coming to our place to do exercises with Reema.  One day, Ahmed came to the door and Edd ran and hid under the bed in Reema's room.  He didn't even know whose bedroom he was in!  It was so funny!  Like being in high school again!
It's kind of interesting having dinners at the Boys' House.  It means that the guys are always hosting and cooking for the women.  Last time, I started to wash dishes since I hadn't helped with the cooking, but Nick stopped me and said I was a guest and couldn't wash dishes.  Very cute!
I took some photos in the kitchen where lots of people were involved in the cooking, but it's very narrow.

And here's the group in the living room waiting for those in the kitchen to finish cooking:

Hebron

Saturday, March 18, 2017
Okay, so here's the story on our trip to Hebron.
Cecelia, a volunteer from Norway, has worked with another volunteer agency.  She contacted someone from that agency and he gave her the contact info for a guy who would show us around Hebron.  His name is Mohatassam.  There were seven of us going.  We left at 8:30 in the morning  We thought it would take 4 hours because we expected to take a bus to Ramallah and then a second bus to Hebron.  However, we were able to get a service (shared taxi) directly to Hebron for 50 shekels each.  A shared taxi leaves when it is full, but since we were seven, we filled it by ourselves.   So, it only took a little over 2 hours to get to Hebron.  We found a place to eat something and contacted Mohattasam.  He met us there and then began taking us on a tour of Hebron.
Hebron has a settlement near it and another within the city itself.  The settlers live above the Palestinians and they throw garbage and sometimes bleach down on them.  So, there is mesh to prevent the garbage from landing on them.  

There are very few houses belonging to Palestinians in the old city.  The Israelis are trying to force all to move to the newer part of the city.  Then, they rename streets and make a new historical narrative.  The Palestinians tell their children the history, so that it won't be forgotten.  There are only about 60 people living in the old part of the city.  The IDF have their names on a list.  If they are Palestinian and their name isn't on the list, they can't go.  Also, if the soldier sees their name on the list, but wants to harass them, they can't go.  He has the gun, so he wins.  Sometimes the line at the checkpoint can get long.  (They control how fast people can go through) and people are standing in the rain or hot sun for hours.  There's a green or red light above the gate.  The IDF control how many people can go through the gate.  After you go through, you turn right into a little room.  For internationals, that's when you show your passport and go through.  Even for us, it's intimidating.
Hebron is the place where the Jews and muslims believe that Abraham (patriarch for both religions) is buried.  There has been a mosque there.  One day, a settler came in the mosque and killed 29 people while they were praying.  Then, the Israeli government closed the mosque for eight months.  They reopened divided into two sections:  65 percent is a synagogue and 35 percent is a mosque.  You have to show ID before entering.  Muslims can't enter the synagogue side and Jews can't enter the mosque side.  International can enter either side.  We went in the mosque side.  Here is Abraham's tomb:

We slept in a Palestinian family's house.   Three women (including me) and one guy were together in one house.  The three other women slept in another house.  Our house was nice.  We slept in the family's living room.  Eddy (the guy with us) slept on another floor with the teenage boys in the family.  Here's where we slept:

The next day we had a traditional Palestinian breakfast, saw a few more places in Hebron and then took our shared taxi home.  Here's the breakfast:  hummus, fool (beans), eggplant dip, chick pea dip, falafel with lots of pita bread.

Back from Hebron

Saturday, March 18, 2017
We got back from Hebron yesterday afternoon.  I will have a lot to write about Hebron, but I will need some time to process it all.  I do have to say, coming back to Nablus felt like coming home.  (I've been here two weeks.)  We were VERY cold in Hebron.  We walked around all day.  I wished I had warmer clothes on.  We spent the night in the home of a Palestinian family:  three women and one guy in a house in the old area.  Ed slept with the boys in the family on the second floor.  We women slept in the living room.  It was very comfortable and fairly comfortable.

Here is Nablus, interactions with people are very easy.  Everyone here is Palestinian.  There's a place on the road coming here that says that it is illegal for Israeli citizens to enter this area.  The Palestinians all have had interactions with Israeli soldiers, but it seems that things are calmer here, now.

In Hebron, there are Israeli settlers in the streets with the Palestinians.  It's very tense with checkpoints everywhere.  I'll write more about all that later.

On the lighter side, if you like Nutella, there's whole store for Nutella crepes.

More later.

A trip out of town

Wednesday, March 15, 2017
This is just a short post to say that I may be out of communication for the next 2 days.  A group of PH volunteers is going to Hebron for the weekend.  We are leaving at 7:30 tomorrow morning.  Tomorrow night, we will stay with local Palestinian families, so there is likely to be no wifi.  I will be back in Nablus Friday evening.  

My Arabic class

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

I love my Arabic teacher and we have class in a beautiful place.  Normally, classes are in the Project Hope Training Center or in the PH Office, but both are full at the time of my class, so we have class in the cultural center.  It's beautiful.  Here is the plaque that says the name of the center:

Here is the room where I take my class:

And here are some photos of other rooms in the center:

Every day, halfway through the class, we walk across the street to the cafe to have a coffee.  We often see another volunteer there and stop to talk to him for a while.  In the cafe, there is a sheesha pipe always burning.  (Usually, in a cafe, you order sheesha for your table.)  The owner always offers some.  Jameel takes some, but I don't.  Usually sheesha is flavored tobacco, but Jameel says this pipe is not flavored and it's very strong.  Here's a photo of Jameel with the sheesha and his coffee.

Today, after Arabic class, I went to the PH office to meet Heide and the local volunteer who would accompany us to the school to teach.  For this class, each time we have had a different volunteer, so I had no idea who it would be.  When I got to the office, I asked Noura who the volunteer would be, and she said it was Jameel!!!  I was very happy.  Neither of us had any idea we would be going together.  And Jameel is also friends with Heide. So, it was nice to go the three of us together.  And, since he's my Arabic teacher, he encouraged me to talk to the taxi driver in Arabic!  It was great.

After the class, I came home for lunch.  I had just finished eating my lunch, when the landlady knocked on the door and handed me a big plate of food!!!  It will have to wait for dinner time when the five of us can share it.  No microwave! :(