A day on my own

Thursday, March 9, 2017
Before I start telling about my day, maybe I should explain about weekends here.  The weekend in Nablus is actually Friday to Saturday.  Because Project Hope wants to be able to offer special classes on the weekend, our schedule has its weekend on Thursday and Friday.  That way we offer enrichment type classes (boxing, zumba) on Saturdays.  I don't have any enrichment skills, so I just teach on Sunday to Wednesday.  In Ramallah ( a city not far from here), the weekend is Friday and Sunday, with Saturday as a workday.  They need Friday for the muslims and Sunday for the Christians.  Nablus has very few Christians.  I don't know what happens in other Palestinian cities.

So, today, now that I'm on my own with everyone gone, I washed some clothes by hand and hung them to dry and then I went out to learn my way around.  I've always been going places with others and haven't had a chance to really learn the streets.  I feel like I have a much better feel for where I'm going now.  I also went through the market in the old city and bought some tomatoes and oranges (3 of each for 75 cents).  I'm starting to feel like I know what I'm doing, although I think a week from now will be even better.  I have only been here 5 days so far.
Some photos from today:
This is the fancy indoor mall in the center of the city:

This is where I bought lunch (pizza)

And this is just a general street scene in the center of town.  I tried to take some photos in the old city, but the paths are so narrow that it's very difficult.  I'll try again tomorrow.

International Women's Day

Wednesday, March 8
Today is International Women's Day.  It's a public holiday, so we have no classes.  And since our weekend is Thursday -  Friday, it's a three-day weekend.  The others who live in my house have all gone away for the weekend.  Some went to Bethlehem and two went to Ramallah.  I wanted to stay home and spend the time learning my way around.  So, I had a lazy start to my day.  (It's always hard to get up out of the nice warm bed.)  I washed my hair.  I have been eating cereal with milk for breakfast each morning, but for some reason, it makes me feel nauseous, so I didn't eat breakfast and thought I would go out and get something to eat.  I ended up not leaving the house till 2:00.  As I was walking down the street, I ran into Ahmed.  He was on his way to our house to look at our toilet, which was clogged.  When we got back to the house, he opened the floor drain and we could see there was toilet paper in it.  Someone must have forgotten and put TP in the toilet.  It's really hard to remember every time.  Ahmed called a plumber.  He will come tomorrow or Saturday.  I showed Ahmed that our stove doesn't work and the power cord for the washer can't reach an outlet if the washer is connected to the sink.  He said he had an extension cord at the office and he would give us the stove from the office.  Then, he suggested calling Nick (another volunteer) and asking him to meet us at the office for tea.  So, we went back there.  Ahmed and I sat on the balcony while we were waiting for Nick.  There were great views of Nablus.
You could see lemons growing on the trees from the balcony and I guess that gave Ahmed the idea to pick them and make lemonade.  The three of us went down into the yard and Ahmed climbed over the gate because he didn't have the key.  That gate looked awful (pointy things on top) and Nick and I tried to persuade him not to go.  He picked a lot of lemons!  Then we went inside to make lemonade.  It turned out there wasn't a pitcher to make it in.  Nick had to go back to his house to get a water bottle.  (We had to pour the water out!)  But the lemonade was delicious.  Then we had a cup of tea.  By this time, it was 4:00.  I still hadn't eaten anything all day.   Nick said he had just eaten before he came to the office.
Then we took a taxi back to my house (because the stove and gas container were too heavy to carry). The gas man came and hooked up a gas tank and took away the old one.  Ahmed, Nick and I continued sitting at our place.  We had a great conversation about Palestinian thinking versus Western thinking.  They stayed till 6:30 PM.  I still hadn't eaten anything all day!  And it was dark out.  I don't really have food in the house because the stove wasn't working.  I went out and, fortunately, I remembered where the falafel stand is just a few blocks away and the man was there, so I bought a sandwich and brought it back to the house.  Those falafel sandwiches are delicious.  That man is going to get to know me coming there all the time.

Four classes today and some house issues

Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Today, I had four classes!  But I am definitely getting adjusted.  My first class started at 11:30 and I needed to meet Jafar (my local volunteer) at 11:00.  I went a little early to try to make some materials ahead of time.  So, now I know how to use the Project Hope computers to download things on the internet and to make copies on their copy machine.  Jafar and I took a taxi to the school.  We went first to the public school.  It's a school for boys and girls.  Jafar asked me what we call a school that has boys and girls together in English.  I told him it's just a school.  The principal took me to a fourth grade class.  She stayed most of the time to watch.  After that class, she asked if I would come to the same classes each week.  I told her I would like to, but that I would do whatever she wanted.  She told Jafar that this class has some naughty children in it and I am able to control them, so she would prefer that I take that class.  Then, I had two third grade classes in a row.  It all went fine.  The school was very nice.  It's only two years old.  I didn't take photos because I felt like I shouldn't take too many photos on my first time there and I will be back.  They never seem to mind you taking photos of the children.  When it was time to leave, they first gave us a coffee in the principal's office.
After the public school, we went to a school in the refugee camp.  I didn't see us go through a gate or anything, but I realized that it looked different.  The streets were narrow and unpaved.  The class at the camp was an after-school program.  The kids come if they want to.  They were a fun group of kids.  They know very little English, but now that I know it's just an after-school program, I can plan fun activities and not worry about how much progress they make.  I did take photos of the kids there because there were no school personnel in the room with us - just Jafar and me.  He has a good time joking with the kids.  We had them make drawings and Jafar told them that I would take their drawings to America.  One girl wasn't drawing and Jafar told her she wouldn't be able to go to America.  She said, "I love it here in the camp."  When we were leaving, they gave the principal gave us each a chocolate bar.  They always seem to feel they have to give us something.

It was wonderful talking with Jafar.  We talked a lot about comparisons of Palestinian and American culture.  He's a very smart guy.  One thing happened that I was kind of excited about.  When were at at the school, the principal asked Jafar if he would be coming back each time with me.  He told her he didn't know.  I understood the conversation and told Jafar that he should tell her that someone would always come with me.  They were surprised that I understood.  I think that is the first time that I have overheard a conversation in Arabic and understood.
Now, to the interesting house issues.  I was the last to leave this morning and Heide was still asleep.  I locked the door when I left, but I didn't know that if you lock it with a key, you need a key to open it from the inside.  Heide didn't have a key yet.  So, when she woke up, she couldn't get out of the house.  She was stuck in here for a long time.  She explored the house - I guess looking for a way out.    She discovered that we have a second bathroom that we didn't know about - just a toilet and sink, but useful with five of us living here.  She also discovered that we can go up on the roof and it's a really great place.

First day teaching

March 6, 2017
Today was my first day teaching. Noura told me that I would be teaching 8th and 9th graders. Heide (who now lives in our house, too) was going with me. She was told she would be teaching 4th and 5th grade one hour of English and one hour of sports. A local volunteer accompanies us to all our classes.  Today it was Mohammed - a very nice guy in his 20s. He walked us to the place where we needed to take the taxi.  Then the three of us took a taxi to the Askar refugee camp. We met with the school principal. The school looks similar to a school we would have here. The principal wanted both of us to take 5th grade boys. He was going to give us 10 students each, but we suggested that we take twenty and team teach.  That way we can plan at home together. We talked about the time and realized we needed to change it. We were scheduled to reach 10:30 to 12:00, but the kids have breakfast break at 11:00 - 11:30. So, we decided the classes need to be 11:30  - 1:00. While we were talking to the principal, they brought us Turkish coffee. Then, they brought ma'anoush. The kids have that breakfast, so that made lunch for me. Then we spent 30 minutes with the boys. They were very cute and very well-behaved.  I am looking forward to seeing them on Monday. (The class is Monday/Wednesday, but this Wednesday is a holiday - International Women's Day.)
Then, in the afternoon, we had orientation with TAufiq.  He's the person I called when I needed someone to come get me from the Yasmeen Hotel and bring me to Project Hope. He's young and very nice. He is also responsible for Project Hope's website. He went through cultural things with us. Some conservative men don't shake hands with women, so you shouldn't offer your hand to a man, but if he offers his, you go ahead and shake it. Most of the other cultural things I was already familiar with. He also told us about the history of the occupation. Taufiq is a refugee himself.  His family has now bought a house in Nablus, but he grew up in a refugee camp. His family fled Hebron when Israel was created.  At first they were living outside Hebron, but the UN told all the refugees that they needed them to live in designated areas to receive services, so his family moved to the camp. Some families in the camp still have the keys to their house in Israel. The whole presentation was fascinating, but too long to write everything here. Also, when he was telling us about the code of conduct, he said they had a problem with volunteers hanging with a bad group of Palestinians. So, they hired Ahmed to plan activities to keep the volunteers busy doing good things. Last night, he organized a trip up to the t of a hill to see the sunset over Nablus. Then he made a fire and made tea. Two other men came in a car (We had taken taxis). They put music on in the car and turned in the headlights and people were dancing in the light. Tonight, he said to meet at the office at 5 if you wanted to watch a soccer match. (I didn't ) and meet at 7 to go to a cafe. I just went to the cafe. It was nice.
That's it for tonight.

First day in Nablus

On Saturday morning, I had a nice breakfast in the guest house. Then I went to the bus station. I asked where the bus to Ramallah was and a woman showed me. I ended up sitting with her on the bus. She had a book that said Travel and Tourism in English. I asked her some questions and she spoke almost no English, so I made due with my Arabic. She is taking a class on tourism in Ramallah, but she only knows a little English.  In Ramallah, I asked for the bus station.  People showed me the Nablus bus.  There was a man sitting behind me with his little boy.  He spoke English and told me he would let me know when to get off the bus.  When we got to Ramallah, I had to ask several people for the Yasmeen Hotel.  Some didn't know, but all answered in Arabic.  This will be a much bètter place to work on my Arabic than Beirut.
At the hotel, I called Taufique. He said his colleague was taking new volunteers on a tour of the city and that he would come for me.  After about thirty minutes, Ahmad came with six other volunteers.  So, I got a chance to start making friends. We got some lunch and I bought a Palestinian phone during the tour and then went back to the office.
At the office, Ahmad introduced us to Taufique and Noura. Noura organizes the classes.  Then, Ahmad took us to our apartment.  The Project House is full, so they got an additional apartment for us.  So far, we have Lena (Australian/Palestinian), Reema (also Australian/Palestinian) and Silvia (Italian).
There was a picnic in a nearby park. We went to it and met more volunteers -  some Brits, Norwegians and Germans. So far, no Americans.
The night went fine except that the house was FREEZING. 

arriving in Israel

march 5, 2017
I'm beginning to wonder whether I'll be able to do this blog.  I type stuff and then the internet cuts out and I lose it all.
Summary from where I ,soft off:  they didn't ask many questions at the airport : was it my first time in Israel?  (No). Why am I here? (Tourism). He asked to see my ticket. I showed him my boarding pass because I didn't want him to see how long I was staying, but he asked me that anyway.  Then he said Welcome to Israel.  I got the shuttle to jerusalem.  It dropped me off at Saint George's,where they had my reservation and were expecting me. They don't have dinner there, so I went out to a restaurant.  That was good because I got my bearings - remembered where to go places and found the bus station. 

Traveling to Israel/Palestine

March 4, 2017
Sorry I've taken so long to start writing. The first day I was really just too tired.  I flew overnight to Brussels. My seat mate was a woman originally from Gambia, but who has been living in Miami for the last 30 years. We had a nice time talking about West Africa. I hardly slept on the plane.  I really tried,  but just couldn't. Part of the problem is that the time to sleep is at around 9 PM.  I'm not tired enough yet. The plane landed at 6:40 AM.  We had breakfast at around 6 - that's midnight at home - right about the time I would usually go to sleep at home. The next flight left Brussels at 11   I didn't eat lunch before boarding the plane, which turned out to be a mistake since they gave you no food on the plane.
When I got to Tel Aviv airport, there was a huge crowd waiting to go to passport control.  There was no organization to it - just a mass of people pushing each other.  It took over an hour to get up to the window.