The Adventures of JBo

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Thailand: Take ll

I find it fitting that I never completed blogging the last time I was in Thailand. It is as if the universe was telling me that I had more to my story; eventually I'd return to compose the final chapter. It's funny how things work out. A year and a half ago, this is the last thing I thought I would be doing.

When I left Thailand, I left a part of my heart with it. At the time of my departure I didn't know this, but it quickly became obvious. I couldn't stop talking about Thailand, even months and eventually a year later. The ironic thing is that it wasn't in a nostalgic sense. Sure I missed Thailand, but there was something else.

I'll never forget when I went to Malawi. I was excited to be in a place where for once, everyone looked like me. Despite being one of a few Americans, I was no longer a minority! While it was great to finally be a part of the majority, I didn't feel anything. A lot of people talk about how they go to Africa and feel a connection. It doesn't matter where they go, just as long as they are on the continent, they feel at home. I'd always been a skeptic of this, but nonetheless, I waited for the feeling to appear. It never came.

Contrast that with my time in Thailand. Sure, my experiences were a direct result of the program I was in. The program had a focus on reflection which forced me to evaluate all aspects of my being. However, it was more than that. I've been several places in my life and Thailand was the first time I felt connected to the culture. Suddenly I understood what people felt in Africa. Apparently I was just expecting this feeling in the wrong homeland.

Not long after returning to the US, I wanted to return to Thailand. During one of my breaks in Thailand I'd taken a trip to Phuket and I was convinced that I needed to live on a boat in Phuket. I told my advisors at school about this and somehow everyone supported it. Some probably thought it was a joke, but I was dead serious. I felt a calling to return to Thailand and I really wanted to live on a boat. Over time I tried to abandon that dream but Thailand kept calling my name as if we had some unfinished business. So here I am, in the place one of friends refers to as my " 'nother motherland."

I began my journey here equally excited and nervous. After 29 hours of travel I finally found myself in the place I'll call home for the next 10 months. As I stretched out on the couch to check my email, a feeling of calm overwhelmed me. Over the last few months the idea of what I'm doing here has constantly been on my mind. I can't articulate it, but in that moment I found clarity. I have no idea where I will be a year from now, but I know this is where I am supposed to be.

The last time I blogged I made the misguided promise of updating on a set schedule. This time around my only promise is that I will write and no matter how busy I get, I'll find time to share my experiences.

Continuing to engage in adventures. . .

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Self Analysis

As of today I have been in Thailand for a month. Perhaps it is just a coincidence, but today was the first day of Unit One. Nothing exciting happened. I attended a couple of lectures and had a group discussion over readings. Despite this, I'm glad to finally get the ball rolling on this semester. The last three weeks have been filled with rehearsing and practicing skills we'll be utilizing throughout the next 3 months. It's nice to know opening night has finally arrived.

When I'm not in class, I've been involved in some deep introspection.

Recently I was talking to a good friend and she asked me why I'm so crazy about Kansas. By chance I was born there and since my freshman year of college, I've moved beyond Kansas. So why is it still something I define myself with? My response was because Kansas is my life. Sure, my international travel is for selfish reasons but it's also for Kansas. In my travels I'm hoping to experience the good and bad from various angles. My ultimate goal is to take the knowledge from a lifetime of travel and use those lessons to make Kansas better. Kansas is never far from my mind because everything I do, is for the sake of building a better Kansas. But I am not Kansas and Kansas is not me. In the last 4 years, I've failed to spend more than 7 consecutive weeks there. Which brings me back to my friend's question, Why is it still something I define myself with?

It's been a couple of days and I have yet to adequately answer that question but I am enjoying the journey to find it.

Continuing to engage in adventures . . .

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Thailand

It's been about three weeks but I have fallen in love with this place. Unfortunately, I don't really have a ton of free time, (which I will explain later) thus it has taken me so long to update.

After sorting things out in Jordan and spending 7 hours in the Bahrain airport, I arrived in humid Bangkok during the early afternoon of August 18th. My thoughts on Bangkok? It's huge. I felt like I was in the LA of the southeast.

We were only in Bangkok for two days and then we went to a resort in the mountains of Leoi. The only downside to the resort was the fact that it rained multiple times a day, every day. Other than that, it was amazing. Most of my days were spent in 4 hour Thai classes and various group processing sessions. This program is all about planning and group processing. At times it seems like too much, but hearing the stories of past participants, I keep reminding myself to trust the process. If nothing else, I'm going to leave this program with amazing planning skills and the tools to effectively communicate in a group. Not to mention, amazing first hand experiences throughout rural Thailand.

Although, all of that comes at a price. My program follows an "alternative education model." Basically that means all lessons are based on experience. Instead of lectures we do some background reading, go experience things, and then discuss them. Lectures are sometimes utilized but usually they come in the form of exchanges with NGOs and villagers. Consequently, class never really ends or begins, every moment is an "educational opportunity." In nonoptimistic terms, that means I have class seven days a week, usually for about 10 hours, but sometimes as long as 14. Free time comes in the form of "personal days" and there are about 17 of them for the entire semester. Now you know why it's taken me so long to write.

Orientation was followed by moving to Khon Kaen. My apartment is in a very convenient location. The CIEE offices were my classes are held, is about a block from my apartment. Just behind the apartment is a cafeteria and about 5 different restaurants. In another direction, walk five minutes and you are surrounded by bars, nightclubs and more restaurants. I couldn't have asked for a better location.

My roommate is Thai and her name is Mook. She's an electrical engineer and sleeps during the day because all of her classes are in the evening. She loves basketball, so once I get my membership to the gym, we're going to go play basketball every morning before classes.

About 3 days after we arrived on campus we did our first homestay. Each of us was paired with a freshman at a local high school. My kid's name was Noon. She and her older brother and younger sister and brother all live with their aunt. The first night was difficult because no one really talked to me. The second night, everyone wanted to know about me so I talked about what I study and my family. On the last two nights we just watched tv together. My favorite part was the fact that the aunt watched tv with her sunglasses on. She had regular glasses but she always put her sunglasses on when we turned on the tv.

This past week has been a series of lectures about Thailand. I think the most mind blowing thing I've learned is the fact that "Thai Culture and Identity" is a forced social construct of the government. Thai isn't even a real word! It's a word that was adapted from Tai which refers to a language with speakers throughout Asia, even as far as China. People here are living under a false identity and most don't even know it! But onto other things.

Yesterday we had a writing workshop with a foreign correspondent. For 3 hours we learned about writing theory and techniques and then we spent the next 5 hours putting the theory into practice. First we did an interview and then we practiced writing a profile. It was a bit long but very helpful and I really like this idea of learning through experience. Hopefully the tips I learned will begin to emerge here.

Today we did a photo workshop with photographer and writer Nic Dunlop. He wrote a book called The Lost Executioner which portrays how he found and brought to justice, Comrade Duch. Comrade Duch's trial was in July and he was sentenced to 32 years but he will only be serving 19. And I spent the day with the guy that found him! In addition to that, he's also an amazing photographer and all day he was at our disposal. After a couple hours of introduction, he gave us an assignment. Find a human subject and take pictures of them. We had the specific instruction of "Getting in someone's face." We were all really nervous about the idea of just walking up to someone and taking their picture. Getting in their face was a different issue. However, after a little encouraging I just did it and surprisingly it wasn't difficult at all. I walked up, asked for photos and spent the next hour just hanging out and taking photos. It was an amazing experience. In addition to learning to experiment with photos and angles, the purpose of the exercise was to build our confidence and that definitely worked with me. I don't believe I'm a great photographer but I'm a lot more confident about simply going out to take photos.

It's been a great three weeks. I know in the coming weeks the work will get tougher and I'll have less free time, but I'm going to work on updating more often.

Continuing to engage in adventures . . .

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Jordan

I'm currently sitting in the Amman airport waiting for my flight to Bahrain. Despite the fact that I am now calm, just a mere 10 minutes ago everything was crazy, but more on that later.

I arrived in Jordan on Friday and getting here was perhaps the easiest border crossing I have ever experienced. I took a 4 hour bus ride to Eilat, got in a cab and then went to the border. You have to pay to leave Israel and then you walk from Israel to Jordan. I made sure to take pictures in between the border. I'm not sure if it's considered "No Man's Land" or standing in 2 places at once. Regardless, I was there. When you walk to the border, you are granted a free visa. I heard it was for 2 weeks, but my passport says for a month. Interesting.

After getting my visa things got sketchy. So I met this couple at Eilat and we took a taxi to the border to save money. They had spent the last 2 months in Haifa, working on an archeological dig. After getting our visas we got a taxi together again, hoping it would save us money. Unfortunately the driver gave us separate prices. He wanted me to pay 60 Dinar ($84.64) for the 3 hour drive to Petra/Wadi Musa. (They were going to Aqaba so it was 6 dinar total.) I didn't have that much money on me so I said I couldn't pay it. Eventually I got him down to 50 ($70). I felt accomplished because the guide book says you should expect to pay 55 Dinar. I had planned on bargaining to 45, but I never got the chance. That's because right after getting us in the car, he took us to some random neighborhood. Then he told the couple to get out. At this point the girl said something that I agreed with "Taxis are my least favorite form of transportation." Don't worry, despite being in a sketchy situation, we were safe. He had found another driver to take them to Aqaba. Once they got their stuff out, he got back in the car and drove all of 20 feet before telling me the same thing. You see, it's Ramadan and he hadn't broken fast yet, so he found people who had to drive us. During the exchange he told the new driver that I was paying 50 ( this was all in Arabic btw) and the guy looked disgusted. I took this as a cue that bargaining for less probably wouldn't work.

This is my first time in an Arabic country for Ramadan and it's been really cool. Everywhere you go it feels like Christmas because everyone has put up lights. It's quiet during the day, but at night it feels like an on going party. Back home when I fasted, my Muslim friends would invite me to their houses to break fast and then we'd have a large meal just after sunset. Here, people adjust their entire lives and become nocturnal. Shops are closed during the day and everything is open all night. People eat 3 meals throughout the night and sleep during the day, if their occupation allows them. I chose not to fast this year because it's so hot and I didn't want to fast during the beginning of orientation in Thailand. However, I can't help but wonder what it would have been like to fast in an Islamic country. But I digress . . .

After moving to the new car, we drove to another house. This time the driver said "My wife" and left. Five minutes later, he came back with his wife and she joined us for the ride. We talked for a while and then I put on my ipod and got lost in the world of BBC Global News Podcasts. At one point, due to construction on the road, we had to take a detour. It was really dark at this point and it looked like we were in the middle of nowhere. (I've recently discovered that's just what Jordanian highways look like). Anyway, it was at this point I was happy his wife was there, otherwise I would have been a little nervous. But we made it safe and sound and I got to my hotel.

According to the guidebook, women should take caution in Jordan. It didn't really say why, but I heeded the warning (sort of) and got a private room instead of a dorm. It was nice to have my own room and shower. That morning, I had stayed up until 4 and then gotten up at 6 to join a video chat date with some friends, in honor of our friend Jessica's birthday. Consequently I was exhausted and went straight to bed. I had been told that it is best to see Petra near sunrise. Despite going to bed early, when my alarm went off at 5:30 the next day, I said "Yeah right" and went back to sleep. When I finally did get up around 9, I decided to just have an easy day and instead do some work. My program in Thailand sent out some homework and it was due the next day so I spent the day relaxing and working on my assignments.

The following day when my alarm went off at 5:30 I had the same reaction as the previous day. Consequently, I got there around 9. For those of you that don't know, Petra is a famous city in Jordan. It's famous because most of the city was carved out of the side of mountains and they are absolutely beautiful. Tucked among the hills and mountains of the desert, it's not just the buildings that are amazing, but the landscape in general. Since my freshman year of high school I had learned about Petra, so it's a place I've wanted to visit for some time.

To get to Petra from the entrance, you have to walk about 800 km to the Siq, which is where supposedly there was an earthquake and the earth split open. Kind of like a mini Grand Canyon, except it wasn't made by water. This serves as the gate to the city and you have to walk through the Siq for about 1.5 km. To put it simply, you've got to walk for like 30 minutes before you really see anything. The Siq is really beautiful but when you're expecting to see carved buildings, it can seem a little boring. That is until you see the Treasury and suddenly, you remember what you came for. I bought a 2 day ticket and spent 9 hours in Petra, the first day. The city is spread out, so most places are a minimum of 30 minutes a part. However, I chose to go to the High Place of Sacrifice and the Monastery on my first day. It's a 45 minute hike up a mountain to the High place. I didn't think the view there was worth it. However, taking the hour long trek to the city center aka the Indiana Jones trail, which is an hour long, was more than worth it. After resting, I made the hour long hike, up more than 800 steps to the Monastery. The view was amazing but the building itself was also pretty impressive. After a 2 hour rest, I went back down. When I wasn't hiking or resting, I was just walking around the place, trying to take it all in, slightly in awe that I was really there.

The next day, I again tried and failed to go around 6. It's ridiculously hot here, so I decided to go in the late afternoon. It was still hot but not so bad. I didn't really feel like exploring too much so I just walked around for 3 hours and then went home.

I was supposed to go to Wadi Rum, which I hear is amazing, but due to doing work on the first day, I didn't have time. Perhaps I'll do it the next time I am here?

And now the reason for my distress that I mentioned earlier:

Today I got up, got dressed and left for the airport. It wasn't until I arrived that I realized I'd read the wrong flight info. I confused my flight to Bangkok, with my flight leaving Bangkok. Basically that means, I showed up at the airport at 2:30, thinking my flight left at 6 when in actuality it left at 2. I checked everything this morning, but I guess I was still half asleep? Who knows? Thanks to quick thinking, I got on another flight to Bahrain, and there I can make my connection for my original flight. I was really stressed out for about 20 minutes, but all is well now.

All in all, this was a good trip; it was relaxing (until the end) and I went to a place I've been dreaming of for some time. Everyone hears about my travels and they think it's awesome. Yeah, I'm awesome and my life is pretty awesome right now, but it's not because of the travels. That definitely plays a part but what makes me excited to wake up every morning (just not before 7) is the fact that I've had so many opportunities to make my dreams come true. Places I've always wanted to go to and literally, only dreamed about, I've been able to visit in the last seven months. That's what makes this trip so amazing.

Continuing to engage in adventures . . .

P.S. The next time I write, I'll be in THAILAND!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Humbled

During my last few days in Israel I had several humbling experiences that only reaffirmed the importance of literacy. Because I can read and write I’ve always taken those skills for granted . . . until I took the train in Israel.

In every other country I have been to everything is posted in both English and the native language. Exceptions were sometimes business signs or during movies. However, everything important such as road signs, stops on a train, etc were either written in both languages or there was always an English announcement. Not true in Israel.

After buying my ticket to Tel Aviv so that I could get my visa to Thailand, I looked down at my ticket to see that the only thing I could read was the price of the ticket. I quickly ran down the steps to the platform and people were only boarding one train, so I got on, hoping it was the right one. As the train got going, I realized that there weren’t announcements for the stops and there wasn’t a single train staff person in sight. Beginning to panic, I noticed the woman sitting across from me had what I can only assume was Tel Aviv in Hebrew, written on her ticket. I decided that I would get off when she did. I had to exchange trains in one of the several Tel Aviv stations (I learned there were several later) in order to get on the train to Herzliya, a suburb of Tel Aviv where the Thai Embassy is located. The station I was at in Tel Aviv was significantly bigger than the one in Jerusalem and several trains were being boarded. Slightly embarrassed, I turned to the attendant at the counter and asked what platform I was supposed to get on. She looked at the ticket, looked at me and then told me.

This same scenario happened several times since I had to drop my passport off at the embassy and then return the next day to get it. After the first two rides, I noticed that if I bought my ticket from the automated machine, I could get the student price which saved me an entire shekel or 26 cents. The only downside was there was no attendant so I had to ask random people or wait until I got to the gate before the platforms, and ask the attendant there. Every time I had to ask I felt embarrassed. I’m an educated person! I practically have a bachelor’s degree and I’ve been traveling on my own more or less for 7 months yet I couldn’t read my train ticket. Talk about a slap in the face.

After my last train ride, I thought I was over this but then I decided to go to the movies. In Israel, you are assigned a seat. Your ticket has the section, row, and seat. Since I could only read the numbers, I had no idea what the numbers corresponded to and assumed they were the time and theater of the movie. I wasn’t aware of the assigned seats until a couple sat next to me and asked me which seat I had. They had to read where I was supposed to sit for me

I know I’m not expected to know the language of every place I visit but for the first time in my memory, I got a taste of what it feels likes to be illiterate. Sure my experience was in no way comparable to the people who are illiterate in their own languages but it was enough to not only make me an advocate for literacy for the rest of my life, but also give me a not so pleasant taste of humbleness.

Monday, August 9, 2010

So Much to Say

A lot has happened in the last 3 weeks so I'll skip the creative intro and just get to it.

Finals were okay. I don't know what my grades were, but I felt somewhat confident afterward so we'll just have to wait and see.

About 7 hours after my last exam was the beginning of the Birzeit University International Summer Work Camp. Since I had spent all of my free time studying, after my exam I had to go home and pack my stuff as well as clean my apartment.

I think I mentioned the camp in a previous post, although now that I've actually participated it in, I can say that the name is a bit deceiving. While there were international students, we lived at a camp, and we did do some volunteering, it's probably best described as a service learning camp with more of an emphasis on the learning.

Our schedule was something like this

8 am Wake up
8:45-9:30 Breakfast

9:30-10 Clean up the camp

10:00-3 Travel to site and main activity of the day

3-4 Lunch

4-7 More activities

7-8 Ride back to camp

8-10:30 Either a 2 hour lecture or free time

10:30/11 Dinner

The first day we just showed up, mingled, ate great food, and then listened to speeches from all the departments that sponsored the camp, such as the Ministry of Youth Sports. After that, we had to see several performances of dabke or Arab Fold Dance. It's a big thing in Palestine and everywhere we went, people wanted to dabke for us. In 12 days I think I saw at least 5 performances and that doesn't even count the spontaneous dabke I had to watch. Don't get me wrong, dabke is cool and I was excited to see it, but after the 3rd time, in such a short time span, I was kind of over it. Or maybe I was just tired of hearing Arabic music. You see, our Palestinian friends loved to blast Arab music and dance every time we got on the bus. The foreigners weren't really down with this so quickly it became like a game of cat and mouse. The Palestinians would pick a song and blast it. They would then make their way to the back of the bus to dance. As soon as they were in the back of the bus, some foreigner would ask the bus driver to turn the music down. Over time it would be loud again and then it would be turned down. I'm going to say it was an example of conflicting cultural norms. We never really solved it but I think everyone adjusted as best they could.

Speaking of the Palestinians, I have too give them props. I don't know where the enegry came from, expeically since most of them didn't drink coffee and as far as I know, they didn't ingest any energy drinks or energy enhancers, yet they were always full of energy. For this reason, early in the camp, I came to the conclusion that there are 2 extra things infused in the Palestinian DNA. The first is crack, as in crack cocaine, which I beleive is directly responsible for their burst of energy. Their ability to party all of the time comes from the second element, Ecstasy. I don't think there is any other explanation for their constant source of energy. I spoke to a few about it and they said my conclusion was probably true. I'm currently trying to devise a plan to copy and insert their DNA into other people. Who needs Red Bull when you can always have energy?

After the party of the fist night, the camp officially started. During the first couple of days we took tours of the nearby towns of Birzeit and Ramallah. In Ramallah we also helped weed a Muslim cemetery in a refugee camp. It was hard work and I didn't really feel like we made that big of a difference, but the mayor of the city came and thanked us, so I guess it was okay in the end. After that, we visited Yasser Arafat's tomb which is located at the back of the Palestinian Authority's headquarters. After we paid our respects we actually went into the headquarters to meet with President Mahmoud Abbas' top adviser. We were welcomed with scarves and pins with the Palestinian flag on them. While it was really awesome to be in the PA headquarters and meet the president's adviser, (I mean, there is no way a bunch of foreigners would get to meet with a white House adviser, let alone even get invited to the White house) it wasn't the best experience. The adviser didn't really answer any of our questions and his roundabout "answers" were really annoying. I am now officially convinced that to be involved in politics, you must for master the art of answering questions without actually answering them.

That evening, we watched a video about Palestinian freedom fighters and women who have been imprisoned by the Israelis. It was really intense. At one point, one of the women was describing how she was raped with a baton during her 48 day interrogation. Another woman talked about how she was stripped naked and then made to walk in front of male prisoners. After that, they brought her father in and tried to make her have sex with him. In yet another segment, one woman was being beat in front of another. The woman was nearly beat to death when the woman being forced to watch said "This isn't worth it" and disclosed where she had hid her weapons. It never ceases to amaze me just how awful humans can be sometimes. It's not like this was the first time I've encountered cruelty but for some reason this movie really got under my skin. Maybe that's because one of the women in the film, was with us as we watched it.

Aisha Odeh is considered a hero among Palestinians because she sacrificed everything in the struggle to free her people. After the film she spoke with us/had a Q&A. Getting the chance to meet and talk to her was both humbling and amazing. She sacrificed 10 years of her life in the struggle for freedom. What have I done with my life? What will I do with my life? She didn't really have much advice for us, instead sticking with "You have to decide what to do with your life and what choices you will make" yet I still feel honored to have been able to meet her.

The next day we did some voluntary work in a refugee camp, aka we danced with kids and then painted their faces. After we made them look silly, many of us then let the kids paint us and our faces. We then took the first of what would be several tours of refugee camps. This was honestly my least favorite part of the camp, but arguably the most important and moving. Seeing the conditions these people had to live in was both appalling and upsetting. Of course, one can always argue, at least they have permanent houses, which isn't true in places such as Africa. I know this, not because I have been to refugee camps in Africa, but because one of the guys in the camp is a survivor of the Rwandan genocide and after he fled the country, he lived in a refugee camp for 8 months. He too was appalled at what he saw, but pointed out that at least these refugees weren't living in tents. Regardless of how well off or not these refugees were, being there was both depressing and eye opening.

The next day we went to Bethlehem. There we toured another refugee camp. For our volunteer work, we white washed some walls with graffiti, and then made our own. Most people drew pictures or wrote messages of hope such as "Free Palestine." I wrote "This too shall pass" and "Freedom by any means necessary."

After all of that, we visited "The Wall" as well as the Old City and the Nativity Church. The church is supposedly built on top of the stable where Jesus was born. You can go into the basement (I think that's what it is) of the church and see the 'Star of Bethlehem' or a hole in the ground with a star around it what is supposed to mark the exact spot Jesus was born.

Bethlehem is a nice little city but I will always remember it as the place where I lost my camera. When we got back to the hostel, I emptied my pockets and put my camera on top of my bag. The next morning when we were packing up, I couldn't find it. After looking frantically, I told our coordinator and 2 days later it was returned. Maybe Bethlehem really is a city of miracles; although the real miracle would have been not to lose my camera in the first place.

Perhaps in the spirit of walking in the footsteps of Jesus, or not, the next day we went to Jerusalem. Apparently I've got ridiculously bad luck because roughly 24 hours after losing my camera, on the way to leave for Jerusalem, I tripped on some steps in my cabin and twisted my ankle. Actually, I didn't trip at all. This is what really happened: There are 2 steps. I stepped on the first and as I was about to step on the next one, my leg went numb. I was really confused and within a split second as I tried to figure out what was going on, I was suddenly on the ground with a twisted ankle. So I didn't trip, I collapsed due to a neuron misfiring (rather that's the story I'm sticking to). I immediately got up, saw that my leg was no longer numb and despite the increasing throbbing around my ankle and growing up my leg, I walked to the bus as if nothing was wrong. On the way I asked a friend for some pain killers and I went on with my day. As the day went on, I began to get a slight limp but all was well until we went to lunch. I sat down for about 20 minutes and when it was time to go, I couldn't walk. I should have kept moving! We had the option of going to a speaker or having free time. I chose free time. As I attempted to walk to the meeting spot, where I was just going to sit until time to go, a couple of friends who stayed behind didn't like the fact that I could barely walk, so they insisted I go to the pharmacy. The pharmacist told me to go to the medical clinic and get a prescription. I didn't like this idea but after about 5 minutes of resistance, I finally gave in. The doctor insisted I have an X ray. After more arguing I finally gave in on this too and as I suspected, there were no broken bones. The doctor told me to decrease walking, take pain killers, and elevate my ankle. All in all, I paid 150 shekel (or $39.85) for an emergency consultation and X ray. (In case anyone was wondering, I paid more for the visit than the X ray.) If you read this far, you know where this story leads. I started taking the drugs but didn't really decrease the walking. I also only elevated my legs a few times and iced it twice. I've still got a slight limp but as most athletes know, "pain is weakness leaving the body" so let the weakness leave! Actually, over the past 3 days I've been trying to take it easy and just relax. I know it's about 2 weeks late, but better later than never, right?

Oh yeah, in Jerusalem we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Dome on the Rock and Al Aqsa mosque, as well as the Wailing wall. Well the group did that, I didn't. I went to the church and then my friends and I had some free time and there was a misunderstanding about where to meet so we missed the other two sites. But don't worry, I went back later.

The next day we had a free day. A bunch of us decided to go to the Dead Sea. Aside from the fact that it burns when the water gets in your eyes and if you accidentally get some in your mouth, it's disgusting, it was really awesome. Without even trying, you just float. Supposedly the mud has healing powers so people rub it all over their bodies. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on the surface of the earth at 1385 ft below sea level; that means it was ridiculously hot. I'm thinking at least 110. However, once in the water, you don't even notice the heat.

After a little break, the next day we headed to Hebron. Right in the center of the city there is a settlement so tension is pretty high in the city and the Israeli military is everywhere. Some of the settlers live above the Arab markets and like to throw their trash and rocks on the people below. So what should be an open air market is instead sealed off with tarp and grates. Looking up you can see the rocks and trash. We were invited to the top of someone's home to get a view of the city. The first thing that caught my eye were all of the watch towers surrounding the settlement. Just two houses over, there was a solider. Despite the fact that the US has the highest gun ownership in the world, I don't think I'll ever get used to the police or military just walking around with their huge guns. Perhaps it is better, because you know who has a gun here, unlike in the US where they are almost always concealed, but as strange as that is, I think I like that. In every country I have been to this year, I've run into some authority figure with a gun and it freaks me out as much as it did the first time I witnessed it. We may have a lot of guns in the US but at least people aren't flaunting them.

The highlight of Hebron was visiting the Ibrahimi mosque and the glass workshop. The Ibrahimi mosque is built around the tombs of Abraham and his wife Sarah as well as Issac and Rebekah, as well as Jacob and Leah. There is also a staircase that is supposed to be built by Aladdin.

At the glass factory some of us actually got to help make pitchers and vases. Unfortunately we didn't get to buy our creations but it was fun to be a part of the process.

The next day we went to a church in a city I can't remember the name of. The church is significant because supposedly it is where Jesus healed a leper. After that we did some things that I don't really remember and then we went to the Jenin refugee camp. At the camp we were shown a graphic slideshow and then we watched a movie called Jenin, Jenin. It was about the 2002 invasion of the camp by the Israeli military. Supposedly they were looking for 3 terrorists/freedom fighters who lived in the camp. The military surrounded the camp in tanks, for about a week. After the city refused to give up the wanted individuals, the military attacked and more or less destroyed the camp. After the siege, Ariel Sharon, prime minister at the time, said the only way the camp could be rebuilt was if the roads were big enough for tanks. Empirically, it's difficult for the Israeli military to have successful operations in refugee camps or old cities because the roads are narrow and terrorists/resistance fighters can easily hide. Also, unless you are on the roof, where ever you are, you're an open target.

I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but the more time I spent in Palestine, the less I could see the reasoning for the Israeli military's actions. I understand the need for security but I am convinced the problem is the military. The more they try to create security, the more they need security. However, I realize this is just one side, which is why I've spent the last week in Israel. I'll be here for another 5 days and in that time, I'm hoping to also get an Israeli perspective. But I digress.

The last major day of the camp we went to Jericho. It's almost as low as the Dead Sea so it was ridiculously hot. We visited a retirement home and planted some flowers along their driveway. I'm not sure who had the bright idea of having us do volunteer work in Jericho but I am thankful it only lasted 10 minutes. We were supposed to bike in Jericho but apparently some people passed out last year, so they cut it out of this year's program. I didn't complain. We took a driving tour of the city and then we stopped to see the old city, or rather the remains of the old city. Apparently the ruins of old Jericho are remnants of the oldest city in the world. We met with the mayor while in Jericho and he informed us that on August 8th (yesterday), the city would celebrate 10,000 years of existence.

During that last few days of camp, a couple of the guys named Tindy and Felix decided they wanted to go to Gaza. We all told them it was impossible but Tindy was determined that he was going. After a while I gave up on trying to tell him he wasn't going. Instead I was hung up on the fact that he thought he was going to go to Gaza for 15 shekels aka $3.99. I tried to tell him this just wasn't so, but he refused to believe me. To everyone's surprise, the day after announcing they wanted to go, Felix and Tindy announced that they were going and it was possible to get into Gaza. Apparently the border on the Egyptian side is open everyday. Mostly for aid, but apparently you can go into Gaza if you get special permission from a NGO. What's better is you can apparently show up on the day you want to go and get permission on the spot. At least, that's what I got, but don't hold me to that. I will say that in all of the excitement I was curious and for about 48 hours, I agreed to go. However, with each passing day, the price got more and more expensive, first starting at 50 Euro and eventually becoming a minimum of 200 Euro. As a poor college student with 4 more months of travel, that was definitely out of my price range. I guess I'll have to wait for my next trip to go to Gaza. As an update, apparently Tindy and Felix made it to the border. Felix went in but Tindy didn't because they stamp your passport when you go in. Tindy was flying out of Ben Gurion and didn't want any problems so he stayed in Egypt.

Apparently Tindy likes his sleep so he booked a really nice hotel in Jerusalem for 2 days after the camp. He had prepaid for the room and since he was going to Gaza he decided to give his room away. He gave to two girls in the camp who were traveling together, Audrey and Kirsten. During the camp we became friends and since I was also going to Jerusalem, they offered to let me stay in the hotel with them. So my first 2 nights in Israel I stayed in a fancy hotel and got to pretend I wasn't a poor traveling student.

After that I spent another night in Jerusalem and then headed to Haifa. In high school, my best guy friend Andy, spent a lot of time studying the Baha'i faith. At the time he was considering converting. I had never heard of the Baha'i faith before I met Andy so he took the opportunity to teach me about what he thought would be his new faith. My favorite part was when he showed me the various Baha'i temples and we would talk about visiting them one day. In India I visited the Lotus Temple and in Haifa, I visited the Baha'i gardens, a pilgrimage site for Baha'is. Within the gardens is the second holiest site for Baha'is, the Shrine (tomb) of the Bab. Unfortunately it was under restoration when I arrived so I didn't get to visit it. Although I'm kind of glad. Considering the only reason I knew about any of this or had any interest, was because of Andy, the entire time I was there I felt a little guilty for having visited it before him or at the very least, without him. Perhaps he and I will one day go back together, or he will see the Shrine of the Bab first. Despite that, I am glad I went.

After spending 4 hours or so in the gardens, I went back to my hostel, packed up and caught a bus to Nazareth. I spent the last three days there relaxing in an amazing guest house. On my second day there, I met two German women who had rented a car. They invited me to go to the Sea of Galilee with them (I was planning on going the next day) so we went and swam at a free beach. Because we decided to drive around the entire sea, I even got to see the other things I wanted to see like the church of Mt. Beatitudes. We couldn't find the Church of Fish and bread Multiplication but I was in the region so I think that's good enough. On the drive back we picked up a hitchhiking couple (who were also German) and we gave them a lift to the nearby town of Tiberius. Nazareth is such a simple yet relaxing town and I didn't want to leave but there wasn't really much for me to do. I had all of the things I wanted to do within my first 36 hours and if you have been reading this for some time, you'll recall what happens when I have too much free time. Also, there are still things I want to do in Jerusalem. Not to mention I still need to get my visa for Thailand. So today I caught the bus back to Jerusalem. With the exception of a day trip to Tel Aviv for my visa, I plan on staying here until Friday when I'm leaving for Petra.

So that's what I've been up to lately. As a treat for reading all of that, here are a some visuals from the last few weeks.

While in Ramallah we went to the weekly cultural fair which featured a group from Korea. I think they were a religious group. I thought it was very interesting and funny that Satan looked a lot like the joker in the movie The Dark Knight. During this performance, Cath, a volunteer in the camp from England, said what I think was the best line of the entire camp "I've just realized that cultural exchange means watching shit you'd never watch voluntarily."