Last weekend after placement exams and walking around to get to know both Ramallah and Birzet, I took a couple of trips. The first was to Taybeh, a small village about half an hour away which is famous for it's brewery which is the only producer of beer in the entire Middle East! The brewery is kind of small but we took a tour and learned all about the town and company. Everyone thought the owners were crazy but now they successfully export to several parts of Europe. The beer is also available in Palestine and Israel. n case anyone was wondering, Taybeh Beer is owned by Christians. After touring the brewery, we walked around the city and visited a Byzantine Church that is over 1700 years old! The current building has was built about 20 years ago, but in the floor there are tiles from the original building in Phoenician!
The second trip was to Nablus. One of the girls in my program (Tarren) spent last summer volunteering in Nablus and she set up a tour of the Old City for us. Until recently, Nablus was blocked off from the rest of the West Bank by the Israeli Military. In fact, the organization Tarren volunteered for, was started after an Israeli invasion in 2002 when only foreigners were allowed outside. Palestinians were under an indefinite 24 hour curfew. Project Hope, the organization, would send foreign volunteers to different housing blocks with activities to entertain the children. Over the last 7 years they have grown to include other aspects but providing activities for children is still an important element.
Although Nablus is now open, it is still recovering from the invasion. As we walked around the Old City we saw buildings that were destroyed by the Israeli military. At every turn there were bullet holes to remind you of the constant fire Nablus citizens faced. There were also random posters of Palestinian men with guns all over the place. We were told that these were martyrs killed during the invasion. Walking around was depressing. We were shown building after building that has been negatively impacted because of the invasion. Many businesses suffered during the blockade. For centuries Nablus has produced soap. Over time hundreds of factories had dwindled to 7. Now there are only 2.
The other depressing part was hearing the stories. Everywhere we went there was a story and when you thought you’d heard the worst, there was something even more horrible. From innocent men being captured and then put in a building that the Israelis later bombed, to families being shot in their homes, as well as our tour guide trying to save a man who had been shot but had to leave the man in the middle of the road in order to save himself . . . it was a bit much. I know there is another side to the story and Israel feels the need to protect their security but is more violence the way to create peace? I don't think so. Walking around I felt kind of sick, not just because of what I was seeing, but because I am an American and my government supports the government that was responsible for all of this. I’m trying to keep an open mind and see both sides of the story, but it’s difficult when you take a trip to Israel and then go to Palestine and see the drastic differences.
I think the most depressing thing was the fact that many of us were hearing about this for the first time. One of the girls on the tour mentioned how 2002 wasn’t that long ago and she was 16, yet she had never heard of Nablus before our tour. Perhaps things are more censored in the US than we thought? After the raids on the humanitarian ships on Monday, I searched American newspapers to see what was being said. Here, that was the only thing on the news for about 36 hours. I didn’t even hear about the cyclone in Oman until a day after it hit, because of all the raid coverage. Contrast this with the coverage in the States, I read article after article and not only did I learn absolutely nothing; most were read in less than a minute. Maybe this was because this was in the hours immediately after the raid and it was only 4 am on the east coast? Obviously there was more coverage here because it’s actually happening here, but I would have thought there would have been more info in the US. Even the BBC let me down. Not only were their initial articles lacking information but they were blatantly biased. Most BBC reports try to include both sides of the issue, these initial articles did not.
In the midst of all of that, school started. I suppose it’s called intense for a reason because after the first week of classes, I was exhausted. I’ve got Arabic for 6 hours a day, four days a week. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have a class called The Palestine Question. Our professor is really awesome and has some fantastic stories. Starting when he was 15 and for the next 7 years, he was imprisoned by the Israelis. Throughout his life he has been in and out of prison but that hasn’t stopped him from getting involved in politics. Currently he is number two in command for the ministry of prisons for Palestine. Israel is one of the few countries in the world that has a ministry of prisons. I’m really excited for the class. Obviously it’s going to be subjective but our professor has pledged that if we object with anything he says, he will provide the evidence, so I have confidence that a majority of what he says has some factual basis.
Other than that, nothing exciting has really happened, except on Tuesday, I flooded the apartment. The hose that drains the dirty water wasn’t hooked up properly and all of the water ended up on our floor. Throughout my time in India, all I wanted was the ability to wash my clothes in a washing machine. Now that I finally have that, I think I prefer hand washing. It’s tedious but less messy. It took about 2 hours to clean up all of the water. Since that night, we’ve fixed the hose but there are still problems. For instance, the only cycle that actually works, takes about 2 hours! Two hours to wash one load of clothes? Ridiculous. The shorter cycles don’t drain the dirty water so if you don't reset to the end of the next cycle, when you open the washer, all of the water pours out. I’m making the best of it, but I can’t wait to go home and wash and dry my clothes properly.
Speaking of home, it’s recently occurred to me that since I’ve been abroad, I’ve lacked personal space. With the exception of the three weeks I spent in Nepal, Varanasi, and Oman, where I had my own room, I’ve had to share a room, which will be true in Thailand as well. Also, in India and here, all transportation is shared. To cut down on personal costs, we always shared rickshaws in India. Here, everyone uses the shared taxis called a Service (pronounced in French). About 7-8 people pile into a van and you pay about 75 cents in comparison to the taxis where you pay a minimum of $3. It will be so weird when I return home where I’ll have my own room and most of the time I will drive in a car by myself. Being an only child, solitude was a natural part of life; now it’s rare and I’m not sure how I feel about returning to it.
Yesterday my friend Zeyad and I went to a fusion Palestinian and Italian restaurant. We had to talk 15 minutes to get there, but it was definitely worth it. I had the best calzone I have ever had in my life! It was filled with pesto, mozzarella and a meat that I couldn’t identity. The menu didn’t mention any meat but I didn’t mind because it was delicious. There were also sundried tomatoes and a vegetable or two but I was too absorbed in eating it that I didn’t really pay attention. The restaurant was a little pricey, but I definitely want to go back before I leave.
Zeyad ’s kind of like my little brother. He’s from New Jersey and he just finished his freshman year at Rutgers. He’s half Palestinian and speaks Arabic fluently. We met on the first day and he offered to show me around since his father’s family lives here and he’s been to the West Bank at least 20 times. I took him up on his offer and in addition to showing me around, I’ve made him my translator. He’s also in charge of introducing me to Palestinian food. In exchange for all that he does, I’ve agreed to cook him breakfast on the weekends and dinner occasionally. So maybe little brother isn’t the best description, especially since he’s doing all of the teaching but he is younger and we’ve got each other’s backs like a brother and sister would, so I thought it was a fitting title.
