Week Four Review

Today is exactly one month from the first day that I arrived in Israel/Palestine. So far it has been a very powerful experience and I plan to share some of my more significant thoughts soon. For now though, I can tell that you're dying to be updated on the insignificant issues of the last week...

My internet has been down for a couple of days. That should mean that I wasn't able to properly communicate with the outside world, but considering that I didn't really try...meh. It does mean that I missed game two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I even work up at 3am hoping that the internet would be back, but no luck. I have since caught up on highlights though.

I thought that I was going to be moving tonight, but at this rate it looks like I'll be moving tomorrow. The American students are arriving early Wednesday morning and so I am moving to allow three women to take this apartment. I will be moving in with five other guys.

In the next few days, the number of international volunteers at Wi'am will grow to ridiculous. Currently I am one of four, with one Finish and one American woman joining us recently. The American students are a total of eight and then there are two other volunteers coming soon. On top of that, Zoughbi's wife and two sons are going to be coming home from American soon. It's going to be a little crowded in the office.

Things at the office are going well. Some days my work is insignificant but I fill my free time by trying to identify bias in news articles and learning about Zionism and Palestinianism. A good example is this morning, when I read about the protests along the boarder in Al Jazeera and then a very different account in the Jerusalem Post. I think I have started to become addicted to reading internet comments though. The poor arguments and vial hate are intoxicating.

Today I found out that I am a child. Or at least that is what people are saying about me. I was also asked by a friend - in a curious way - how much alcohol and drugs I did. Looks like someone local has been reading this blog! But I might also have to cut down on the joking around. The Palestinian culture is one of few personal secrets and a lot of gossip. I was told that being thought of as a child is actually a compliment, but they failed to attach an adjective of childlike behaviour that comforted me. In the end, I should probably care more. This is something that I often do for fun in Canada, but is it culturally inappropriate here?

To comfort myself and those who might worry about that last paragraph, I think that I am getting along very well with most people. Honestly, I think that the fact that I'm willing to say stupid things or make a fool of myself and then laugh at it is quite entertaining to most people here. They certainly encourage me when I try to dance like them. I think they find it amusing to have a foreigner who is quite different from their socialized properness. I might be wrong though. I'll let you know if I get stoned to death.