The reason that I have not been up to date with posting about my life in the Holy Land is because I had a period of time where I felt very drained. I'm not sure if this chronological list will be enough of a defense for my inaction, but I will try and make it up during the last 9-10 days that I am here...
Yesterday was a normal summer camp day. The one point of interest was that there was a city wide bread strike. I heard that the Palestinian Authority was attempting to reduce the price of break from four shekels to three and a half shekels per kilogram. In retaliation, all bread production was stopped for a day. Though it did not greatly affect me, it was interesting to see economics in action.
Sunday was a day of relaxation. A friend of mine was going to Tel Aviv for his work and I was able to tag along. Other than helping with some of the youth for a while (he works with youth who have mental and physical disabilities), the day was spent body surfing on the best waves I've seen since South Africa.
On Saturday we went into the Nagev desert to visit some Bedouin people. It was a very interesting experience. Their villages - which they have lived in before the creation of Israel - are not recognized by the government and so they are denied basic services. As soon as we got off the bus at the first village a man started yelling at us in Hebrew about Netanyahu and the US Congress. We stayed long enough to see his shipment of water arrive by tractor; costing about 70 shekels per cubic metre, it was approximately 10 times more expensive than anywhere else in Israel.
On Wednesday we went into Hebron (for the second time) to join in a conference about economic development, specifically tourism. The quote that stuck out to me was, "Tourism is to Palestine what oil is to Saudi Arabia." We were lucky because the translation was very good and we - like many times before - experienced amazing hospitality.
Tuesday afternoon was spent at a short home stay. My self and one of the other American guys went to a friend of the director's daughter for lunch. It was a very causal experience. Our host was training to become an X-ray technical but he was currently looking for a job. In the mean time he was making the decorations for his brothers wedding to save money. Not only were the decorations very good, but he had a good eye for interior design.
The previous Wednesday (the 13th) was my first time in Hebron. They say that Hebron is 'the occupation within the occupation' or that it is the place that you can feel the oppression. It did not disappoint. Hebron is the only place in the West Bank where there is a settlement within a Palestinian city. This creates a situation of consistent violence. The Israeli settlement is actually build on top of a major market area; to protect themselves from thrown stones, the Palestinians built a chain-link fence above their heads. This fence does not protect them from other waste such as water or sewage though.
Also while in Hebron for the first time, we stopped by a glassblowers. If was my first time seeing it in real life. Like my secret fascination with tennis, I think that this is another thing that I love that few people know about. It was way cooler than I imagined it would be. In another life, I think that I would have been very happy being a glassblower.
On the 12th, we went around Jerusalem with a friend of ours who has worked as a tour guide. The day was splendid except for when we tried to go to the Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock. Both times our friend was denied access because he was Palestinian and he did not have his Jerusalem ID with him. When we asked what the issue was - especially since we were not required to show any ID at all - we were told that all Israeli citizens needed to show ID. This conversation was going on as a birthright tour was being waved passed all of the security.
Finally, all the way back on the 11th of July, the summer camp went to an amusement park in Ramallah. It was a dinky little park but it was pretty fun and I managed to not throw up (which is quite good considering that I hurled the last time I was on the Berry-Go-Round). The kids loved the 4D theater that was there, but it was probably the worst one I have ever been to. My favourite part was an interesting situation. I got corned by a few girl that I did not recognize. They told me they were from Wi'am and that they wanted to borrow some money to go on more rides. Without hesitation the guys that I was hanging out with quickly grabbed me under my shoulders, picked me off the ground and carried me away.
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