January 20, 2011
Knowing your children attend a good school. Earning a salary that allows you to save money for the future. Going on a summer vacation, maybe traveling abroad. Making dinner in a cozy home with abundant choices from the grocery store, choices that allow you to be vegetarian or vegan if you wish. Being able to […]
January 20, 2011
I’ve lived in the Holy Land for the last seven months. This is my last week in Bethlehem before I head to India for a month, so I’ve been taking care of business. My apartment is nearly packed up: a pile of donations, a pile to leave with friends and a pile to take with […]
Tags: Arabic language,
Bethlehem,
hammam,
Israel,
Jordanian Consulate in Ramallah,
Middle East,
Mondoweiss,
Nablus,
Palestine,
Stories from the Holy Land,
West Bank
January 10, 2011
Today I took a walk through a friend’s village near Bethlehem. The sky was blue and spotted with clouds. It was chilly but the sun peaked through with surprising radiance. First, he (let’s call him Ahmed) showed me a 4×4 inch cement track that follows one entire length of the village, coming within yards of […]
December 6, 2010
This week, Christmas stores have popped up throughout Bethlehem. My favorite Christmas goodies 1. Para-gliding, blow-up Santa 2. Mix-CD of Arabic and international Christmas tunes, homemade by the shopkeeper himself and on sale for $3. 3. A tree that showers itself with fake snow. Christmas cheer! The city is covered in Christmas lights, from lamp […]
November 30, 2010
This year wasn’t my first Thanksgiving abroad, a holiday that is oh-so-North-American that celebrations overseas usually take on a little local flavor. In Kerala, India we were treated to curried barbeque chicken and the most delicious mashed potatoes I may ever taste. I wore a navy blue churidar to that meal. In Dublin, our Irish […]
November 17, 2010
After 15 days living in Bethlehem, I hosted a couple of backpackers for the Eid holiday, Kyle and Kim. Kyle is a guy from Florida with lots of questions. He’s tall with shaggy hair and a resonating voice. He loves coffee. Kim is from Belgium. She’s quiet, short and looked gorgeous even after waking up […]
November 15, 2010
I traveled to Zababdeh, a town in northern West Bank near Jenin, to tour the local olive oil business on the anniversary of Arafat’s death. As I traveled from Bethlehem to Zababdeh, I passed a long line of buses with Palestinian flags fluttering out the windows, all headed to a commemoration in Ramallah. After three […]
November 9, 2010
I spent the last three days eating delicious dinners with the Christian Peacemaker Team in Hebron, debating how social justice and action fits into Buddhist ideals while sipping tea, and smoking nargileh all wrapped up in a warm blanket. It restored my sapped energy. Two weeks ago, I returned from a wonderfully hectic trip to […]
November 2, 2010
My friend Ayyash took me on a tour of Balata Camp, the refugee camp where he lives only minutes from downtown Nablus. Here, in 2 square kilometers, live 28,000 people, said Ayyash. He said that the unemployment rate is 70%. Those who are employed, often work in shops inside the camp. Most of the refugees […]
September 26, 2010
Today I sat in an auditorium full of Nablusi’s and Internationals, all watching the film To Shoot an Elephant, about the Israeli siege on Gaza. To my right, was my friend Ayyash, an activist who lives in Balata Camp. He translated some things for me and, having seen the movie a few times before, predicted […]
