Shisha, Shisha, Shisha

So I have been in Palestine for a week now and it took me a sizeable length of this time to understand the blog and get it from Arabic into English!

 So I arrived off my very classy easy jet flight into Tel Aviv, was interrogated for a smidgeon but they just asked really basic questions over and over again and stare intently at their computer screen which I think, unless they were bringing up my life history, had nothing remotely to do with the questions they were asking me and even though I’m pretty sure they saw through my ‘No, I’m just here alone, I don’t know anyone’ story they let me in. So then I hopped into a car of a dude who is Israeli but also has a house in the West Bank and so he is able to go into Palestine and Israel unlike Palestinians. He could have been taking me anywhere but thankfully that all worked out and an hour later I arrived at the YMCA in Beit Sahour.

Up to now I had gone through a delightful airport, driven on smooth roads in one of the nicest cars I have been in, in my life and passed places such as Mcdonalds and large shopping malls. I did not see the apartheid wall crossing into the West Bank but the difference between here and Israel is blatantly obvious! On arrival in Beit Sahour near Bethlehem I got into one of the worst cars I have been in, in my life with a guy from the organisation, Ibrahim, and was showed my ‘accommodation options’ of course the only place available was an apartment owned by the guy’s grandmother (coincidence I think not) that I had been warned not to stay in by students from previous years, but I didn’t really have a choice as it was late at night when I arrived. They have thankfully fixed a few things up so I now have the luxury of a light in the bathroom and the facilities to make hot food!

It is actually pretty cold here especially at night because there is no heating or insulation in the walls and it is not humid so my little basement apartment that doesn’t get any sun is pretty cold. This is doubly annoying when I hear reports of people in Ireland sunbathing! I didn’t think to bring my hat, gloves and scarf with me as I looked up on the internet on several different sites which told me it would be mid 20s at this time of year ( one of the many things that ‘reputable websites’ poorly report about Palestine!) Thankfully nice volunteers from Norway live in the apartment above me and so they have really helped with my orientation here. I actually spent the first few evenings at a bar which I really did not expect to be doing, because I didn’t think there was any in the area but apparently restaurants become bars in the evening and stay open until whenever the last customer wants to leave which is cool but not when you have work in the morning at 8:30!

Also everyone smokes here, particularly shisha everywhere and anywhere instead of drinking too much but unfortunately the wise advice of Dtalk to not get in the car with a drunk driver hasn’t really been an option as I still have no idea where I am half the time. So between blindly walking home alone or getting a lift with a drunk driver I have chosen the latter option! Anyway it has been a good way to get to know people very quickly but as you can only get a 3 month visa into Israel everyone I have met is leaving by the end of the April so the hip hopping social life might die down soon!

So I live in area A which means it is not controlled by Israeli authorities so life here is fairly free however the struggle and evidence of the occupation is still very alive. Most people have a story about being in an Israeli prison or being shot at by the Israeli Army or know someone who has, which is why the fact that they have a pretty good sense of humour shocked me. Internationals which have been there a while make jokes like, ‘Well at least I have a nationality’ or when Palestinian refugees ask an international person when they will go home again and the international returns the question (not funny when you are a refugee denied the right to return!) I was also shocked that most people here are not religious, maybe that was naive of me to think that just because Jesus strolled around here 2000 years ago that everyone would have Jesus as their homeboy but no this is not the case and not just with young people, though I was asked by the boss of the organisation was I Greek Orthodox or Roman Catholic (neither did not appear to be an acceptable option!).

So yeah my time here so far has been rather entertaining. I do however work in the office most days editing articles, writing reports on groups who have visited and they are mad into the olive tree here so I am writing a research piece into the importance of it for religious, cultural and agricultural reasons as well as putting together the 2013 calendar (obviously there is a lot of time pressure on this one so better get back to it!).

But no all in all its good and hopefully if I do what they want me to do for a while I will get to do more interesting tasks soon. They are also very supportive of me doing activities outside the office too which is nice. Tomorrow I will be joining the Global March to Jerusalem (which you can also all do, you just start walking towards Jerusalem from wherever you are in the world!) to show solidarity with the Palestinian people to help put an end to Israel’s disregard for International law through the continuing occupation of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories. This will be my first experience of Israeli control and checkpoints and whatnot so I shall let you know how it goes! Hope you are all well, keep up the posts they are fun to read!

Peace out homies
Heather