Nazareth home stay and Ilam

It´s has been a few days since I arrived in Nazareth to start my internship and met my family. We got off to a slow start with some hilarious mishaps, but eventually made it to Nazareth in time for supper. I´m sharing a flat with a two other girls from the program and we each have our own room which is nice. Our flat is on the ground level with the family living in the flat above us and it is part of a compound. I didn´t really know what to expect about living in a compound but it´s a neat situation. Since most of the Arab majority population areas have no room to grown outward, they build up. A compound is a serious of connected 3 floor buildings. Most of them share patios or stairs or a few walls. Often entire families live in a compound. My host family here, the sheikh sulimans, make up practically the whole neighborhood with cousins here, uncles there and sons and their families. It is really interesting and fun because everyone goes to each other´s homes and talks or eats. I´ve felt really included by my family which is nice. I´ve really enjoyed being here so far. I´m learning new Arabic words every day and also practicing my speaking and comprehension skills. They also try to teach us cultural things so we will fit in here. They are really great! There are 6 kids in the family, ages 14-24, and two of the daughters who go to university in Haifa have already invited us to visit them. We have also gone out with the 3 daughters to watch the world cup games. We are going to be so busy with traveling to see other internships and doing things with the family like attending a couple weddings in the next couple weeks. My host dad us really funny, he makes a lot of jokes and is really well connected in Nazareth, everyone knows him! Even the shwarma guy! I´m really enjoying myself here.
My internship is also going really well. We´ve only been working for three days but it is an enjoyable work place. All of our co-workers are super nice and speak good English, but also like to practice Arabic with us. They always ask how we are doing and if we need anything. I feel like an actual employee and not just an intern. So far we´ve been doing a lot of reading on Ilam and what it does as a media organization. The promotion of an ethics code for journalism and media is one of the most interesting aspects. It is something no one else is doing and I know I am part of something unique. I found out the other day what I will be doing for the next six weeks. My task involves a lot of research, reading and editing. The director is working on report to publish and I am helping him get it ready. I work with Hali and Nijim and we all have fun in the office together. It is nice to always have company for lunch and someone to chat with in the office or when you get lost going to and from work. We´ve had some funny experiences trying to navigate to work this week. A lot of steep, steep hills have been climbed and all of us will most definitely be in shape when we leave here.

Bethlehem

Hey Blog!

So I'm in Bethlehem now, starting my internship at Holy Land Trust. The organization promotes Palestinian nonviolence to end the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. To this end, HLT organizes nonviolent demonstrations (which I cannot attend), compiles reports and briefings and publishes articles on the current state of the Palestinian people and the status of the nonviolence movement. I will be helping with field research, preparing briefings, and writing articles - some of which I may get my name on. I'm really excited about it all! But I've missed you blogspot.

You see, I'm staying in the Azzeh refugee camp, and I don't get internet - that's why I haven't been around. I came into work early today so I could say a quick hi. I'll fill you in more about Bethlehem, my internship, and the camp itself later on. Until then, be well.
All the best,
Me

Tawasul!

June 12, 2010

Today was my first day at the small NGO, Tawasul, where I will be spending the next 6 weeks. I am very excited because the people I work with have been extremely kind and hospitable. In the office I will be focusing on grant writing which is something that I have never done before so this will be good to get some experience. The director, Fathi, has stated that he would like me to go with him whenever there are meetings outside the office to get more exposure to the assortment of things that the organization does.

The other two employees of Tawasul(Tarek and Rebecca) are my age and volunteered to take us ladies around town. We went to Yasser Arafat's grave, the rich neighborhoods of Ramallah (I didn't even know they existed), and drove past the quality restaurants/shopping places. Tarek and Rebecca then took us to a nice spot to chat and watch the World Cup.

I am so excited to have this opportunity to be in Ramallah. I can't wait to see what's next!

Friday Prayer in Al Aqsa

Thursday afternoon the group broke up to go to our new home bases. Two other students and myself are in Bethlehem, which is not too far from Jerusalem. I decided to take advantage of the proximity and use my first day off since I've started the program to go to Jerusalem and attend Friday prayer at Al Aqsa mosque, which is the third holiest place in the Islamic faith.

To get out of Bethlehem a checkpoint is passed, so the entire bus gets off, shows the IDF solider their IDs and gets back on the bus. Upon arriving to the Old City the main road that leads to Jaffa gate, the gate I needed to enter through, was closed. I got off to find a find the open area closed and barracked with one small entrance, where IDs had to be shown to get into the Old City. On any other day the area is open and people come and go as they please. Once I got through, I asked someone if this was normal and was told that the Israel government does this pretty regularly because of Friday prayer.

As I navigated through to get to the Temple Mount my ID was checked two more times and I found myself crying out of anger. I was lucky because I have a US passport and the soldiers can only hassle me so much, but others who are going to perform a RELIGIOUS duty are not as fortunate. Once I got to the Temple Mount I felt a huge sigh of relief because I knew I could walk around freely. The spiritually of the location was in the air, but so was the frustration that those around me feel and face on a daily basis.

More than anything else I have experienced thus far, the experience defined occupation so much more clearly for me.

Nazareth

On Tuesday we traveled to the city of Nazareth which is where I will be doing my internship over the next 6 weeks. Nazareth is about 2 hours North of Jerusalem and is the largest Arab city in Israel. I was excited to get a kind of preview of the city I would be living and working in this summer. It actually reminded me of some of the small towns I have traveled to in Spain. I knew that I would like Nazareth as soon as I was reminded of Spain, a place I love dearly. Plus, I get to practice my Arabic which is a bonus.
We took a walking tour of the Old City. The narrow streets, old churches, mosques and other old buildings were very charming. We stopped at one 200 year old house which once boasted a famous Lebanese poet that had rented a room there. It was interesting to tour the house because someone still lived there and I felt like we were intruding upon their space. One of my favorite things that we saw was the Church of the Annunciation. It was a beautiful old church with incredible mosaics, artwork and woodwork. While I was there, I took a moment to take it all in and say a few prayers.
I actually got to meet my landlord while we were in Nazareth. He joined our tour in the Old City. He was very friendly and told me about his family and how he´d take care of me and the other students living with him. I think he´ll be fun to get to know and a great resource in Nazareth. I can´t wait to get there and start my internship!

Jaffa & Tel Aviv

The other day we went into Tel Aviv and an old port city named Jaffa. Jaffa is undergoing a gentrification process today and is more or less considered an outlying part of Tel Aviv. Before the creation of Tel Aviv in the first years of the 20th century, Jaffa was a booming port and the main city. Tel Aviv was only a neighborhood of Jaffa. The switch is very evident in the size of the each city and their condition. Both are really interesting places to visit. Jaffa boasts a beautiful Mediterranean view and gorgeous beaches. Tel Aviv too has nice beaches, but we haven´t had a chance to visit them yet. The atmosphere of Jaffa is another positive quality. There was a nice breeze and sunshine which made it feel very beach like and homey. The narrow winding streets of the old city were marked with artistic plaques in which the names were derived like Archer Street. The whole port area is being renovated now with careful attention going toward old building fronts and new, luxurious apartments at the same time. There is also a really neat contrast between the low sea level port and the hill at the top of the city. It´s really easy to see how Jaffa was once such a booming and vibrant port city to live in during antiquity.
Tel Aviv was a cool place to see also. It definitely has a more urban, contemporary feel that seems quite similar to Europe rather than the Middle East. There is a nice mix between old and new buildings. We also got to visit the port area of Tel Aviv which is filled with shops and restaurants and a craft market. It was dark when we were there, but it still looked beautiful. You could definitely see the Western influence with the sketchers store and American style food. It was a great day trip.

Tel Aviv

Over the past few days we enjoyed the sites and sounds of Tel Aviv including swimming in the Mediterranean Sea and speaking with organizations such as the Peres Peace Center. We were even able to observe a peace protest that took place in Tel Aviv. The more I hear about the conflict and the multiple sides that exist, the more excited I become about my internship in the West Bank. I hope to have a greater understanding of what life is like for Palestinians and Israelis living daily lives with the constant reminder of a separation between two close-proximity societies. Until then, however, there is Tel Aviv...