Laurie goes to the Holy Land

Update

2010-05-31T21:56:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: I read this morning on BBC that "Israel has imposed an information blackout, making it difficult to gather first-hand accounts from the campaigners [activists from the Freedom Flotilla]" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/10200351.stm

Sounds a bit fishy, huh? Especially for a democratic country with freedom of speech as its cornerstone, it appears that Israel is trying to cover up something...

What a tragic day...

2010-05-31T16:16:00.000-07:00

To say that today has been a whirlwind would be an understatement. Over the past 18 hours or so, the mood of Ramallah has gone from business as usual to rage.

This morning around 4:30 am the Israeli Defense Force killed nine international activists and injured dozens on a ship in international waters while seven soldiers were wounded by activist violence. The convoy of six ships from the Free Gaza Movement was carrying humanitarian aid intended to reach Gaza. These ships were working in defiance of the three-year blockade that Israel has imposed on Gaza since Hamas took control in 2007.

The Freedom Flotilla came from Turkey carry 10,000 tons of desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza. As I mentioned in my last post, the situation in Gaza is dire at best, things as simple as coffee, chocolate, and coriander are forbidden to enter what is often called the world’s largest open-air prison. Sunday, the flotilla departed Cyprus to Gaza despite repeated warnings from Israel that their ships would be turned away.

This morning around 4:30 am while still in international waters, the largest of the six ships was stormed by commandos of the Israeli Defense Force. Clashes between some 500 activists aboard the ship and soldiers turned deadly as the situation immediately turned violent. The initiator of the violence still remains unknown. Israel claims that soldiers were met with pipes, knives, guns, and axes as they were lowered onto the ship via helicopter. Their reaction to open live fire was in self-defense.

Organizers of the Free Gaza Movement say that this was not intended to be violent and the images released by the IDF show activists defending themselves from unprovoked live fire shot by the Israeli soldiers. The ships were detained immediately after violence erupted so firsthand accounts from activists are not available. It is expected that passengers on the ship will either be immediately deported or detained for an unknown amount time. It will be only a matter of time before the activists’ side of the story emerges and findings from independent investigations including one by the United Nations will draw more conclusions to how this demonstration turned into a massacre, and perhaps more importantly, on whom the blame will be placed.

The international response overwhelmingly condemns the actions of Israel. Ambassadors in Spain, Greece, and Turkey have all been summoned by the respective governments to give a full explanation of this morning’s event. Demonstrations have been happening across the world at Israeli embassies and consulates. The United States has yet to make any pivotal comments calling the deaths “regretful” and that it reserving judgment until more is known about the circumstances of the raid.

The Israeli government response has been “regretful of the deaths” but supportive of the actions of the commandos. While I personally am still on the fence over who is truly at blame for the catastrophic events of the day, I am appalled by the clear propaganda Israel is using to describe the situation in Gaza and the intentions of Freedom Flotilla.

In a speech by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon called the flotilla an “armada of hate and violence of the Hamas terror organization” and that “the organizers are well known for their ties to Global Jihad, Al-Qaeda, and Hamas.”

To me this is a clear abuse of the word terrorism and irresponsibly links the mission of humanitarian aid and terrorism. In my mind, Israel is brainwashing their own citizens into thinking that anyone who sympathizes with the Palestinian cause is a terrorist or involved in terroristic activity. I’ve seen it happen time and time again with friends doing development work in Palestine (much like I am doing here) and being deployed for being a “security threat” despite working with reputable organizations with absolutely no history of terroristic or violent activity.

I do believe that the mission of the Freedom Flotilla was to distribute much needed aid to Gaza, not provide Hamas with weapons to use against Israel. Examples of the aid carried by the flotilla were wheelchairs, food, construction materials, and medicine – all of which are not allowed into Gaza through Israeli channels as Ayalon later mentions.

Israel and the Free Gaza organizations both confirm that Israel did extend a diplomatic hand to distribute the humanitarian aid brought by the Freedom Flotilla. The Free Gaza Movement refused because they knew that very few of their supplies would actually reach the hands of Gazans. After Israel would check the aid and dispose of anything that is not included on the miniscule list of 30 items allowed into Gaza, little would actually be delivered – despite these materials being desperately needed. Israel claims that it would have distributed the humanitarian aid aboard, but in actuality, the state has a very narrow definition of humanitarian aid and considers items like tea, concrete, and wheelchairs to be either luxuries or items used to assist terrorism.

Interestingly enough, Israel denies that there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, boasting that it provides some 15,000 tons of humanitarian aid to the region on a weekly basis. But according to the UN and other leading human rights organizations, this is about of quarter of supplies actually needed. While not many are going hungry in Gaza, as food is the main form of aid, Gazans have just a few hours of electricity a day, very very very little adequate drinking water, extremely limited access to fuel and most importantly virtually no access to building supplies to rebuild their homes and businesses to build any sort of an economy or infrastructure. Currently there is one functioning hospital (the other three were bombed in 2008) serving over one million people in a region with one of the world’s fastest population growth rates. Furthermore, many people are still left homeless and without proper protection of the harsh weather, extremely hot summers and cold winters. The only country in the world that denies the extreme humanitarian crisis in Gaza is Israel. Even the US government, Israel’s closest ally has not only called for the end to the blockade but initiated USAID projects to help rebuild.

As more details unfold about this current crisis, I am sure tension will rise around the region. Today demonstrations took place throughout the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. Palestine has issued a 3-day mourning period where businesses, schools, and NGOs are urged to strike. I am unsure if there will be school tomorrow. Many fear that this could initiate the third intifada that has been brewing for some months due to settlement building in East Jerusalem, the takeover of the Ibrahim Mosque, and stalled peace talks. Only time will tell, especially as the side of the activists becomes public.

As you can imagine, this is a huge obstacle for peace and security in the region. Please pray for the peace in the Middle East.

Spring has sprung!

2010-04-19T12:36:00.000-07:00

Greetings loyal readers!

It’s a warm spring night in Ramallah. I’m currently at my home away from home, Café La Vie. It’s a cozy hangout with the best lentil soup in town and a kind wait staff. It sometimes reminds me of the infamous Purple Onion in Minneapolis, except that instead of pining over econ problem sets, I’m writing blogposts and communicating with people here and away. There are still comforting parallels. The Beatles and other old music frequent the music playlist and there is a wide selection of desserts I shouldn’t be eating. Ahhhh nostalgia.

Today marks the Israeli Memorial Day followed by Independence Day tomorrow. I was in Jerusalem last night as Israel welcomed in Memorial Day at sundown. A horn rang throughout the city and everything stopped. People stopped their cars (some in the middle of the highway) and just stood still. Many people get out of their cars and stood next to them while they observed the loss of 23,000 Israelis who have fallen in combat since the state’s creation in 1948. No matter what my opinion is of Israel’s fallen and military record, I truly was touched by this gesture of observance. In America, I feel there is an immense amount of pride and appreciation for the services that soldiers and veterans provide, but rarely does the public stop (literally stop) everything and reflect on the sacrifices made by others to maintain our security and freedom. It was an amazing sight to see.

Unfortunately a holiday for Israel usually means a day of morning for Palestine. Palestinians commemorate May 14 as the “Naqba” or catastrophe. which usually aligns with the Israeli independence day. As for why Israel is celebrating Independence Day a month early is beyond me, but according to the Gregorian calendar, the state of Israel was created on May 14, 1948….hmmmm. It was the events where Israel was granted its independence that many Palestinians lost their homes, their livelihoods, and even their lives, so it would only be appropriate that this day brings great sadness, and at times anger to the Palestinian people. I’ve been told that tensions run high throughout May, as the anniversary of the Naqba grows closer. With tensions already as high as they are, I imagine it will be a tumultuous month.

Politically, the peace process continues to be at a standstill. Palestine refuses to come to the negotiation table unless Israel suspends the building of all settlements – West Bank and Jerusalem. Israel has issued a 10-month suspension of building permits in West Bank settlements, but refuses to quit building in East Jerusalem. The argument that East Jerusalem is fair game for the Israelis to build in carries about as much weight as me annexing my neighbor’s yard and building a shed on it and claiming it as my own. Internationally speaking, Jerusalem is a divided city with East Jerusalem explicitly being designated as Palestinian territory. So the saga continues. Other international heavyweights, namely the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia have called for a halt to settlement building with the hopes of reaching a peace agreement in 2 years At the rate it’s going, this may be a difficult objective to reach.

While relations are icy between Israel and the West Bank’s governing body, relations between Gaza and Israel are still hostile. It’s important to remember that the West Bank is under the governing control of the political party, Fatah. Fatah, once an internationally recognized terror group, has gained legitimacy on a worldwide scale. Fatah, unlike Hamas, recognizes Israel is a state and is willing to negotiate peace provided that the existing preconditions are met (namely the halt to all settlement building) and represents a more politically moderate stance. Hamas, the main opposition party to Fatah, is recognized as an international terrorist organization. In its 1988 charter it calls for replace Israel with an Islamic Palestinian state in present day Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank. The terrorist accusations against Hamas mainly come from the organized launching of suicide attacks in Israelis during the second intifada and more recently frequent rocket attacks that are launched from Gaza, over the separation wall and into Israel. Though casualties are rare in such attacks (last month there were 20 independent attacks with one casualty), it often prompts IDF military action.

December 2008/January 2009 marked the deadliest military action since the invasions during the second intifada. Over the course of three weeks, 1400 Gazans were killed and billions of dollars of damage ensued. Though the IDF asserts that it was targeting militia outposts, three of Gaza’s four hospitals were leveled, the heart of Gaza’s sewage infrastructure was destroyed (this later led to a “sewage tsunami” that killed 8 people literally drowning in sewage) and countless private homes and businesses. Following these air strikes, Hamas ceased to launch rockets into Israel, though other smaller militant factions continue to do so, as I’ll explain later.

Israel has instilled a staunch blockade on Gaza since Hamas came to power in 2006, meaning there is a list of 30 items that Israel allows into the region legally. Most of these 30 items are primitive and include food, medicine, and detergent, forget about coffee, tea, musical instruments, anything made of wood, appliances, light bulbs, fabric or probably anything else you can name – their entry is forbidden. After the air strikes concluded, Gaza was in ruins. Furthermore, because it largely targeted the civilian population (a direct violation of UN international law), people were without homes and unable to gain any materials (think wood, glass, concrete – nothing) to rebuild their lost homes and businesses. Many people are still living among the rubble of what used to be their home. The blockade also means that Gaza is not allowed to export any goods, without access to any sort of commerce, goods in Gaza are extremely expensive (can anyone say around $12 for a gallon of gas?) and the unemployment rate is astronomical, around 85 percent.

Though it’s difficult, goods (and weapons) are getting into Gaza through a sophisticated tunnel system from Egypt into the blockaded region. Items as big as furniture and cars are smuggled through the tunnels to Gazans. It’s actually quite impressive. Recently though, with the help of the US Army Corps of Engineers, Egypt is building a wall between the Gaza/Egypt border that will extend some 18 meters below the surface to hopefully curtail much of the tunnel activity. Though they are well aware that the tunnels will be rebuilt, it will severely halt tunnel activity for the near future. There is no telling what this means for the people of Gaza.

Hamas has shown small signs of wishing cooperate with the Israeli government. It’s no secret that the wellbeing of Gaza is directly related to the frequency of rockets launched into Israel. Due to the Israeli casualty last month, Israel launched a small-scale air strike targeting militia outposts. The most recent rocket launches have been initiated by smaller military groups like the Islamic Jihad and others. Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya stated in a BBC article “We are contacting other Palestinian factions in order to reach an internal consensus as to the measures we may take in order to protect our people and strengthen our unity.” In other words, Hamas is trying to maintain the smaller factions in order to maintain calm in Gaza for the “national interest.” Though small, I believe this to be a significant gesture on behalf of Hamas to suspend militant action directed at Israel. Ayman Taha, a spokesman for the Hamas government said that “The government of Gaza is in charge of the situation, and it does know clearly who launches the rockets…it is working hard to deter any faction from acting individually.” The IDF responded saying it would “not tolerate terroristic activity inside Gaza that threatens Israeli citizens.”

When thinking about a peace deal between Israel and Palestinians, it’s entirely possible that negotiations will take place between the people of the West Bank and Israel and the status quo of Gaza will remain, due to it’s unwillingness to negotiate. Unfortunately, the rift between Fatah and Hamas is so great that they may require a peace process of sorts between themselves. As Gaza and Hamas are more and more separated from the rest of the world, extremism is becoming more and more prevalent. With one of the highest birthrates and population densities in the world, Gaza’s population is growing quickly which could lead to further instability. Only time will tell.

Thanks for reading. As always, I am overwhelmed by the feedback and comments I receive from my readers. I truly appreciate you keeping me in your thoughts are prayers. Pictures from Easter and Turkey to come!

Ma Salma!

The past month or so...

2010-03-08T06:54:00.000-08:00

Masa il khair (good evening!)

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly the time passes by here. It's difficult for me to believe that it is in fact, March. As I’ve entered the second half of my time here, I’m starting to think about reentry and what my next step will be post-volunteer year. It’s still very much an overwhelming feeling, especially as I attempt to quantify this experience within the confines of a resume and CV. I’m not entirely sure what path I want to take from here. I’ve been looking at postings from corporate America to the CIA. If anyone is aware of opportunities that sound interesting, I’m all ears…

This past weekend was our mid-year retreat in Jordan. Despite the Jordanian border being just 20 kilometers away, it still takes a considerable amount of time to get there. Vehicles are not allowed to pass like they do at the US-Canada border, so it requires a relay of taxis, busses, and shuttles to get from Jerusalem to Amman – Jordan’s capital. All in all, it took us about 6 hours to get from the shuttle station in Jerusalem to our hotel in Amman.

Unfortunately, we were met by one of the worst rains Amman has seen in some time. In my mind, it’s no coincidence that the Arabic word for rain is shitta. Despite the crummy weather, Amman was the perfect mid-year location for a retreat. Day one included a trip to Mecca Mall and taking in Valentine’s Day at the movie theater. Words can’t describe how good it felt to spend a few mindless hours watching a movie in English after a delicious meal at the food court full of familiar restaurants: Pizza Hut, Subway, McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Popeyes, Sbarro, and others. Nearly every ethnicity of food was represented (except Mexican – sad) and I even enjoyed a veggie burger.

Mecca Mall in Amman is a great representation of what a free Arab country can look like. In 1994, Jordan declared peace with Israel that earned it legitimacy from Western countries and the aid from the United States and other wealthy countries poured in. The infrastructure is significantly better than in the West Bank and Egypt, there are fewer honks and whistles from the shabab (young men) and people enjoy the freedoms that come with unlimited mobility and being able to build and update their properties. People are living their lives in peace and are free of the uncertainty that the occupation brings.

Relations between Israel and Jordan are still strained. Currently around 60% of people living in Jordan are Palestinian. There is a definite divide between “real Jordanians” and Palestinians. Many Palestinians site experiencing a glass ceiling in governmental positions and from the interactions we had with Jordanians, the divide was quite clear. “We like Palestinians that are in Palestine, not Palestinians that are in Jordan” said one shopkeeper at Petra. Now Jordan faces a new refugee crisis as Iraqis are fleeing the US invasion and seeking refuge in neighboring Jordan and Syria. I doubt they are being met warmly.

After a day of taking in Amman, or rather the mall, we drove 3 hours south to Petra. Petra, the “Rose-red City”, was built in the 3^rd century BC by the Nabateans who carved palaces, temples, tombs, storerooms, and stables from rocky cliffs. This became a trade route from Damascus to Arabia where spices, silk, and slaves passed through. The city was “discovered” in 1812 after being lost for some 1000 years. Bedouins (nomadic Arabs) turned the area into a tourist destination and continue to live and operate there.

Unfortunately, my camera took a tumble at the Dome of the Rock a few weeks ago, so I have no personal pictures of Petra. I’m hoping to get some from my fellow volunteers that I can post. However, I don’t think pictures can capture Petra's beauty. The magnificent colors in the rock and the intricacy of the carvings are something that can only be appreciated in person. It’s an unbelievable place.

We spent the night in Wadi Rum, a small tourist town near Petra before heading back to Amman on Sunday. Again, in Amman we were met by showers, so back to the Mecca Mall we went. After a leisurely shopping day and a failed attempt to see sights in the Old City of Amman, we headed to the Lutheran Church for service. In order to accommodate the schedules of the parishioners, worship is held at 6:30pm on Sunday evening, as Sunday is a work day in the Muslim-majority country.

It was clear that the rain deterred many members from coming to service but it was great to talk to the parishioners. True to Middle Eastern hospitality, we spent our time after the service drinking tea and dancing to everything from “I Will Survive” to popular Arabic music. We left for the border on Monday morning. Thankfully the lines were short and we were able to pass through without any issues.

PEACE UPDATE:

Politically, the conditions in Israel/Palestine are tense. Three significant events of the past month and a half are hindering the peace process. The murder of Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh in Dubai on January 20, Netanyahu’s declaration of the Tomb of the Patriochs (or Ibrahim Mosque) and Rachel’s Tomb as a Israeli heritage site on February 21, and the 112-unit expanision of Beitar Illit on March 8 have played major roles in Palestinian strikes and riots.

Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh was the second in command for the Islamic militant group, Hamas, who has control over the Gaza Strip. Al-Mabhouh who was residing in Syria, traveled to Dubai for business purposes (perhaps to acquire arms). There he was electrocuted and suffocated by an 11-person hit team, all carrying counterfeited European passports. This action has outraged the European countries that had citizens with stolen identities. Israeli ambassadors have been summoned to meet with the respective country’s officials. Israel neither admits nor denies involvement in the murder, but Dubai has issued warrants for the arrest of Benjamin Netanyahu (Prime Minister of Israel) and Meir Dagan ( head of the Israeli intelligence unit, Mossad), though it’s doubtful either will ever be turned over to UAE authorities.

The press in Israel is mixed about the murder of Al-Mabhouh. No news outlet questions whether or not Israel was involved, the motives are too strong in favor of a Mossad led assassination. The counterfeited passports have caused considerable strains between Israel and the European countries involved. This has led to intense criticism from the press as Israel is already experiencing major backlash from Europe for international law violations. Other news outlets hail this as a “victory in the war on terror” and is unconcerned with the bad publicity.

On February 21, Netanyahu announced that the Tomb of the Patriarchs (or as Muslims call it – Ibrahim Mosque) and Rachel’s Tomb would undergo renovation and be declared an Israeli heritage site. The Tomb of the Patriarchs is a sacred site for Muslims, Jews, and Christians as it houses the tombs of Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, and their wives. Normally, this wouldn’t seem like such a bad idea, but the site is in Hebron, not at all under Israeli jurisdiction. It would be like Mexico declaring the Alamo in San Antonio a Mexican heritage site because of its connection to Mexicans. And then taking control over it – without the consent of the US. You can imagine the outrage. Rachel’s Tomb is also sacred for Muslims, Jews, and Christians but in Bethlehem. After the declaration, cities all across the West Bank went on strike – meaning nothing was open and schools were closed. Recently, there have been intense riots in the Old City of Jerusalem following Friday prayers, and fires at checkpoints.

Today, Israel OKed a 112-unit expansion on a West Bank settlement despite a freeze on settlement building. Pressure from the US caused Israel to put a 10-month building freeze on West Bank settlements in November (though unfortunately not East Jerusalem settlements – an action that has outraged Palestinians who want to see Jerusalem as its capital one day) though construction continued on some 3000 units already in progress. This announcement comes days before Vice President Joe Biden is set to visit the region; undoubtedly, it will be considered a major hurdle in the peace process. Palestine refuses to negotiate peace until building is stopped in all settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. Unfortunately there is no end to that in sight. Peace negotiations have been taking place via US mediator George Mitchell. Face-to-face meetings between Abbas and Netanyahu will not happen until the settlement preconditions are met.

All in all, it’s been great here. Currently it’s 85 degrees and it won’t be long until I’m at the beach. School has been going well and I enjoy being involved with the English club. As always, I am so grateful for the response to my blog via comments, e-mail, and mail. I have a new e-mail address at laurie.ann.blank@gmail.com, please feel free to send me a line.

Ma Salama!

Pictures

2010-01-26T11:43:00.000-08:00

Pictures from January! Please don't miss the new blogpost below.

Beth, Issa, and I in Jaffa on New Years Day. Issa and his family have become a second family to us. We were so happy they invited us along to their New Years festivities.

Ultra-orthodox Jews on their way to Synagogue at Shabbat

Mom and Carl at Capernum, a city were Jesus and Peter retreated during the Galilee ministry.

Carl and I at the River Jordan

The Pyramids of Giza!

Ma She (it's going)

2010-01-26T11:40:00.000-08:00

Greetings from Palestine!

I apologize for the delay in updating my blog. The beginning of 2010 has been anything but dull. It started with a wonderful visit from my parents and brother. It was great to be able to show them my life here and introduce them to good and not-so-good things of living in Israel/Palestine. Lately the biggest challenge has been overcoming a bit of homesickness. While I wouldn’t trade seeing my family for anything, I was reminded of the simplicities of living at home: speaking the language, never having to go through checkpoints, a car to get me from point A to point B, and CENTRAL HEATING. However, if I learned anything in the countless study abroad seminars I attended, halfway through one’s stay in a foreign country, he or she tends to become homesick. With that said, I am confident that this phase too, shall pass.

On the upside, there have been some changes at school that have allowed us to be more hands on with the students. Last week we had our first English Club meeting that Beth, Najua (the 8^th – 10^th grade English teacher) and I have been developing. The students involved are advanced speakers, so they’re mostly interested in moving from a proficiency level of English to a fluent level. This means that we’ll be focusing on the fun parts of the language and culture – humor, pop culture, music, and the dos and don’ts of English speaking cultures. This is, however, my first experience with a language club, and so if anyone has any ideas of how to present different aspects of English life, I would greatly appreciate suggestions. We also will be starting an English study group next week for students who want help their class material. My preparation for this will be brushing up on my English grammar. Today, I was asked what the difference was between using wish and hope. Quite honestly, I was stumped.

This past weekend was a busy one. Beth and I were in Beit Sahour for a choir retreat. Earlier this year we joined a choir as a creative outlet. The choir is a mix of Palestinians and Internationals, the rehearsals are in English, il humdilla (thank God!) and our repertoire is in English, Italian, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Arabic. We will be giving three concerts in mid-February. There are two great things about this choir. Firstly, it’s an opportunity to incorporate music back into my life. During college, I was consumed by my boyfriend (sometimes abusive) by the name of economics. I didn’t realize how much I missed reading and making music. Secondly, the members of our choir are involved in some very meaningful work in the West Bank/Gaza. I learned so much this weekend about the “facts on the ground” from an NGO/Governmental aid standpoint. As learn more, I will certainly pass they facts along to you. I feel so lucky that I receive the kind of support that I do from this community and that we have the common interest of music.

After the retreat, Beth and I decided to feed our homesick selves by watching the Vikings/Saints game with some USAID friends. Though I classify myself a fair-weathered fan, I feel that staying up to watch the game from 1:30am to 5:30 on a school night earns me bonus points with the football gods.

Beyond my personal perils here, the current peace process seems to be at a stalemate. George Mitchell, the lead negotiator for the US has said that we will cut aid to both the PA (Palestinian Authority) and Israel if there isn’t an agreement in two years. Currently we give Israel $3 billion in a handout in addition to billions in military equipment, and we also purchase a great deal of military equipment from the Israelis at an inflated price. We also give the Palestinian territories around $1.6 billion most of which is spent in the West Bank with more funds being appropriated to the rebuilding of Gaza, though these funds have many strings attached as we do not want any of it winding up in the hands of Hamas. Hopefully this will be an incentive for the two side to get more serious about a treaty.

Lastly, I want to close my entry with a movie recommendation. I just watched “Paradise Now” about suicide bombers in Nablus. The movie is in Arabic, but has good subtitles and sheds some light on the mentality of suicide bombing.

As always, thanks for your continued prayers and support. I sincerely appreciate the comments, e-mails, and messages via my parents.

Ma Salme! (go with peace)

Cairo and New Years!

2010-01-02T13:16:00.001-08:00

Again, I write to you from Ben Gurion airport, not because I am preparing to fly to another destination, but because in a few short hours my parents and brother are set to arrive. This past week has been one of my best. I spent 6 days in Cairo, soaking in pyramids, mosques, and Egyptian life, then I spent New Years in Ramallah with friends and their families.

Cairo was absolutely fascinating – it’s busy, it’s crowded, and there’s so many things to see and do it could take an eternity to experience it all. One thing I didn’t realize about Cairo is its shear size. It’s home to more than 20 million people and growing as birth rates continue to boom along with an influx of refugees from all over the Middle East. With this many people comes crowds that rival those of urban China, crossing the street was perhaps the most dangerous thing I’ve done in quite sometime, that is until I got in a cab.

Besides the beautiful sights, the best thing about Cairo is its affordability. Nearly 40% of Egyptians live on $1/day, meaning that the government heavily subsidizes all basic necessities. For example, a ride on the metro costs $0.15, a tank of gas will set you back around $12, and I could enjoy a dinner with an entrée and 3 sides for around $3. Despite having major issues with Islamic extremists, the biggest problem for Egypt is its economy. The subsidies have led to an economy on the brink of collapse and with Mubarak aging with no clear replacement, the future of Egypt is uncertain.

All in all, my time in Egypt was very insightful. Living in Palestine has allowed me to gather insight into the Arab world, but seeing another culture gives me a better base for the region. In general, Egypt has gained a reputation of being far more conservative than Palestine, but I found this to be not entirely true. Yes, burqas and full veils are far more common and attire expectations (with the exception of some tourists) are more conservative, but ironically, public displays of affection were nearly to the level of the United States. In Arab countries, public displays of affection between men and women is strictly forbidden, public displays of affection among straight men are not. It is not uncommon to find men holding hands, linking arms, or sharing kisses on the cheek. This kind of behavior is perfectly normal with no implications of homosexuality – as for the notion of being gay, unfortunately, the consequences can be catastrophic.

New Years was another wonderful evening. Unsure of what the night would bring, we joined one of our closest friends’ family for dinner and the countdown. It was great to experience more of Palestinian family life. We played cards, learning a few Arab games and teaching the family “spoons” which was a lot of fun. New Years day, Bethany and I went with the same family to Jaffa for a dinner with their family. With 6 kids and 4 grandkids it gets kind of hectic, but overall it was nice to feel like a part of a family for a day – something I’ve really missed.

I will post more from my family’s visit. Also, I’ve found that it’s easier to post pictures of facebook of my travels. Please feel free to “friend” me if you wish.

Happy Holidays!

قد عيد الميلاد

2009-12-25T03:17:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

I write to you from Ben Gurion airport in Tel-Aviv while in transit to Cairo. In an effort to avoid the inconveniences of Shabbat, I've arrived for my flight 7 hours early. I'm slightly sad that I have to spend my Christmas day in an airport, but the festivities of last night have certainly made me less bummed about spending Christmas in an airport. I'm extremely tired though.

Our day started with a Christmas dinner at the home of our coordinators in Beit Jala. The meal was complete with vegan mashed potatoes, guacamole, and vegan fudge. After exchanging gifts with our secret santa we headed to Christmas Eve service at Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem. The church itself is small, but truly perfection with high arches made out of limestone, stained glass windows and quaint pews. The service was given in Arabic, English, and German with each participant singing and praying in their native tongue. The service ended with a candlelit procession through Bethlehem singing Silent Night.

We then headed to Manager Square in Bethlehem where there was live music in front of the Church of the Nativity with thousands standing, listening. I couldn't help but notice that 90% of those attending the festivities were young men. This is a reality that I'm slowly coming to realize as public events are overwhelmingly attended by men. To feel comfortable, I usually need some sort of male escort to forgo the creepy stares, space violators, and unwanted comments from the sahba (young men). It's sad really, because women can’t feel comfortable celebrating even religious happenings because of a male dominated culture.

We took a break from Manager Square to have a proper Palestinian Christmas meal of pita, hummus, and falafel. It was nice to reflect with those I’ve gotten close to over the past months. Being away from family has been difficult for all of us, especially during the holidays, and it was nice to share a meal together and share stories and traditions (it also didn’t hurt that our meal cost a mere $2.50 – the cheapest Christmas meal I will ever have!).

The live music ended around 11pm to make way for services at the Church of the Nativity. Tickets are required for this event, so we decided to head to the Shepherd’s Fields in Beit Sahour to occupy our time. Walking through Beit Sahour was when it really felt like Christmas. Beit Sahour is one of two predominately Christian towns in the Israel/Palestine area so we were greeted with “Merry Chirstmas” and “Eid ill Melad Said” by many as we walked the street. Getting to Shepherd’s Fields took three attempts. Our first distraction was a procession of Catholics making their way to Bethlehem that we joined. Complete with mosquito torches, drums, guitars, and voices, we walked and talked with people from all over the world.

We decided to jump out of the procession early to again head to the Shepherd’s Field. As we walked down the street a woman wished us a Merry Christmas from her balcony and invited us in for tea. “From the bottom of my heart, please take tea with me on Christmas.” Leenda was her name and she prepared us tea with sage because that is what Mary had when she delivered baby Jesus. Leenda had children in America and used to be a pharmacist. She was spending Christmas alone, so it was nice to know that we were giving this generous woman company and that we had a bit of tea to warm up.

After tea, we made a third and final attempt to go to the Shepherd’s Field. It was about a 30-minute walk from Manager Square in Bethlehem. The field has since been turned into more of a park – a rarity in Palestine – complete with a chapel, fountain and multiple worshiping spaces. We could hear services in multiple languages, and familiar Christmas carols being sung in German, English, Arabic, and other unknown tongues.

After doing a bit of exploring, my fellow volunteers and I read the gospel from Luke and took some time to reflect on our night. I received a call from my home church in Casselton where I read the lessons and gave a brief rundown of my Christmas Eve in the Holy Land. It was nice to feel like I was a part of the service, despite not being able to hear anyone on the other end, I still felt connected to home.

I am preparing for my parents and brother to visit me here next week. I’m so excited to share my experiences with them. More to come…

Merry Christmas!

Adventures with the Mustashfa (hospital)

2009-12-05T06:50:00.000-08:00

Marhabba! (hello)

It’s a beautiful afternoon in Ramallah; about 64 degrees outside and more like 60 degrees inside. I’m trying to get my beloved space heater to work, but with the TV and cable box running, I think I may have overloaded our outlet. We recently acquired a TV and cable box from the family who used to live upstairs. Bethany and I are now proud owners of approximately 1000 channels with countless English=speaking movie channels. It certainly is nice to have, despite the fact that the movies played are on a “world’s worst movie” list somewhere.

This week has been difficult for one unfortunate reason. Though it’s a bit embarrassing, I think it serves as a good story to share about the realities of living here. I acquired the inevitable – travelers diarrhea.

We’ve been hosting a group of ELCA bishops and their wives this week as they explore the Holy Land. Bethany and I accompanied them on Tuesday and Wednesday which included a visit to Yad Vashem (the holocaust museum in Jerusalem), presentations by Israel’s Minister of Interior and Minister of Tourism among other high level government officials, and a trip to our school in Ramallah. After the bishop’s visit to our school, I decided to take a nap and woke up with excruciating pain in my lower abdomen. The pain is what I imagine contractions during child birth might feel like. After three or four hours of intense abdominal pain and vomiting, I decided it was time to visit the mustashfa (hospital).

This time, Bethany and I decided to brave the private hospital upon recommendation from a church member. One of my work-out friends rushed me to the hospital as if I was on the brink of death. After blood and urine tests, I was diagnosed with a UTI, a diagnosis I felt wasn’t quite right. But irregardless of my broken Arabic and my doctor’s broken English, I was out the door with a prescription in hand. I filled the prescription with hope that it would lessen the pain and vomiting. Unfortunately, taking the medication induced something worse: diarrhea and even more intense stomach pain. Considering that one of the boxes of medication had a slinky on it, I should have been concerned.

I was still trying to remain optimistic, but at about midnight (4 hours after I had gotten back from the hospital the first time) I decided it was time to make another journey to the mustashfa. This time another work-out friend of mine, who speaks English well, came with to help me communicate more clearly what was wrong. “Back so soon?” my doctor greeted me. I again explained my symptoms and how I thought my previous diagnosis was incorrect. This time, I was visited by the surgeon, probably because he spoke the best English, and they put me on an IV and another kind of medication. I left the hospital around 3 am full of liquids and drugs.

Thursday, I still was experiencing considerable stomach pain and diarrhea, but it was definitely an improvement from Wednesday. I spent most of the day napping, but was frequently interrupted by phone calls and visits from concerned parties. The English teacher and secretary from school came over to visit, along with several members from the church council, and other community members. Even the 9^th graders wanted to stop by; fortunately, their teacher encouraged them not to. With them they brought advice about what kind of foods to eat and most brought food with them. I am now on a strict regime of potatoes and bananas and staying away from chocolate (doctor’s orders) and lentils. We also spent time hypothesizing how I contracted this Middle Eastern mystery disease; some say the wind, some say the cold weather, I say food poisoning; but whatever, all ideas are welcome.

I certainly felt appreciated by the amount of concern that was shown over my wellbeing. On the flip side, I think the entire city of Ramallah now knows that I have/had diarrhea as I’ve had more conversations concerning my bowels than I ever care to have again.

Today, I am feeling almost 100%. The diarrhea is gone but I still have a bit of stomach pain here and there. Tomorrow, one of the bishops will be preaching at our church and we’ll go to Beit Jala to have a closing meal/service with them before they head to the Galilee and then home.

Hopefully, they’ll let me have shuklaa (chocolate) soon…

Happy Thanksgiving/Eid Said!

2009-11-29T14:42:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am sitting in my flat at the moment trying to get as close as I possible can to the space heater without burning my sweat pants. While the weather outside is still very much tolerable (especially considering that I’ve spent the last 22 winters in the Midwest), but the houses, which are made completely of concrete and limestone block, are cooling quickly. The concept of central heating doesn’t exist here so for the time being, we’re relying on space heaters until diesel is delivered and we can operate the iron heating apparatuses in our rooms.

Thanksgiving was bittersweet. It was the first time that I’ve really missed home. Despite being vegan, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays as it is one of the few times in my increasingly busy life that all of my family and friends are in one place. Also, Thanksgiving is not celebrated here, and in many respects it not only marks a holiday of gratitude, but also the official beginning (as my mom adamantly asserts) of the Christmas season. Much appreciated cards and mail have flooded my mailbox this month, and I am so thankful for these. It’s so great to have something to open and read familiar handwriting.

The sweet part of Thanksgiving came in spreading the holiday spirit in preparing a meal for three of our close Palestinian friends. The idea came after I was surfing the foodnetwork website for couscous recipes when I came across a picture of what looked like (and ended up tasting like) the best apple pie of all time. As I called in our friends to take a look at this culinary masterpiece, they looked at each other in confusion – they had never seen nor tasted pie before! From here Bethany and I made it our personal mission to bring the wonders of not only pie, but Thanksgiving as a holiday to the West Bank.

It’s important to note that Beth is a vegetarian and I am a vegan, so though we still had slight objections to the idea of cooking meat, we knew that we wouldn’t do Thanksgiving justice without it. Also, it’s important to note that the Muslim mega-holiday, Eid Adha, a time where older Muslims typically make their once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to Mecca. Traditionally Muslim families slaughter cows to celebrate. To learn more about the pilgrimage, read this article: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/11/28/hajj.bridge/index.html

And so began the grocery shopping adventure of a lifetime….

Turkey is not a common entrée here. Yes, it can be purchased like deli meat, but I was seriously mistaken when I thought I could buy a frozen turkey for $0.40/pound like I could at Super Wal-Mart. So after a failed attempt to buy a turkey, Beth and I settled on two two-pound chickens from the butcher’s section at the grocery store. When he asked us if we’d like anything cut off, my first instinct was “la shukran” (no thank you), but upon closer inspection, I realized that the heads were still on the chickens and there was no way that I would be able to stomach preparing chickens without all of the necessary appendages removed. I’m so glad I spotted it before we left the store or we may have had a meatless Thanksgiving.

Another challenging ingredient to find was dairy-free butter. I am still following strict vegan guidelines here and because Orthodox Jewish tradition requires its followers to separate their animal products, I figured a butter substitute wouldn’t be that difficult to find. Again, I was seriously mistaken. After visiting what seemed like visiting a baker’s dozen grocery stores, our coordinators brought us to a giant grocery store in Jerusalem where I found a kind, English speaking, Orthodox Jewish woman who helped translate the Hebrew on the container.

Going to the grocery store in Jerusalem was a brief flashback to my life in the US. One thing I’ve missed while in Israel/Palestine is convenience, there are rarely grocery stores that sell both groceries and produce under one roof. I never thought I would say this, but going to a mega stores with thousands of square feet of inventory never felt better. There honestly was something satisfying about knowing that I could buy both asparagus and pillows at the same store.

So, we had found the two most difficult ingredients and the rest was tracking down out-of-season produce and other assorted sides.

And so began the adventure of making Thanksgiving dinner…

We prepared our delicious apple pie and my grandma’s homemade corn recipe on Wednesday night. It was quickly brought to our attention that we had no pie pan or measuring cups. Thankfully after a few calls home to my mom we ended up measuring by using tea cups and other bowls and cups that was “close.” We ended up finishing both the pie and the corn at 3:30 am, but it was definitely worth it the next day. I think my pie would give my grandma’s a run for its money J

The next day we were looking to tackle the rest of our menu: 40 clove garlic roasted chicken, green beans with caramelized onions and toasted almonds, vegan stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, and apple pie. The chickens posed the largest challenge as neither of us had ever cooked meat like this and that neither felt very comfortable salting and peppering the bird and giving it a “butter massage.” I ended up preparing the chicken and I think it further affirmed my meatless lifestyle.

All in all, apart from the chicken we had a completely vegan Thanksgiving and I did sneak a taste of the chicken and I’m quite impressed with myself. We had a great time sharing a bit of our culture with our Palestinians friends over familiar foods and a much loved holiday. I am truly thankful for the contribution these friends have made in my time here and it was very meaningful for me to express my gratitude.

Thanks for reading. I love comments!!

Laurie

Long overdue...

2009-11-07T06:55:00.001-08:00

I finally have time to sit down and update my blog. Though it has been a while since I’ve updated, life here, for the most part, is becoming routine, something I'm enjoying. I finally found a café that has high speed internet connection so I can watch missed episodes of The Office. There are things I miss about home, The Office being one of them, but I’m learning to manage without or find new solutions. I’m getting more acquainted with the city and meeting new people on a regular basis. Last night, Bethany and I went to a party hosted by a group of American contractors for US AID; learning about their work was fascinating as they are working to improve health infrastructure in Palestine.

I celebrated my birthday this past Sunday with a wonderful gift: a visit from my cousin Kaylyn who is studying in London this semester. Her flight to the Holy Land was not without drama however. Since she was traveling alone and did not speak Hebrew, she was pulled into a back room where every inch of her luggage was searched, all electronics taken apart, followed by more intensive searching and questions. Then she was sent through airport security only to be taken to another back room and strip searched down to her underwear. Luckily she was 4 hours early for her flight, otherwise she would have missed it. She was the last passenger to board.

Our weekend picked up from there. We had a night out on the town in Tel-Aviv on Thursday and hoped to spend Friday at the beach but, due to gloomy weather, we went back to Ramallah early; taking it easy for the rest of the night. Saturday we went to Martin and Suzanne's house for lunch. I am always so appreciative of their hospitality. We had lentil soup, rice, dessert and great conversation. Martin and Suzanne are my ELCA coordinators. After that we shared a taxi to Bethlehem and visited the Nativity Church. My birthday was on Sunday. We celebrated at the Dead Sea Spa enjoying the beach, mud, and hot stone massages. It was nice to relax and get away from the rain of Jerusalem/Ramallah. Monday we visited Yad Vashem (the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem) and then the Old City to see the Holy Seplechure. I dropped Kaylyn off at the airport in Tel-Aviv Tuesday afternoon. I was able to be there during her questioning and thankfully it wasn’t anything too invasive.

This birthday was quite a bit different than most. As always, I am overwhelmed by the number of people who wished me well. Thank you! Being away from home made 23 feel a lot older than it probably is. I realize that I have and will continue to undergo a great deal of change which makes it seem like I’ve aged a few years, as opposed to just one. My twenty third year will undoubtedly have its share of ups and downs, but I’m looking forward to all that is to come.

My roommate Beth was very sick last week battling a fever and cold. After three days of fever and feeling sick, we made a journey to the public “mustashfa” (hospital) to be tested for swine flu. (Even when I told Palestinians that I had visited this hospital, they gave me a concerned look.) We went to the emergency room as we didn’t know where else to go. After Bethany listed her symptoms the doctor ordered a test for H1N1 for her and me, because I live with her. After both registering with the hospital we waited to be tested. Because the hospital was out of test tubes, we waited about 3 hours for tubes to be delivered and our test administered. While the healthcare professionals were very nice and spoke English well it still led me to question the quality of healthcare Palestinians receive. Because this hospital is funded solely by the Ministry of Health, through the Palestinian Authority, its ability to stock necessary medical supplies is difficult. We learned later that we could have gone to the private hospital across the street for immediate care. It is expensive (though our health insurance through the ELCA does cover it) and most times that cost is too high for Palestinians to pay.

As I mentioned earlier, my life is becoming more routine. Typically, I get to the school I volunteer at, around 8:40 am. I help Tagreed, the secretary, make copies, file, stamp, and with anything else that needs to be done. Then we work with the younger grades, either 1^st or kindergarden. Currently, they are learning to write “capital A and small a”. Their enthusiasm to use what few words they do know is encouraging. We’ve also been teaching parts of the face; eyes, ears, mouth and nose. The biggest challenge for them is distinguishing between eyes and ears. After a few hours with the younger grades, we then assist grades 8, 9 or 10 with conversation and reading.

I enjoy this part of our day. I like visiting with the students and hearing their outlook on Palestine and America. They ask us tough questions: “What don’t you like about Islam?”, “Why do American movies always depict Muslims as terrorists?”, “Why does America send foreign aid to Israel, a developed country?”, “Why don’t Americans know about our situation?”, “Do Americans hate Muslims?”, “Did you vote for Bush in 2004?”; the list goes on. While I am aware that America makes mistakes and I am willing to admit that to the students, it’s difficult for the students to understand that America's priorities, for the most part, lie mostly in domestic and individual affairs. These students are used to seeing American products, such as US AID sponsoring their school, music videos from MTV, so they have a different understanding of how America should reach out. I think the students are dissatisfied with my answers so I have to choose my words very carefully. Usually I take the more diplomatic route, rather than say bluntly, “Americans don’t care about this situation as much as you'd like because they would rather focus on domestic, individual, or other international concerns first.” It’s harsh, but I believe, to a certain extent, it’s true of both American and Palestinian cultures. Any help with this situation would be greatly appreciated!

I usually get back from school around 1pm or 2pm. Beth and I have become involved in the Youth Group at church which meets Tuesday nights. Thankfully, we have translators that help us understand the lessons. Wednesday nights we rehearse with the Zaridash choir, an international choir in Ramallah. We’re practicing for performances in January. It’s nice to work with such dedicated musicians. Afternoons are spent shopping at the vegetable market. Vendor, Eyad, gives us good prices and we're getting to know the employees at two other grocery stores. I try to squeeze in a workout every day with four Palestinian friends who joined the gym I attend; doubles as workout and social time. Nights are spent on the internet visiting with my family and coordinating upcoming visits from friends and family.

Overall, this experience is more enriching every day. I hope to post pictures of Kaylyn and my adventures soon. I love the comments!

Firsts...

2009-10-18T14:54:00.001-07:00

Marhabba!

Sorry for the delay in updating my blog. This week has been a week of firsts: first visit to the doctor in Palestine, first visit to the Dead Sea, first blown tire, first Twins game on a beach, and first camel ride.

I’ll begin with the doctor. I woke up on Thursday morning with a swollen and painful left eye. I thought I might have something in my eye from spending the previous weekend in a cave. After the women at my school called an ophthalmologist, I was whisked away in a cab to the doctor. I really didn’t know what to expect and still don’t have a thorough understanding of how the medical system works here. I entered the waiting room to find about 20 people waiting to see a doctor. After filling out paperwork, I am now officially on file as Laurie George Blank. I then passed by two other waiting rooms for our doctor each holding about 20 more people. I saw a doctor immediately who if I ever had surgery on my eye (I did, in 1998) and explained that the swelling was caused by extreme dryness. I was given an ointment and drops and sent on my way. Overall, I was very satisfied with the care I received (a visit was just $25), but concerned that I completely skipped the line. I don’t know why I was allowed to cut the line – it’s a privilege that I’m not comfortable taking advantage of.

Yesterday, our coordinator and American volunteers headed to Ein Gedi National Park and the Dead Sea. On the way there, we stopped for a camel ride in Jericho (Thanks, Suzanne!). Of course it wasn’t without a bit of drama. As we drove along the shores of the sea, the front right tire blew out. It was hot, very hot and the eight of us weren’t exactly sure how to change our tire. Thankfully a kind Israeli family stopped and changed our tire (in the sand!!) and sent us on our merry way. Ein Gedi was beautiful. Overlooking the Dead Sea, Ein Gedi has a hikers paradise with natural springs. Because I’ve never been the hiking type, I stayed with the springs. Afterwards, we headed to the Dead Sea. Unfortunately, I made the grave mistake of shaving my legs that morning and the salt from the sea burned my legs. The water acts as a natural exfoliation, so next time I will not be shaving for several days prior. The Dead Sea is as everyone says it is. It is nearly impossible to go underwater because you are so buoyant, you don’t even feel that wet because the water is so salty. After floating in the sea for a while, we went to a mud pit and covered ourselves head to toe in the mud. After washing it off, my skin felt amazing. Our day concluded with a 3-hour drive home due to a car accident at Kalandia (the checkpoint to Ramallah) – an adventure it was.

Lastly, Beth and I had an evening of fun in Tel-Aviv watching the Twins/Tigers game a week and a half ago. Beth met a USAID employee from Bloomington who invited to a bar in Tel-Aviv that has ESPN. The game began at 11pm our time. Because it went into 12 (I think) innings, it didn’t get over until 3am. Due to the curfew from the Jewish holiday of Sukkoth, all checkpoints were closed from 12:30am to 5am. We decided to pass our time with a nap on the beach. We ended up getting into Ramallah at 6:30am and had school at 7:30. It seemed like a flashback from my days at the U of M. I was tired but watching a baseball game with a pitcher of beer was so worth it.

I’m hoping to post pictures soon. Again, I sincerely appreciate the comments. I hope you’re well!

2009-10-06T17:00:00.000-07:00

Bethany and I dressed for wedding

Fencing collects tossed garbage

Wedding Reception

At the Galilee

In Nazareth

Wedding

2009-10-06T15:25:00.000-07:00

This last weekend was the best weekend I've had so far. We were invited to a Palestinian Christian wedding on Saturday. The rituals were nearly identical to an American Christian wedding, but with a few differences. The wedding ceremony itself, as far as I could tell as it was in Arabic, was identical. A bride in a white dress, a groom in a tux, a maid of honor and best man (no bridesmaids or groomsmen), and flower girls and ring bearers were all present. The reception was held in Jericho at the Intercontinental Hotel. It was like a mini version of a Vegas hotel complete with pools and vegetation galore, in the middle of a desert. The reception began with everyone waiting for the bride and groom's arrival. They were greeted with fireworks and dancing as they entered. The food was delicious and the live band was great. I'm seriously considering having an Arab-style wedding if and when that day comes... Sunday we were invited to Ma'ale Adudmin for dinner with a Jewish family. Ma'ale Adudmin is the largest Israeli settlement with 37,000 people, complete with swimming pools, several schools, a mall and other conveniences. It is settlements like this that are at the center of peace negotiations at the moment, so being there felt a little eerie. However, once we were in the family's flat, it felt like any other home with any other good family. I can see where it would be difficult to remember that settlements such as these are a breach of international law. Conversation at our dinner was incredibly informative. We learned a great deal about Jewish holiday tradition and current culture. The family had 5 children, all of whom had either served in the IDF or doing national service - national service being volunteering for 2 years after high school in nursing homes or at schools. Completing this service means that the former soldiers are eligible for the social security, public healthcare and everything else that is provided by the government. I also found out that these services come at a cost: a 65% flat rate income tax. Additional there is a 16.9% VAT tax (the same as a sales tax) added to all goods. The family we were talking to was so pleased that they were finally able to purchase their first home at the age of 58. After our visit to the settlement, we went to Tybeh, a local Christian village for Oktoberfest. Tybeh is home to Palestine's only brewery. I recommend trying the beer if you see it, it is delicious. Thanks for reading!!
Mom will try and post a few pictures that I emailed her.

Disturbed...

2009-09-30T16:15:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday was perhaps the most difficult day I’ve had here so far. A major takeaway that I hoped to gain from this experience was a better understanding of hate. Up until now, I had questioned the need for peace in this region – mostly because everyday life seems to run normally here, despite the extreme inconveniences of checkpoints, house demolitions, etc. Overall though, I didn’t think many people in this region lived in fear of leaving their homes or felt that their safety was constantly at risk. In essence, there was a need for piece – clear boundaries needing to be set so that Palestinians can carry on with their way of life as can Israelis free from injustice and massive military spending. Unfortunately today, I saw how hate (and perhaps feelings of entitlement) have led people to jeopardize the safety of others and I can say that it is beyond disturbing.

We began the day touring Hebron, a city in the West Bank where Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Jacob and their wives are buried beneath the Ibrahimi Mosque and a conjoined Synagogue. As you can imagine this is a holy site for Muslims, Christians, and Jews. The tombs lie below the Mosque and Synagogue with Jacob, Leah, and Joseph ‘s tombs being in the Synagogue, Abraham and Sarah’s tombs being accessible to both, and Isaac and Rebecca’s tombs on the Mosque side. Christians are granted access to both sides (with the exception of the Mosque on Friday and the Synagogue on Saturday due to the respective Sabbaths), but Jews and Muslims are not allowed in each other’s half except for a few days a year. Muslims and Jews used to be able to move freely through the houses of worship until 1994 when Baruch Goldstein, a Brooklyn-born physician entered the mosque on the Jewish holiday of Purim during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan with an M-16 and killed 29 Muslims and injured tens of others as they prayed in the mosque. Bullet holes are still apparent in the mosque and bulletproof glass has since been installed to protect the Muslims. Despite this being an extremely disturbing act of terrorism, in a settlement nearby, there is a memorial tribute to Goldstein and as one woman is quoted in saying on a YouTube video “it’s a shame he didn’t kill more Muslims.” There are theories of him having an accomplice as doors to the mosque were locked, barring anyone from leaving at the time shooting started and after the crime scene was investigated, more bullets were found than Goldstein was said to have had. It still remains a mystery.

After the Mosque, we walked into the Jewish zone of Hebron an area that is only accessible to Jews and Christians, to observe the checkpoint and the ultraorthodox Jewish settlers. Rabbi Moshe Levinger began colonizing the center of town after Israel seized the West Bank in 1967. Though these moves were against Israeli law, they ultimately garnered endorsement, even after a settlement of Kiryat Arba was established nearby to draw the settlers out. As a result, the city is quartered up into zones. Each armed settler in the Old City is protected by as many as four armed soldiers stationed on rooftops and street corners, allowing the 600 Jews there to roam freely in the streets, carrying machine guns and hurling anti-Arab chants. Clashes break out between settlers and soldiers regularly, not to mention repeated violence and terrorist activity towards Muslims. It was a very weird sight, male orthodox Jews looking like they just came from a Gap commercial suit with white shirts and khaki pants, carrying machine guns across their shoulders walking home from Synagogue.

After observing the settlers, we went to the Old City to shop. Like all of the old cities here, they are comprised of stone buildings and streets that are close together. Above the narrow streets was fencing with garbage and other random items caught in it. When I asked our tour guide about the purpose of fencing he said that Jewish settlers often throw things down onto the vendors including garbage, feces, and bleach to destroy their product. After shopping in the Old City, we met with a Palestinian family who lives on the border of the Palestinian zone and the Jewish zones. Though they are not accessible to each other by ground, they are by rooftop.

The Palestinian family has nine children who are now forced to live entirely within one room because it is the only place they can feel secure. They used to have two rooms for the entire family to fit comfortably, but settlers burned it down killing one of their children. The doors are without locks as settlers have repeatedly shot them out. Furthermore, the settlers shot holes into the family’s water tank, making it impossible for them to get water. A new tank costs around $100 (a great sum for this family) but cannot be installed without a building permit from the Israeli government. Palestinians unfortunately, are not allowed to have building permits, so the current water tank they have is there illegally, which if discovered could cost them their house.

The irony of all of this is that in order to provide a secure area for the Jewish settlers, the IDF has stations on rooftops watching over the properties. As we went to the rooftop of the Palestinian family we were visiting, an IDF station was about 20 feet away, in clear view of a soldier. Under laws of occupation, the occupier must protect both the citizens of its country and in the land that they occupy, obviously this isn’t happening.

I thought that this would be the most upsetting part of the day, but unfortunately, I was wrong. We left Hebron for the small village of At-Tuwani, a primitive subsistence village with the great misfortune of being with 200 meters of Ma’on, a settlement full of ideological Jewish settlers. The settlers began moving to the area in the early 1980s and have been terrorizing the community ever since. It started with attacking shepherds with sticks, then settlers began stealing, poisoning, and killing Palestinian livestock. At one point they poisoned a Palestinian barley crop that was planted for a resident’s goats to graze in, they could not drink the milk for months for fear of drinking poison and dying.

Attacks on adults are one thing, but settlers have been targeting children for years. At-Tuwani houses the only school for miles. Children from surrounding villages walk to school in the morning are often met by harassment from adult settlers of Ma’on. Harassment can be as minor as yelling obscenities to throwing stones and stealing money and backpacks, to beatings. The Christian Peacemaker Team was approached to help accompany the children as they walk to school. Within two weeks, three CPT volunteers had been hospitalized as they were met by settlers with bats and chains. Now the IDF accompanies the children to school, yet they are still subject to harassment and terrorism.

The list of attacks truly goes on and doesn’t show any sign stopping (for a more detailed list of attacks you can read here http://www.cpt.org/hebron/documents/Tuwani_media_packet.htm). Although many of these attacks have been caught on tape and turned into the Israeli police and IDF, nothing is done. I question how residents like the settlers benefit the state of Israel. Certainly the mentality of lawlessness would or should be of concern. It’s puzzling.

Obviously after learning this, it brings an entirely different dimension to the notion of peace and piece. I still don’t have all of the answers, but there must be a better solution than the status quo.

Thanks for reading. I love the comments.

Galilee and Peace Talks...

2009-09-24T18:05:00.000-07:00

Today was my first day back from a three-day holiday. As a group, we spent Monday – Wednesday at the Galilee enjoying swimming in freshwater and taking in religious sights. I’m reading the Bible with a great deal more interest since I can picture where the stories took place. The Galilee includes many famous stories and places such as Nazareth, Capernaum, the Mount of Beatitudes, Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, and Jericho. Nazareth is the site of the Basilica of the Annunciation where it is believed that the Angel Gabriel appeared to her and announced that she was pregnant with Jesus. We also visited the Greek Catholic Synagogue Church – a synagogue built on the site of a synagogue said to be where the young Jesus regularly prayed and later preached.

Next we arrived at our accommodations at the Galilee and enjoyed the sea. This is where Jesus walked on water though scientists believe that he skated due to a freak cold spell – the jury’s still out for me. The next day we visited the ancient town of Capernaum, Jesus’s home base during the most influential period of his Galilean ministry. He also recruited his first disciples here: Peter, Andrew, James, John (all fisherman), and Matthew (a tax collector).

Wednesday we spent time at the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus delivered the Beatitudes of Matthew 5:3 – 10

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

The verses are beautiful as is the view of the Galilee. Now there is a church and gardens on the site. Next we went to the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes where Jesus fed 5000.

Lunch was at Pagoda a Chinese/Thai restaurant. I had no idea how much I missed a good Pad Thai and it was nice to feel like I was eating something from home. Our last stop was to Jericho. The city of Jericho is the oldest continuously inhabited city on earth as well as the lowest (1200ft below sea level). So far the terrain of Israel/Palestine has been mountainous, but Jericho is quite different, a valley miles from the Dead Sea and completely flat. Security in Jericho is very high since the second infitada and is often where heads of government meet.

Settlements were at the center of peace talks this week between Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas refuses to engage in peace talks as long as settlements are still under construction. Israel has ignored Obama’s call for a settlement building freeze, though they have now agreed upon “restraining” settlement activity. Ultimately, Obama called for negotiations to be made without preconditions and on Tuesday, Obama, Netanyahu, and Abbas met. Though there were no breakthroughs, both sides did agree to send negotiating teams to Washington net week and there was a general agreement that peace talks should restart quickly.

The notion of settlements is a double-edge sword. While the building of settlements in the West Bank is illegally confiscating Palestinian land, the construction of them (and the wall) employs thousands of Palestinians. A Palestinian friend told us last night that his friend had recently lost his job with a family and two kids. When I asked what he did, he said he worked in the settlements and the slowdown cost him his job. It’s very ironic. Prior to these talks there were currently around 2500 units in production and 500 more planned, I do not know what the current plans are post-peace talks.

The talk of settlements unfortunately is just the tip of the iceberg for peace. Bigger negotiations such borders, Jerusalem, the right of return for Palestinian refugees will prompt much greater debate. Most people favor a two state solution, but when actually considering the logistics of moving 500,000 Israeli settlers out of the West Bank and negotiating borders as well as figuring out what to do with people who were forced to leave their homes in 1948 or later, it’s a nightmare, not to mention questions of whether Palestinians can maintain an economy without ties to Israel. A one state solution is far and wide easier logistically, but can Arabs and Israelis coexist?

I admire Obama for taking the initiative to restart peace talks, but his power seems limited as, in my mind, the only action the US could take to prompt Israel and Palestine from dragging their feet is end our foreign aid – a budgetary power given to Congress. Israel has the largest foreign lobby in Washington, so it is unlikely this will happen. Below is a breakdown of aid and other forms of trade that we are engaged with in Israel that I found online, it’s amazing to see how much interaction we do with each other. It is also important to note that we also fund a great deal of social projects through USAID for Palestine too, mainly around building hospitals and schools, that could easily be suspended as well, but I do not have the specifics on.

According to the book "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy" by Walt and Mearsheimer, "Israel receives on average about 3 billion in direct foreign assistance each year, an amount that is roughly one-sixth of America's direct foreign assistance budget and equal to about 2 percent of Israel's GDP. In recent years, about 75 percent of U.S. assistance has been military aid, with the remainer broken down into various forms of economic aid. In per capita terms, this level of direct foreign assistance amounts to a direct subsidy of more that $500 per year for each Israeli."Other US help includes:

• US Jewish charities and organizations have remitted grants or bought Israel bonds worth $50 billion to $60 billion. Though private in origin, the money is "a net drain" on the United States economy, says Stauffer.

• The US has already guaranteed $10 billion in commercial loans to Israel, and $600 million in "housing loans." (See editor's note below.) Stauffer expects the US Treasury to cover these.

• The US has given $2.5 billion to support Israel's Lavi fighter and Arrow missile projects.

• Israel buys discounted, serviceable "excess" US military equipment. Stauffer says these discounts amount to "several billion dollars" over recent years.

• Israel uses roughly 40 percent of its $1.8 billion per year in military aid, ostensibly earmarked for purchase of US weapons, to buy Israeli-made hardware. It also has won the right to require the Defense Department or US defense contractors to buy Israeli-made equipment or subsystems, paying 50 to 60 cents on every defense dollar the US gives to Israel.

US help, financial and technical, has enabled Israel to become a major weapons supplier. Weapons make up almost half of Israel's manufactured exports. US defense contractors often resent the buy-Israel requirements and the extra competition subsidized by US taxpayers.

• US policy and trade sanctions reduce US exports to the Middle East about $5 billion a year, costing 70,000 or so American jobs, Stauffer estimates. Not requiring Israel to use its US aid to buy American goods, as is usual in foreign aid, costs another 125,000 jobs.

• Israel has blocked some major US arms sales, such as F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia in the mid-1980s. That cost $40 billion over 10 years, says Stauffer.

Well, it is time for me to go to bed. I hope you’re all well. Thanks for the comments!

Laurie

Eid-il-Fitr

2009-09-20T16:53:00.000-07:00

Good evening everyone,

So I'm still have difficulties uploading pictures - hopefully this will be resolved soon. I'm eager to share more about my experiences through pictures.

The focus of this week has been the end of Ramadan (a notion that I am admittedly extremely excited about) and the beginning of Rosh Hashanah - a celebration of the Jewish New Year. It is only by coincidence that both fall during the same time this year, but this dramatically complicates the security issue. During the Muslim Sabbath (Friday) and other designated holy days of prayer, many Muslims go to Jerusalem (provided they can attain a permit which are easier to get during holy periods) to pray at the Dome of the Rock as it is the third most holy site for Islam. On Wednesday, my roommate Bethany and I tried to go to a volleyball fellowship for internationals not realizing that it was an important day for prayer. We waited at the checkpoint for two hours before deciding to turn back - the most frustrating part of this was that we were in a line about ten people deep, but still had at least another hour before we would go through metal detectors ( the final step of the checkpoint process) due to an IDF slow down. We later found out that some 400,000 Muslims had entered Jerusalem on Wednesday to pray and the number was expected to be much greater on Friday. We had our first Arabic lesson on Friday, thankfully we were picked up by our country coordinators - otherwise we would have had to line up around 8am, to ensure that we could get into Jerusalem by 5pm. Literally, people will line up for miles. The end of Ramadan is marked by Eid-il-Fitr, the Festival of Breaking Fast and carries the same weight as Christmas does for Christians. People go to mosque in new clothes and exchange gifs with friends and family.

Rosh Hashanah started yesterday which means that Palestinians are barred from entering Israel, even if they possess a work permit. As I grow more into my role as an American in Palestine, my privilege is more and more apparent. This morning, Bethany and I attended worship in Jerusalem as we were being commissioned by the Bishop of the ELCJHL (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land). A friend of ours was going to be officiating the Arabic speaking congregation at the same church and offered to accompany us through the checkpoints and transportation. We hadn't given a second thought about being able to pass through Kalandia, he on the other was extremely nervous as his work permit may not be able to trump Rosh Hashanah, despite being able to prove being a Christian pastor on a Sunday. Thankfully, there were no problems, but again, I was reminded of how accompanying the Palestinian people in their struggle is difficult simply because I have white face and a blue passport.

Also, over the past weeks I have been learning more about the internal struggles and prejudices of Palestine. I am largely surrounded by Arab Christians, who comprise of about 3% of the Palestinian population. This identity not only subjects them to prejudice from Israelis, but Muslims as well. Particularly with Hamas gaining support in the West Bank, many Christians are scared that it will largely compromise their freedom to worship and abide by their traditions (namely, women not having to cover their head). In 2006, Hamas won a democratic election in Gaza. Since coming to power, women must be covered and are no longer able to work or drive. It's the ultimate paradox of a democratic election with very undemocratic policies. I will be writing more about the advantages and disadvantaes of Hamas and Fatah in posts to come.

Of the Christians I have talked to, they have no problem with Muslims on an individual level, but feel as a religion, their beliefs are too strongly imposed on the population. As a Westerner, I assumed to find a large Christian presence in the Holy Land, but they are leaving at record numbers, partly due to the occupation and partly due to fear of losing religious freedom. Many Muslims believe that Christians side with the West, a largely untrue assumption and see them as a threat to Islam. Unfortunately, the peace process with have to extend further than Israel and Palestine, but Christians and Muslims.

I hope you're well. Again, I sincerely appreciate your comments. I head to the Sea of Galilee in a few hours (it's 3am West Bank time at the moment) for Eid-il-Fitr since it's also a school holiday. My main objective is to walk on water - stay tuned...

Peace,

Laurie

Checkpoints...

2009-09-13T14:24:00.000-07:00

Happy Sunday,

I’ve just come back from a grocery run with my roommate, Bethany. We typically buy our groceries at a store up the hill and our produce at the market. A few days ago we got a kilo (about 2.2 pounds) of avocados for 5 shekel or $1.10, so I’m happy to announce that guacamole will continue to be a staple in my diet. Usually we pay for avocados, but because we don’t need a kilo of chilies, onions, garlic or limes, we get them for free. Because families are big here (most have between 4 and 6 children) food is sold in large quantities. Since we’re shopping for the two of us, we’ve gotten a lot of produce for free.

This weekend has been filled with activities. Yesterday was spent in Tel-Aviv at the beach. Suzanne, one of our country coordinators and all 6 YAGMS spent Friday night in Beit Jala following a mepeace meeting there. Mepeace (pronounced “me peace”) is an organization of Israelis, Palestinians, and Internationals that meet periodically to discuss peace issues and make contacts. There we learned about both Ramadan and Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath), more information about both is below. I found it to be very educational and I met some wonderful people from all over the world.

The ironic thing about going to the mepeace meeting was that the journey there was a clear indicator of how far away peace for this region really is. In all, a journey that typically takes about 30 minutes took us over 3 hours. We first took a shared taxi from the Manarha (Ramallah’s city center) to Kilandia (the West Bank’s busiest checkpoint). We were dropped off a mile away because traffic was bumper to bumper. Once I arrived at the checkpoint, we realized the backed up traffic was because vehicles were prohibited from entering Israel due to it being the Muslim holy day and during their holiest month – Ramadan.

After getting to the walk-through portion of the checkpoint, we were met by a huge crowd. About 200 people were trying to fit through three narrow lanes that look similar to cages – I can now say I know what it’s like to be a cow being herded. It was very dehumanizing. The lanes were narrow, designed to create a single file line, however, because many people are denied at the checkpoint for not having proper permits, the rejected have to try to get back through the narrow lanes, causing people to have to climb up the fencing to let others through. Needless to say there was a lot of pushing and confusion along with mothers frantically trying to find their lost children. Once my line was permitted to enter the screening point, I was surprised to see that only one metal detector was being utilized (despite having 10 available) on one of the biggest traffic days of the year. Going through this once was hard enough – but thousands do this everyday.

After waiting another 20 minutes to enter security, I made it through the checkpoint with little questioning. Because I carry an American passport, I am not questioned besides a request to see my entrance stamp. Despite massively disagreeing with checkpoints being built within Palestinian territory, I am pleasant to the IDF soldiers – I don’t think any of them enjoy monitoring checkpoints, let alone having to turn away people from wanting to pray at their holy site. Three years of military service is mandatory for all Israelis and typically poor Israelis get the worst positions – working checkpoints and executing evictions. The IDF is notorious for being one of the least disciplined militaries. It is not uncommon to see soldiers on their cell phones running a checkpoint or smoking a cigarette. The women wear their uniform with flip-flops and massive sunglasses. Also soldiers are not allowed to leave their arms anywhere, so at all times they’re carrying a machine gun – it was startling at first, but I’m getting used to it now.

Checkpoints are essentially a border crossing. When you go through a checkpoint, you are entering into a different country – Israel. I don’t have a problem with a country wanting to protect its borders – virtually every country does this and has the right to. The problem with checkpoints in Israel/Palestine is that they were built entirely within Palestinian territory that was agreed upon in 1967. This means that Israel has created new borders for the West Bank that are strategically placed around their illegal settlements and water resources.

Imagine if Canada came to North Dakota, put up a huge wall that split the state in half. In order to get to Fargo, your place of work, you had to get a permit to cross through a checkpoint. Also, if you had land on the other side of wall, you would need a permit to access it, except when you got there, the Canadians built homes there and people were living in them, despite you being able to provide proof of ownership of the land. This is very much what happened in Palestine.

Now imagine that you are willing to accept your new country borders, but Canada confiscated your land within those borders saying it was now government property and you cannot show proper ownership so now they build settlements for more Canadians. This is what is currently happening in Palestine.

Sometimes to me, the idea of settlements could seem understandable if there was a housing shortage in Israel, but there is a huge surplus. Many settlement units remain empty in addition to thousands of apartments in Jerusalem. Settlements are also strategically placed on top of hills and cut Palestinian territory off from one another, so Palestine’s borders are referred to as “Swiss Cheese” as it’s basically a bunch of little pockets of unoccupied territory that they now have. Whenever a new settlement is created, multiple checkpoints are built to create new country borders. It is these acts that have gotten Israel in big trouble with the UN, but the reprimands have done little to stop the development of settlements as more are currently being built.

If you’re interested in how the Israel/Palestine conflict is portrayed in the American media, I would strongly recommend checking out “Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised land.” It’s a documentary you can watch for free if you Google it. It gives a great background to the conflict that isn’t reported in America in about an hour and twenty minutes. Watch it and let me know what you think.

Sorry I don’t have pictures yet. I have a weak computer signal that can’t handle the amount of data transfer required by pictures. I’ll try again next week.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support. Read below for more information about Shabbat and Ramadan. I love comments!!

RAMADAN

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. Islam uses a lunar calendar – that is, each month begins with the sighting of the new moon. Because the lunar calendar is about 11 days shorter than the solar calendar used elsewhere, Islamic holidays “move” each year. In 2009 Ramadan begins at sundown on August 22.

For more than a billion Muslims around the world, Ramadan is a month of blessing marked by prayer, fasting and charity. Ramadan retains its focus on self-sacrifice and devotion to Allah (God).

Why this month? Muslims believe that during the month of Ramadan, Allah revealed the first verses of the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam. Around 610 A.D., the prophet Muhammad took to wandering the desert near Mecca while thinking about his faith. One nigh a voice called to him from the night sky. It was the angel, Gabriel who told Muhammad he had been chosen to receive the word of Allah. In the days that followed Muhammad found himself speaking verses that would be transcribed as the Qur’an. At many mosques during Ramadan, about one thirtieth of the Qur’an is recited each not in prayers known as Tarawih. In this way, by the end of the month the complete scripture is recited.

Fasting: Muslims practice Sawm, or fasting, for an entire month of Ramadan. This means that they may eat or drink nothing, including water while the sun shines. Fasting is one of the Five Pillars (duties) of Islam. As with other Islamic duties, all able Muslims take part in sawm from about age 12. During Ramadan in the Muslim world, most restaurants are closed during the daylight hours. Families get up early for Suhoor, a meal eaten before the sun rises. After the sun set, fast is broken with a meal known as iftar. Iftar usually begins with dates and sweet drinks that provide a quick energy boost.

Fasting serves many purposes. While they are hungry and thirsty, Muslims are reminded of the suffering of the poor. Fasting is also an opportunity to practice self-control and to cleanse the body and mind. And in this most sacred month, fasting helps Muslims feel the peace that comes from spiritual devotion as well as kinship with fellow believers.

SHABBAT

Shabbat symbolizes the seventh day in Genesis, after the six days of creation. By religious Jews, it is observed from sundown on Friday until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact time therefore differs from week to week and from place to place, depending on the time of the sunset.

Shabbat is observed both by positive observances, such as three festive meals and restrictions. Work and other activities (such as lighting fire, using electricity, driving) are forbidden for religious Jews. Shabbat is considered the day of rest not only for religious reasons, it has social elements as well: the belief that people deserve a day of rest from work to prepare for a new week and spend time with their family. Some of the customs of Shabbat are: Recitation of Kiddush, or “sanctification,” over a cup of wine at the beginning of Shabbat before a meal, eating a festive meal, blessing over a Challa (special bread), enjoying Shabbat (Oneg Shabbat), honor Shabbat by beautifying self and home, and Havdala, or “separation,” at the conclusion on Saturday night.

Back to school

2009-09-09T12:42:00.000-07:00

Marhabba!

I’m halfway through my first week at the School of Hope in Ramallah, Palestine. My time here so far has been a mixture of both fun and frustration, but I’m eager to become more adjusted to how the school functions. Also, Arabic lessons start next week, which will be extremely helpful.

School of Hope is a private, Christian school that caters to kindergarten through 12^th grade. Currently there are 472 students enrolled with 70% of them being Muslim. Working in the school has had its share of ups and downs. The ups usually have to do with helping students practice their English and getting to know them on a more personal level. This week I led conversation groups of 10^th and 8^th grade students. I find that they are very willing to share their culture with me (I’ve already been invited to coffee by my 10^th graders after Ramadan and they’ve been introducing me to Arab music) and give an honest commentary on it.

Particularly when talking about dating, many are frustrated with the strict tradition AND the gossip in the community. The idea of a boyfriend or girlfriend implies that there is a sexual relationship and therefore brings shame to not only the people involved but their families as well. Many dating situations are very secret and typically two people will become friends and then announce an engagement. If two people are dating, they refer to each other as “best friends” as the phrasing is more socially acceptable. I am very curious to find out how a shame culture plays a further role into Arab culture.

The downs of working at the School of Hope is questioning whether I feel useful. Simple tasks like filing paperwork are impossible because I don’t read Arab script. Also, my presence sometimes serves as a distraction rather than an assistance. I’m sure the allure of a foreigner will wear off in the coming weeks, but I don’t like feeling like a burden.

Overall, my experience has been good. Today I followed the music teacher and taught elementary students American songs like the Itsy Bitsy Spider and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I’m adjusting to reading music from right to left. Arabic is written from right to left and so is their music. Also, I met with the technology coordinator and they are hoping to launch an online schooling program where students can submit homework and quizzes online. I’ll be in charge of finding programs that have these capabilities (similar to Blackboard, Moodle, or WebCT) and making it so that teachers and students can access it. Hello, transferable skills.

Saturday we are planning a trip to the beach in Tel-Aviv – I hope the bikini my mom sent in the mail gets here on time!

Thanks for reading. I love the comments! Pictures to follow...

All moved in!

2009-09-04T06:29:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

I am writing to you from an internet cafe in my new home - Ramallah. My roommate Bethany and I moved into a flat across the street from the school we're working in last night. So far we've been managing. We're still in need of a few important items (like internet), but it'll all come together after these next few days. We were hoping to pick up a few things today to complete our kitchen, but because it is Friday (the Muslim sabbath) almost nothing is open. In conjunction with Ramadan, it's been difficult know when stores and restaurants are going to be open. Typically on weekdays (everyday but Friday), stores are open until about 6pm and after 7:15 (the official time that fasting ends) the town is dead. Things begin to pick up around 9pm again and the city shuts down at 12am. Many bars and resturants do not serve alcohol out of respect for the holiday.
Ramallah is known to be a very cosmopolitan city or "Palestine's bride" as my guidebook so affectionately calls it. The population is younger and it is the epicenter for social change as the Palestinian Authroity is beginning to implement more social services in an attempt to develop itself. I am eager to watch as those changes as they occur. I still have a great deal of exploring to do, however it's difficult to navigate around the city due to the hills and curvy roads. Street signs are a luxury here.
These last few days of orientation have been filled with sight seeing, including an all-important visit to Yad Vashem, the holocaust museum in Jerusalem. The museum was very well done - I wish I could compare it to the one in Washington DC, but I was too young to understand it at the time. It went through a timeline beginning with the rise of Hitler and the Nuremberg laws all the way to the establishment of Israel. Certainly this was a reminder of why having a Jewish state is very important to Jews and quite frankly, I don't blame them. They've been subject to persecution for centuries and after the horrors of the Holocaust, it's important to their survival that they have a homeland, but the phrase "promised land" as is so typically used to describe this region is distrubing.
To me, the biggest question is not whether Jews should have their own country, but at what expense. Presently, I have no alternative solutions to offer, but it's clear that the current situation is not working for either country - Palestinians are seeing their rights vanish before their eyes and Israelis pour billions of dollars into defense and security in order to feel safe in their own country.
At this point I don't sympathize with Israel, but as a believer in rationality (thank you, economics major), I am curious to find out more about Israel's rationale to beefing up security and why they haven't made greater strides at peace.
Beaches in Tel-Aviv in two weeks!
Thanks for reading.

Settlements

2009-08-31T14:00:00.000-07:00

Us being denied access to an area of our tour. The wall has just recently went up. Residents on the inside of the wall have been given a key to unlock a gate so that they can go in and out as they please. But, when a resident came to let us in, he was denied access. It was a clear violation of his rights - none the less he was not grated them.
A street in the Old City.
The Wall.
Bethany at the crucifix.
The three men on the right were evicted from their homes, on the left is our tour guide, Rotem.

Loooonnnggg entry…

Today was an important day, not because Madonna visited the Western Wall in the Old City to pray (I was there just a few hours before her!), but because we were given insight to current sources of conflict. Much has been said about Israeli settlements, but I never understood the concept of them until we took a tour with The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD).

While I thought I had a pretty good understanding the differences between Israel and West Bank and the Israeli Defense Force’s (IDF) occupation of Palestinian territories, it is clear to me that it is much more complex than I originally anticipated.

Originally we started to commute around Palestine, I was confused by the location of the checkpoints. There is checkpoint operated by the IDF to get from Bethlehem to East Jerusalem, both cities within the borders of the West Bank along with numerous checkpoints that block Palestinian territory from Palestinian territory. The reason for this is because Israel has slowly since 1967 occupied territory between the Green Line (the border established after the 6-day war in 1967) and the location of the checkpoints in order to secure more land for Jews.

Going through checkpoints can be incredibly difficult for Palestinians as they must have a work permit in order to go across the border freely. If they do not possess such a permit, they must apply for one (and pay for one – sometimes NIS 1000 or about $380USD) in order to cross the border for a day. For people who have chronic health problems that require the expertise of someone practicing on the other side of a checkpoint, this can become very expensive and hazardous to their health.

While having a work permit means that a Palestinian has an opportunity to work in an industrialized country, checkpoints pose significant obstacles. Workers typically start lining up at 3am in order to ensure that they get through a checkpoint and arrive to work on time. Some with work permits have moved to East Jerusalem (Palestinian area of Jerusalem), but rent there is about 3 times higher than in Palestine. The wall has also produced a great deal of unemployment (this is from the literature I received today and may vary from what I have previously mentioned): 50% in the West Bank and 80% in Gaza.

We began our tour with a brief overview of recent history in Israel, showing the moving lines from 1948 and on. Then we met three brothers (pictured) living in Jerusalem who had recently lost their homes due to an Israeli eviction. All three men, in their 50s, had been born in those homes and they were built as compensation for being displaced after the war in 1948. The homes were in Jordanian territory until 1967 when Jerusalem was split and the home now was a part of West Jerusalem (Israeli territory). After this change over, Israel, claimed ownership of the land and in an attempt to make West Jerusalem more “Jewish”, the Palestinian families, along with 58 others were evicted from their homes on the grounds of not paying an Israeli settlement organization rent for a home they owned. In the middle of the night IDF soldiers surrounded the home and the families were given 20 minutes to collect their things and leave. The women weren’t even given time to put on headscarves. The IDF issued the family a tent to live in. Period. This eviction caused such an uproar that Hilary Clinton commented and Jimmy Carter paid the families a visit. Currently the family is homeless and has set up camp across the street from their former home. Hours after everything was emptied from the home, Israeli settlers moved in.

Many evictions and home demolitions have happened this way. Because of a culture where documenting ownership of land prior to 1948 when many people received compensation from then-controlling governments, Israel claims ownership of these lands because Palestinians were never given proper documentation.

While evictions and home demolitions are taking place in existing homes, the notion of settlers has reached a new level. Since the 70s, the Israeli government has been creating settlements in Palestinian territories. These settlements violate the agreed-upon boundaries established in the 1967 agreement. They have since been adjusted in Peace agreements in Oslo and at Camp David, which now allocates these areas to Israel. While all may seem fine and dandy now, the land was unlawfully seized by Israelis from Palestinians and they have adjusted boundaries as they see fit afterwards. Also, in an attempt to maintain US support, Israel has hired 10 American public relations firms to lobby media companies to show Israel in a good light. An example would be that Israeli settlements are often referred to as “neighborhoods” so that any conflict can appear to be unprovoked by Israelis.

A question you may have is why would any Israeli agree to live in a settlement in the middle of Palestinian territory or move into a home that a Palestinian was evicted from (especially one that generated enough media attention that both Hilary Clinton and Jimmy Carter felt compelled enough to personally comment on)? It’s important to understand that there are two kinds of settlers: economic and ideological. Currently there are 450,000 settlers living in the West Bank, and most settlements have around 30,000 people in them.

Economic settlers live in settlements for, you guessed it, economic reasons. Despite popular belief, Jerusalem is the poorest city in Israel. Settlements are a huge attraction for people living at the margins because the Israeli government subsidizes nearly everything: rent, education, healthcare, etc. Also, some are located close to industrial areas, making it easy to access quality work. Living in a settlement is a nice alternative to the poorer areas of Jerusalem.

Ideological settlers are the scarier alternative. They believe that living in Israel is their right and Palestinians are intruding on their God-given right. In Hebron, a southern Palestinian town, nearby settlers have terrorized Palestinians. They destroy farmland, throw stones at Palestinian children as they walk to school, and harass the neighborhood so that many are afraid to come out of their homes.

We drove into a settlement towards the end of our tour and I found them to be quite, for a lack of better word, unsettling. The settlement looked like something straight out of the pages of Pleasantville or Beverly Hills. The grass was incredibly green; the streets were lined with Palm trees. The flats were clean, every roundabout was landscaped, and the pools were filled with children on a hot day. While it sounds like a nice neighborhood, it is in the middle of a desert. Water is already a precious resource for the area. Palestinians comprise of 33% of Israel/Palestine’s population, but receive 10% of the water. Clearly the settlements are receiving a disproportionate amount of water as they have pools and greenery. The boundaries dictated by the wall have been strategically placed around aquifers, giving Palestine no control over water; it is also illegal for them to build wells leaving them at the mercy of Israel for this resource.

There has been a great deal of talk about solutions for Israel/Palestine. Many (including President Obama) support a two-state solution. Presently, however, current Palestinian territory is completely separated from each other, not only between Gaza and the West Bank, but parts of the West Bank are completely separated from one another. Logistically, this would be even more of a headache as it would require the relocation of Gaza’s residents and Arabs living outside Palestinian territories (around 250,000 total), plus it would require Israel to give up territory to reconnect the West Bank – unlikely.

After today, I’m finding that the current situation in Israel/Palestine has a chilling resemblance to my study abroad alma mater, South Africa. A group of people is being aggressed by a dominant force. Palestinians are restricted from moving in their own country and they have no voting rights to choose leaders that impose these restrictions on them. The stories of rejected permits in Israel/Palestine remind me of the papers blacks were required to carry to move about their own country. Palestinians, like black South Africans are subject to economic development restrictions in the name of security. Unfortunately this situation only seems to be getting worse before it gets better and sadly there are very few people engaged in the happenings of the country. Americans commonly are accused of being misinformed about the issues their own countries face – the same is true of Israelis, very little understand what their government is doing and simply see Palestinians as unruly.

Well, that’s enough for this evening. Please let me know if you have questions – I would be happy to answer them. I love, love, love the comments!!

Also, I have received my address and cell phone number (you can call from Skype for two and a half cents a minutes). Please message or e-mail (blan0196@umn.edu) if you wish to receive either.

Special thanks to:

Rotem, our very knowledgeable tour guide

Dad, for a good phone conversation

Marc Broussard, for accompanying me through song as I write

Day One: Bethlehem

2009-08-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

The streets of BethlehemThe spot where Jesus was born.
The spot where Jesus was born, the star picture above is under the blue drapes. Many people kiss the star.
The outside of the Nativity Church where Jesus's manger is.

I’m sitting in my room in Palestine listening to a Palestinian protest, I’m not sure what they’re saying but there is chanting and yelling. I’m curious to read about it tomorrow as I assume that this will be a regular occurrence during my time here. Don‘t worry, I’m completely safe and have been advised to stay away from any kind of demonstration.

We arrived in Tel-Aviv around 3pm (7am CST) and are staying at Thalith Kumi in Beit Jala, Palestine. I will be staying here for a week until I move into my permanent residence, which I am pleased to announce, is in Ramallah, Palestine. I will be working in a school, but do not know my exact role yet.

Last night we had a meal in a nearly empty local restaurant down the street from my country coordinator’s home. Because Muslims are currently observing Ramadan, the streets are emptier as they cannot eat when the sun is down. Most wake up before sunrise (around 4am) to eat and then fast until sundown, which is about 7:30pm here. Ramadan continues until there is another full moon, which will be sometime in mid-September.

Today our group spent time in Bethlehem. The streets were quite empty as today is the Muslim Sabbath. We visited the Nativity Church, the site where Christ is thought to be born. All of the buildings here are made out of limestone, so it can be extremely bright during the day. We spent the rest of the day walking through the streets of Bethlehem. We took a break for falafel – a ball with chickpeas and spices that’s fried. You can find it in the US, but it’s much better here.

Walking through the streets of any city in the West Bank, you can’t help but notice that there are very few women out and about, particularly after dark. Women are usually only seen when they are on their way to work or shopping for groceries. If they wish to go out after dark, they need to be accompanied by a father or brother. Men loitering the streets is also an indicator of a high unemployment rate. Most Palestinians are not allowed to enter into Israel, those that are allowed find that crossing a checkpoint can take upwards of 6 hours, so commuting can be difficult. Many Palestinians have college educations, but the local economy does not support jobs that require that education. Most people work in factories or in construction of the Israeli settlements – very ironic.

Look forward to more posts as I continue to see this amazing place! I love the comments!

Special Thanks to:

Suzanne, my country coordinator for making vegan brownies

Faddi, a young man I met today with a fabulous name

Bethany, MY ROOMMATE FOR THE YEAR!!

Bye, Bye, Birdy

2009-08-25T21:25:00.000-07:00

It’s my last night in Chicago, rather the United States, before my journey to Palestine officially begins. I thought a week of orientation would go quickly, but I found the exact opposite. While the speakers have presented interesting, relevant topics, I’m distracted by a mixture of excitement, nervousness, and a “what-were-you-thinking” voice in my head. We closed our group activities this evening by an open mic night. The Jerusalem girls created Discernment: The Musical. We adjusted a few popular Broadway songs to fit the Young Adults in Global Mission process from application to departure – the best part was seeing the creative juices work in my fellow volunteers, this is going to be a fun year.

We had an opportunity to speak with Marideth, a volunteer who just returned from a year of service in Bethlehem. For the first time, I could create an image of where I was going to be spending my time for the next year. My placement, roommates, and apartment location are still a mystery, but it hasn’t bothered me as much as I thought it would – in fact I’m looking forward to the surprises.

Tomorrow my group and I depart from LSTC at 11:30 for O’Hare. My flight for Frankfort leaves at 3:45 and arrives at 6:55am local time and then we depart for Tel-Aviv at 11:30ish. Your prayers during that time would be greatly appreciated.

Keep the comments coming – I appreciate them all!

Special Thanks to:

Logitech, for creating a webcam my parents can operate

Pastor Paula, for so generously offering a room in her house since apparently my room is rented out

Allison, for dealing with my last minute moving madness from Minneapolis

New beginnings

2009-08-19T21:01:00.000-07:00

And so it begins.

It’s still difficult for me to adjust to this new beginning. I firmly believe that I adjust well to change – in fact, it is a circumstance that I routinely invite into my life, sometimes unnecessarily. But, as these last few weeks have been filled with lasts – last Chipotle burrito, last drive in my family’s prized Camry station wagon, last evening out with friends who have significantly influenced my life in seemingly every detail, last night in my bed, last hug goodbye to my overwhelmingly supportive and patient family – thinking about the firsts that come with new beginnings seems out of place.

But, as I lie in a dorm bed at the University of Chicago, it appears I’ve come full circle. It wasn’t long ago that I said seemingly permanent goodbyes to my friends and family in North Dakota to start a new chapter in Minneapolis. Now, those same feelings of fear of the unknown and unfamiliarity that flooded my thoughts four years ago in Frontier Hall linger in my mind. I suppose every new beginning is some other beginning’s end, I just need more time to convince myself of this.

In the light of moving forward, I have been giving a great deal of thought to what exactly I hope to gain from this experience. I’ve been rereading “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert in attempt to gain some witty phrases to incorporate in my blog writing and in hopes of identifying a solid purpose to my presence. Though I am usually a fan of spontaneity and going with the flow, if my years at the leadership office have taught me anything, it’s that it’s important to have clear vision of what I’m doing before I’m too far into something I no longer know where I am or what I originally set out to do. **Maryam or Bethany, if you’re reading this, my hope is that I won’t need to pull over to the side of the road and get out of the car. **

So in the spirit of setting expectations:

I am in pursuit of gaining a new world vision through the eyes of religion.

My previous international experiences have shed light on culture and cultural interactions through multiple lenses. But, perhaps one of the most relevant, particularly in American foreign affairs is the role of religion in international relations. What Divine threads connect and divide us?

I am in pursuit of understanding the role of women in Muslim culture.

It’s no secret that birthrates are booming among the Muslim demographic. Sooner rather than later, they will be a considerable presence in the United States. I know, particularly in Palestine, strides are being made to improve literacy rates and the status of women, but I would like to better understand how the role of women play a greater role in Islamic society. Furthermore, I look forward to seeing the differences in American Muslim culture and Middle Eastern Muslim culture.

I am in pursuit of understanding hate.

I don’t know that I’ve ever used that word in reference to anything and actually meant it, especially towards another person, but it’s sustained presence is at the core of seemingly all world conflicts. Where does the idea of hate come from and how is it sustained?

Lastly, I am in pursuit of reconnecting with the Holy Spirit.

At this point, I feel as though we’re good acquaintances – we can always pick up right where we left off, but why did we quit communicating in the first place?

It’s going to be one unforgettable year.

Special thanks to:

Carl, for quite possibly the best hug I’ve ever gotten at the airport this morning.

Tara, for sending me my new favorite quote.

Mallory M., for seeing me off in Fargo – no really gets my Chelsea references here and I miss you dearly.

Mom, for letting me cook a whole 10 days using onion and garlic.

Leaving on a jet plane

2008-06-13T00:37:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in my room in Cape Town right now and I can't help but feel caught in the middle of excited to go home and share my experiences with anyone who is willing to listen and never wanting to leave. My bags are mostly packed....having packed baggage seems to be a final indicator of departing a place that I don't want to leave. After our farewell brai (bbq), it became apparent how much I'm leaving here. In a lot of ways, Cape Town has provided a new kind of security; though it's half way around the world I still oddly feel right at home.

As I reflect on my experiences and what I am taking away, I can honestly say that I didn't do this place justice. 3 weeks of trying to understand the ins and outs of an incredibly complicated issue isn't enough. My time here was basically a time for me to get my feet wet, but I'm leaving this country wanting to dive in head first.

All in all, despite how short my stay has been, I know that I've gained some incredibly valuable insight on the issues of leadership in a cross cultural context. I've learned that I can't expect to go to a place and simply "fix" things. As Kevin Winge said in his book, you have to enter a country right, not wanting to correct the seeming mistakes that a culture may make; it's more important to gain an understanding of the way in which people do things and serve others as a result.

There are a great deal of things that I will miss about this entire experience. The bonds and sense of security I have acquired among my fellow classmates will be missed. It's not that we won't see each other or talk once we get back to Minneapolis, I'm sure the friendships that I have formed here will last a very long time, however, I will miss the conversations, the laughter, and mostly the mutual understanding of the elements of change and progress.

This truly has been the time of my life, but I think it's time that I start packing. Thanks for reading.

Last few days...

2008-06-10T06:53:00.000-07:00

I’m enjoying a day off from classes and excursions today. It was nice to sleep in for the first time in two and a half weeks. Today I had planned on climbing Table Mountain, however the clouds are quite dark over it today so hopefully I’ll be able to squeeze that in before I depart on Friday.

It’s difficult for me to believe that I’ll be leaving South Africa in a matter of days. Many students are looking for ways to extend their stays here. I, however, am expected to start my summer employment on Monday, so unfortunately, staying a couple of extra days, weeks, or months isn’t in the cards at this time.

Our last week in South Africa has been devoted to processing everything we have learned over the past weeks. When I explain what I’ve been able to experience in SA so far, it appears that I’ve done quite a bit, but deep down inside I feel as though I’ve barely scratched the surface in terms of truly understanding the depth of the pandemic. I’ve gotten a fair taste of how Apartheid and healthcare crisis have contributed to the spread of AIDS, but one major component of the pandemic, culture, I feel has still been unaddressed. The unfortunate part understanding the cultural component of HIV is that it can only really be done by having an extended stay in a township.

Stigma is an enormous issue surrounding HIV/AIDS. Clinics are now offering tests after midnight so that there is a greater degree of confidentiality. The JL Zwane Community Center is often referred to as the “AIDS Church” simply because it is one of the few establishments that has done a great deal to reach out to those infected. As you can imagine, the notion of stigma shows up in so many levels of the pandemic, whether it’s the government not actively addressing the issue, schools not implementing any sort of sexual education in the school systems, people being afraid to be tested because the suspicions that will be raised if anyone finds out that they requested testing. All of these notions contribute to the stigma surrounding the issue and it’s incredibly sad.

As I’ve been reflecting on my experiences here, I’m finding that re-entering the US will probably be more difficult than adjusting to the culture of South Africa. After being here, I’ve begun to realize how incredibly insensitive I have been to the fact that the vast majority of the world only dreams of enjoying the things that I take for granted on a daily basis. In the US, even the poorest of the poor do not live in nearly as horrible conditions as those in the townships. Though it isn’t available to all, we have a number of medical professionals that have access to endless amounts of medications. In Africa, only two lines of ARVs are available to everyone, meaning once immunity has been built along those two, the person basically waits to die. In the US we have three lines of ARVs, which greatly extends the equality of life for people who are living with HIV/AIDS. I think a lot of people look at a problem like HIV/AIDS and don’t see any way where they can be helpful because it is such a large problem. Obviously monetary donations are needed the most simply to keep the programs running, but furthermore not being wasteful when it comes to food (we’re currently in a global food crisis) and limiting the amount of red meat you consume will greatly improve conditions for those abroad. Because so much food is consumed by the US, developing countries often do not receive a lot of foods that are vital to proper nutrition, especially when it comes to protein.

All in all, I’m still very much in a reflective state of understanding how I will take this experience and incorporate the lessons into my everyday life in the US. The greater portion of this class has been gaining an education of the current affairs of SA, but I still don’t know that I particularly improved the situation I was in besides being more informed. I still feel like a lot I have left here is unfinished and it’s sort of an unsatisfying feeling. When I sit down to blog, it’s difficult to really put what I’ve experienced into words, but I know that this will be an imperative part of helping raise awareness to this cause.

Thanks for reading!

P.S. My instructor has posted a ton of pictures from SA. Feel free to view them at www.aaroninsouthafrica.blogspot.com

TIA

2008-06-08T12:25:00.000-07:00

Wow, I’ve got a lot to catch up on. It always amazes me how I can go two days without blogging and I feel as though I have pages of events and realizations to write about. Each day has been so incredibly wonderful, it’s difficult to do justice to it through a word processor…but I will try.

I’ve just returned home from my free day excursion. I decided to live on the edge a bit and go shark diving. Our morning started at 5:30 am as the bus driver came to pick us up at our residences. We drove to a site about two hours out of Cape Town, had breakfast and were briefed by the guides. Following our safety talk, we took a boat out into the ocean for about 45 minutes. The area we anchored in is close to Shark Island, where the majority of shark documentaries are filmed. This area is full of sharks, but is most famously known for its population of Great Whites.

Though it is the dead of winter here, the weather was still fairly warm (in the low 60s) and the water is about the same. We are put into 8mm wetsuits and goggles and lowered into a cage that is tied to the boat. The top of the cage extends about a foot above the surface of the water so that we have room to breathe and when a shark gets close to the cage, members of the crew will yell at us to get down and tell us which direction the shark is coming from.

The site of a 15-foot Great White Shark was really quite the rush. One swam right up against our cage and tapped its nose again the cage inches from my feet…unbelievable. A group that went later had the shark actually attack the cage and bite onto the cage! No one was hurt or scared, just incredibly excited. I’ve been fortunate enough to do a lot of extreme sort of things in my life but shark diving tops my list without a doubt.

Yesterday was also a day for more “touristy” stuff. South Africa is known for its wide variety of wines mostly because of the optimal weather for growing grapes. We began our tour by going to a smaller vineyard where we had a tour of the vines (because we’re in the dead of winter, the grape vines are harvested and dead) and then learned about the process of crushing the grapes and aging the wine. An interesting fact I learned while touring the vines was about how they spot disease in their vines. At the end of each row of the vines is a rose bush. Roses are plants that respond quickly to disease, so the farmers put a rose bush at the end of each row of grapes so that they can detect disease quickly and solve the problem before it gets too serious.

South African wine has a much higher alcohol content that wines from other areas of the world, mostly because of the hot summers. Having a hot summer allows the grapes to get much sweeter which makes them not need to sit in the brewer as long and lose their alcohol content. Following the tour of the vines, we went for a tasting where we learned the three components of a good wine: color, smell, and taste. Personally, I enjoyed the white wines better than the reds, but ended up purchasing both.

While I thoroughly enjoyed my time returning into tourist mode, there is something very ironic about traveling to the various venues. In order to leave Cape Town in pursuit of breathtaking views and world famous vineyards, we drive the N17, an interstate begins in central Cape Town and winds through the mountains and beaches. However, this road also cuts through the heart of the townships. Bordering the interstate are shacks lined inches apart from another. You can see the signs of civilization with clothes hanging on a clothesline, blowing the in the wind and a random African running across the interstate because there are no bridges linking the townships that straddle the busy highway. It’s almost as if the city is reminding me of the realities of this place and that the excursion I’m about to go on is not necessary. In fact, for a person living in one of these 10 by 10 shacks, the idea of even entering within Cape Town city limits (which is about 2 or 3 kilometers away) is unthinkable.

After experiencing last week and having a better understanding of what it is to truly be in a state of need, I can’t help but feel guilty for everything I have been given. I credit a great deal of who I am and the opportunities I have been given to being raised in a privileged household – privileged not necessarily in the sense of having a family who easily puts food on the table and clothes on my back, but I grew up in loving family where I wasn’t ever put in a situation that I couldn’t handle or denied the basic human needs that many in the townships do not receive. But even these luxuries are the icing on the cake. By pure luck, I was born into a country where neighbors don’t fight neighbors and where I can feel (mostly) safe roaming the streets at night. Though Americans are often quick to complain about the current political situation in our country, we still have dodged a corrupt political and governmental system where we can trust that the police will keep us safe and our government will be informed of the happenings of our country.

Politically, the hottest topic in South Africa is the recent of Xenophobic (fear of foreigners) attacks. Currently, Zimbabwe is at a state of civil war which has greatly affected the poorest of the poor of that country. Thousands have lost their lives as two parties struggle for power of the country. Their current president has been in power for 27 years and has been come excessively wealthy as the rest of the country is overwhelmingly poor. Because of the current warlike state, thousands upon thousands have fled to South Africa in search of refuge over the years. As more and more people flee to South Africa and become residents of the country and enjoy the rights that everyone receives, the “natives” of the townships have become restless.

Due to a lingering economy and more “jobs for South Africans being taken by Zimbanweans,”, violent attacks have happened in townships outside of Johannesburg and Cape Town have been top news. Hundreds have died in these attacks, including a man who was burned alive in the middle of a township outside of Cape Town. The attacks are incredibly violent and disgusting. We were fortunately enough to visit a church last week in a suburb of Cape Town who is housing refugees. They have never done anything like this in the past, but as many churches have filled up of people seeking refuge in their own country (some people who have been victims of violence have lived in South Africa for 10+ years) the church knew they needed to help out. We visited with a group of refugees. One man, Sign, told about how his wife and children were still in war-torn Zimbabwe where they had just ran out of food and inflation has made it impossible to purchase anything (350,000 Zimbabwe dollars is worth about .5 Rand or about 6 American cents – a loaf of bread costs millions of Zimbabwe dollars, can you imagine the amount of notes a person would have to carry around to purchase something as simple as a loaf of bread?). At this point, he doesn’t know if his wife and children are alive, furthermore, he has no way of knowing how to meet up with them again after the violence ceases. His story was just one of many that were heartbreaking. His final request from us was to purchase him a plane ticket to the US. I cannot tell you the number of times I have been asked to help someone get into the States – it really makes me realize how lucky I am to live in a peaceful place.

As you can imagine, these incidents are on the front burner of conversation in South Africa, but as I watched the news with my home stay family in Guguletu, it was reported that the current president of South Africa was not even aware of the Xenophobic attacks. Obviously there are heavy political undertones to Mekembe’s oversight, but it is so frustrating when the leaders of a country are more concerned about maintaining power than acting in the best interests of their citizens, in fact it’s disgusting. There is a common phrase in Africa that was mentioned in the movie Blood Diamond, TIA or “This is Africa” and it’s in this phrase where I see complacency with the corruption of governments and the overall chaos of the country. Sometimes I feel as though people have given up on demanding for more out of their political leaders and have deemed themselves helpless in the political affairs of their country.

I promised I would talk more about my home stay experience, while I could write for pages and pages about this experience, I will try to hit on the highlights. I stayed with a grade 5 school teacher named Titi. Titi is 54 years old and has a 22 year old daughter, Mamela. She has never been married and lives in a 3-bedroom home that has all of the modern day conveniences. In Guguletu, this would be considered a wealthy household. For the first time, I saw carpet in a house. The house also had indoor plumbing and running water (which was not true for everyone who participated in the homestay). Titi did not have a shower, but there was a bath tub. I took a bath for the first time since 1997 or so, I’ve forgotten how relaxing they are.

The beautiful thing about the home stays were the warmth and welcoming nature of our families. We were instantly referred to as our mother’s “babies” … even by “mamas” who weren’t our own. Every night we would gather at a different family’s house and have a group meal together. I was hoping that this would be a trip where I would lose weight, but after the amazing meals I was served in Gugs, I don’t think it’s possible any longer.

The best part of the night was after we had finished eating and our host families would try to teach us how to dance. It’s a wide known fact that white people don’t know how to dance, and having a few lessons from some of our families definitely improved my skills. Something I’ve grown to love about African culture is how established singing and dancing is in their culture. At any moment, our house mothers would break into song and sing in perfect harmony. It was so beautiful.

Sometimes I feel as though my entire time in South Africa is one of those “you had to be there” kind of experience. I’ve traveled to many places where I could paint pictures of cathedrals in Europe or show photo photos of the Great Wall of China, but when I try to explain what I’ve experienced here, I find myself resorting to the same TIA phrase I used earlier, only this time it illustrates a kind of love and genuity that I’ve experienced nowhere but here.

In a lot of ways, living in the home stays was like paying a visit to my grandma, where she is overjoyed to see me and hear about every last detail of my life. But unlike my grandma, I’ve known her for 21 years and by the end of three days in Guguletu tears filled my eyes when I explained what my week-long experience had meant to me. It’s difficult for me to explain in a lot of ways, but I can honestly say that I’m beginning to understand the importance of truly welcoming someone.

I know this only offers a glimpse of what the home stay was like for me, but there are still a great deal of things I need to reflect on and make sense of in order to give a more thorough analysis of.

Well, I still have another writing assignment due for tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

*the first picture is of my roommate Sarah (girl from the trip) and Marmela, my homestay sister. the second picture is of Hillary, Erin, me, and Maryam in our matching fleece jackets we purchased to stay warm*

Back from Guguletu

2008-06-06T10:40:00.000-07:00

It’s difficult for me to put the past week into words in many ways. I was exposed to so many new realities that I could have never imagined as being true, it’s a bit overwhelming to just start writing about them.

I’ve returned from Guguletu and am sitting at the dining room table of our rented home in Cape Town. It’s a bit surreal to be back here mostly because it’s difficult to imagine that a few kilometers away there is an entirely different world. During most of my stay in Guguletu, I felt as though I was in a different country with a completely different culture. Coming from the gated homes of Cape Town to the shanties of Guguletu was a bit startling. Earlier today, I spoke with Seiphemo, who works for InterStudy, the organization in which our program is through, about the differences between Guguletu and Cape Town. He explained about the struggles with balancing living in the glitz and glam of Cape Town, and the simple living in the townships. In a lot of ways, I can relate to “living the double life,” mostly because my life and culture in Minneapolis is drastically different than that in North Dakota. But, the differences I find in North Dakota and Minneapolis are separated by hundreds of miles of open road. Cape Town and Guguletu are situated side by side, the only division being highways, yet the differences between the two are black and white – literally and figuratively.

Guguletu is a township of about 400,000 located near Cape Town International Airport. As far as I know, the population is entirely black, many of who are poor and have understood South Africa in two ways: apartheid and post-apartheid. To me, it’s interesting that in the original design of Apartheid, blacks were meant to live in “rural” areas, yet the Guguletu is anything but rural. The roads are paved, there are a fair amount of cars driving the streets, the main road of the township has been lined with trees in preparation for the 2010 World Cup, there are trailers or shipping containers (similar to a boxcar on a train) housing hair salons, restaurants, or implement shops. The homes are very close together, in fact many are connected, and the streets run very close to the homes. People walk the streets and sidewalks of Guguletu, children would wave at the vans that transported us around, and some would even run along beside the vans.

As I observed the surroundings of the township, it was obvious that there are a great deal of children left unattended during the day. We would see children as young as two or three, roaming the streets during the day with no parent in sight. This could be either that the parents are away at work or are too sick to take care of their children. Like any poorer area in the US, drugs and alcohol are problem in the township. We were told of an emerging drug, known as “tik” that has recently become a problem. Kids will take the insides of light bulbs and ARVs (antiretrirol virus drugs – used for HIV/AIDS) and smoke the substance. ARVs are increasing becoming a black market item in the name of recreational drug use. I find this to be most disheartening because currently there are millions of people waiting to receive ARVs through a government sponsored program (usually people who qualify to be on ARVs wait 9 months to receive their medication) and people who are lucky enough to receive the drugs sell them to make money.

At this point, I’m still processing the issues that surround HIV/AIDS. As I’ve found so far, there is a direct link between HIV/AIDS and poverty as an overwhelming majority of those infected are poor. My home stay mother Titi told about how some people purposely infect themselves with HIV just so they can receive ARVs and a grant from the government. When it comes to being impoverished and hungry, HIV is the lesser of two evils. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for children to head the household after their parents die from complications related to AIDS, forcing them to quit school and find any means to make money to support themselves and their younger siblings. Some turn to selling themselves, other purposely infect themselves with HIV or being pregnant to receive government aid – there are a million different compromising ways that people can make a living for themselves and their dependents. We had the opportunity to visit a 17-year-old girl who was taking care of her 9-year-old brother after her mother died. She had been taking care of him since she was 15 and lived in a two room shack less than 150 square feet. There was no shower or toilet in the shack. Poverty is so closely related to HIV, its difficult to know what the solution to the problem is. Should the government make sure that people are hungry and their basic needs are met or should they focus on sex education (which currently is not addressed in public schools) and distributing ARVs to those already infected?

All in all, the issue is much more complicated than people simply having reckless intercourse, in many cases it’s the desperation that surrounds the poverty that causes the spread of HIV. There are a lot of people in the Guguletu community that are trying to make a difference in lives of those affected by the disease and their stories are truly inspirational. One immediately comes to mind when I think of Pricilla. A woman of about 65 years old has four children (two of which still live with her) and has taken in 9 children who have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS. Pricilla lives in a two room home and houses 11 children (most under the age of 6) in order to keep them from living on their own. Taking in 9 children (none of whom she knew previously) is a feat in itself, but furthermore, Pricilla lives in a state of poverty. In order to feed her children when they get home from school, she brings the young children (there are 4 of them all under the age of 4) around Guguletu with her and finds odd jobs to do (mostly cleaning or something similar) in order to make enough money to go to the grocery store and purchase food for her children. Literally everyday this woman does not know how she is going to be able to feed the orphans she has taken into her home. She receives no aid from the government. The support she gets is from the JL Zwane Community Center and from the work she does for others in the community.

Pricilla’s home is in less than good shape. The walls that divide the rooms do not reach the roof. The only privacy in the home is the curtain that covers the doorway of the bedroom. The bathroom is small and does not have warm water for the children to bathe in. Perhaps the most disheartening part of the home was that there was no toilet paper for anyone to use, simply because Pricilla can’t afford it. They use old newspapers instead. Furthermore, the developing girls in the home do not have access to feminine products to use.

On the day we visited Pricilla’s home, we came with food to make a meal for Pricilla and her children, brooms to help clean the house and toys for her kids (they had none previously). To those who gave monetary donations to my medical and school supplies campaign, your money was used to purchase toys and food for Pricilla’s children. Edwin, a minister at JL Zwane who accompanied us on our trip mentioned how he had never seen that much happiness in a home after the children received a good meal and toys. By the end of our hour at her home, there were 30 kids in her house, all of who wondered over to get in on the excitement. It’s amazing how something as simple as bubbles can generate so much joy.

Our group was obviously very moved the situation with Pricilla and have decided that we want help fund repairs on her home and help with feeding the children. Each person in our group of 17 has pledged to raise $1000 in order to help the family. If you are interested in donating money, please let me know. I can honestly say that any money donated with make an immense difference in these childrens’ lives simply because they are so grateful for anything they receive, no matter how small.

We were exposed to many stories similar to Pricilla’s in that we have meant people who have overcome extraordinary challenges and have devoted their life to the improvement of their community. One of the first speakers we had was Nombeka Mpongo. On August 16, 1997, Nombeka was gang raped by 5 men walking home one evening in Guguletu and contracted HIV. At the time she had a 6-year-old son. As soon as she made her status known, she was fired from her job and turned away from many universities because she refused to register as a health risk. Her story was truly inspirational though because of her high spirit. She told of how many other people who contract HIV simply quit living, and she’s made a conscious decision to continue to truly live with her AIDS status. She has been living with AIDS for 11 years, which my Africa’s standards is remarkable.

In addition to poverty, another huge problem that South Africa is facing in terms of HIV/AIDS is the healthcare crisis. Prior to coming to Cape Town, I attended a seminar at the U about AIDS as a global crisis. Sub-Saharan Africa comprises of about 14% of the world’s population and 25% of the worlds health-related problems. However, Sub-Saharan Africa has only about 3% of the world’s medical professionals. We spoke to Zethu Xapile who is the director of one of the health clinics in Guguletu. She told about how the clinic sees about 200 patients a day and employs one doctor, 3 medical practitioners and a staff of nurses. While the clinic serves people with any type of medical problem, it sees a large portion of its services going towards HIV/AIDS. The clinic can distribute ARVs to people who qualify. The ARVs come from a government-funded grant although the waiting list is about 3 months long and it takes an additional 6 months for the ARVs to get from the US to South Africa.

The solution to the health crisis in Africa is complicated. A great deal of those problems could be solved by more funding to pay for more medications and competitive wages for quality health professionals. The clinic serving Guguletu currently runs on $100,000 a month, which to me doesn’t seem like much. As always in South Africa, there are undertones of apartheid installed in the system as well when considering the differences between public and private healthcare. As described by one student who visited the clinic, the place was a “zoo,” with multiple people being treated in a room and little to no organization to the clinic. In Africa, it is not customary to make appointments so many people will go to a clinic and wait for hours to be seen by a professional. We’ve been told that the heath situation in rural areas is even worse, with few resources and access to adequate medications and professionals. The healthcare crisis here is incredibly overwhelming and something that can make or break the current HIV crisis in South Africa.

Today, our last day in Guguletu, was truly a special one. We began the morning with a class discussion and then made our way to a school for black children who are physically handicapped. This is the only school in the Western Cape that caters to this population and houses students K – 12. I don’t know that I have ever laughed as much as I did in that three hours we spent at the school. When we first arrived, all of the children of the school (about 200 or so) greeted us in their commons. It was fun to watch how the children helped one another into the space. Children with trouble walking were helping push their friends who use wheelchairs. It was truly a group effort to get everyone in the room and seated.

The high school choir sang several songs for us, which was great to listen to; their talent impressed me. Following that, all of us students divided into groups and tackled a different project in the school. Some weed whacked the playground (the playground’s grass hasn’t been cut in months and the students are expected to use their wheelchairs in order to play), other cleaned up the basketball courts, others worked with the speech teacher, some helped organize files for the counselor. I had the all-important job of helping the preschoolers paint. After they finished their masterpieces, we took them out into the freshly mowed playgroup to play. All of the students we worked with are in wheelchairs, which meant lifting them out of their chairs and into swings, onto slides and monkey bars. All of the children speak English, which is incredibly helpful.

Along with playing with the preschoolers, a girl name Zimbini came to paint as well. She is a 13-year-old student at the school and incredibly nice. As most children in the townships, she had a fascination with my digital camera. Children in Africa love having their photo taken and looking at the picture in the window of my camera. I allowed her to take as many pictures and videos as she wanted for about 30 minutes or so. I think she took about 45 or so. By the end of the day, I almost wanted to give it to her.

All in all, I haven’t yet touched on my experience in the home stay, which is a blog entry in itself. Despite the dysfunctions of the townships related to HIV/AIDS. There is a great deal of good in the townships as well. The warm spirit of its people and their willingness to help is truly remarkable. It’s difficult to believe that people who have come from such a hardship can maintain a positive attitude. Though by the world’s standards, many of the residents in Guguletu live in poverty, but they don’t show it. I’m beginning to believe more and more that poverty is a state of mind, not numbers on a paper.

I’ll write more on my home stay experiences later. Tomorrow I’m off on a wine tour. Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful weekend!

*The first and last picture are from the school for children with disabilities. The middle pictures are the toys we donated to Pricilla's family*

Guguletu

2008-06-02T11:06:00.000-07:00

It seems as though the past week has led up to the events of today. We've devoted a great deal of time to understanding South Africa post-Apartheid in order to prepare us for seeing the true effects of it in the townships. We arrived at the JL Zwane Community Center at 9 am this mroning and were greeted by Edwin, an employee of the center for a discussion about his experiences with Apartheid and Guguletu. Edwin is a middle-aged man born of a black father and a white mother so you can imagine that he has faced a great deal of discrimination in his life. Even his own grandmother rejected him. We wrapped up the morning with two other speakers telling of their personal experiences with Apartheid.

Following our lecture a local band peformed for us. They are leaving for a US tour later this week. They perform in clinics throughout Cape Town singing, dancing, and acting, educating about HIV/AIDS. The group was composed of 6 singers (two boys and four girls), two guitar players and a drummer. I was very impressed by their talent. They performed a wide variety of songs and incorporated dance as well. It was nice to add a lighter note to the day after having three heavy speakers in the morning.

Following the performance, we were served lunch by the local women of the center. By far, it was the best meal I have had in Cape Town. We were given chicken on the bone, potatoes, vegetables, chicken curry, rice, and beverages. At this point, a lot of us are really sick of eating out -- a home cooked meal was just enough to get us through the day.

After dinner, a man gave us a tour of Guguletu from the community center. This was the first time I really feel like I've seen Africa. So much of Cape Town is similar to any other large city I've been to and seeing Guguletu really put the whole notion of Apartheid's aftermath into perspective. There are basically two types of homes in the community of 400,000 -- houses and shanties. The houses are small (probably no more than 400 square feet) and have fences built around them. The homes are not in good condition, usually run down with paint chipping off. They don't have yards, just dirt and garbage. Living in a house would be fortunate for a person, conditions in the shanties are much worse. While they are equipped with electricity, they are constructed out of anything that was available at the time -- mostly scrap metal, wood, and plastic/tarp. One particular home we visited was inhabited by a 17-year-old girl whose mother had died two years previously of complications related to AIDS and she was taking care of her 9-year-old brother. The two-room home was equipped with a makeshift kitchen and a bedroom for the remainder of her belongings. There was a single bed in the home with no bathroom. The house couldn't have been more than 150 square feet. I left the tour speechless; it is in moments like that where I don't know what to say. how could someone live in those kinds of conditions?

After our tour, we were greeted by a schoolteacher for the community center's after school program. Helping tutor the students in this program will be one of our service project for our class. I worked with two 5th graders who were working on converting time in minutes into hours and minutes. I was told by their instructor that both students are behind in their studies and it was obvious by their problems they were having with their homework. 106 -- 60 was challenging for the students.

One of the main themes of this course is about AIDS and the effects that apartheid has had on the spread of the pandemic. At this point, the whole notion of AIDS hasn't been mentioned and it's been frustrating for me. I don't think it's an issue that our speakers have necessarily ignored; it just hasn't surfaced in our conversation. My hope is that the rest of the week will be devoted to learning more about the effects of AIDS. From the surface and going through the townships, there is little to no direct reference to AIDS. Even when I spoke to the 17-year-old girl in the two-bedroom shack, she simply said that her mother died, but made no mention of HIV/AIDS.

Although a huge proportion of Guguletu's population is infected with HIV, the topic itself is mainly taboo. As a person who is incredibly curious about the disease, it's frustrating to feel like the world's greatest present pandemic is very much hush hush. The way america paints the AIDS pandemic in Africa is drastically different from what I've witnessed in the townships. When I think about the Red campaign or Bono's work, the notion of a global pandemic is greatly sensationalized. At this point, I'm a bit puzzled as to why it doesn't appear to be influential in peoples' lives. I'm hoping tomorrow will show me.

Aside from my frustrations with the whole HIV/AIDS theme of our program, this trip so far has been incredibly exhausting. There has yet to be a night where I've had a difficult time getting to sleep. We put in full days, and we usually are blogging and doing other activities at night. I'm longing for the days when I could sleep in until noon...

*posted are pictures of shanties in Guguletu, me and the giraffes at the Safari, and me at the Southern most tip of Africa*

A day off...

2008-06-01T13:31:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in my room right now enjoying one of my favorite abroad snacks -- crackers and cheese. It sounds a little odd, I know, but there is nothing I enjoy more than high quality cheese and cream crackers. In many foreign countries, cheese is made with unpasteurized milk which makes for an irresistible snack. I miss it greatly when I'm home.

Today was one of our "days off." I put day off in quotations because despite not having any planned activities, my day seems to fill up regardless. This morning we made our first trip to Gugulethu for a church service and the opportunity to meet our homestay families. The facility serves many purposes within the township including a space for worship, after-school programs, HIV/AIDS support groups, and other community functions. The building itself is newly finished (I was quite impressed with it) painted with bright colors and decorated in a traditional African fashion. The congregation was fairly small, I don't expect there were more than 100 people in service, but we received a warm, genuine welcome from the parishioners.

My homestay mom is named Titi. She is a fifth grade teacher who lives with her 22-year old daughter. I don't know the history behind her current circumstances, I look forward to learning more about her situation and her views on HIV. By listening in one the service, it was apparent that the congregation is making an effort to reach out to those affected by the disease. The service lasted about an hour (which is extremely short I'm told). There was a great deal of singing. The church did not have a piano or organ, the music was started by a designated singer and the congregation followed suit in perfect harmony. The music was very moving -- all of the music was sung in Xhosa (an African language spoken among many of those living in the townships). Following the worship, a few other students and I enjoyed a gorgeous day at Victoria and Alfred Waterfront for some shopping. We also went to Sex and the City: The Movie -- a show that many of us have been looking forward to for months.

The last few days have been quite eventful as well. We started out Friday morning with a lecture from a political science professor on current events in South Africa. Much of the lecture was devoted to his personal story as a growing up in exile. His father was an instrumental member of the ANC and moved the family around the world quite a bit. By the time he was 15 and Apartheid had dissolved, Steve had 10 passports, all with different names on them and been exposed to the ugly side of living in hiding. His story was truly amazing, he has multiple degrees concerning sociology and international relations (including one from Berkley). He plans to get his Ph.D from the University of Geneva.

Following our talk with Steve, we headed to the V & A Waterfront to board a boat to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for 18 of his 27 years in jail. Robben Island is located 13 kilometers from Cape Town, the boat ride was reminiscent of our seal tour from the day before. Waves reaching 6 to 7 feet rocked the boat and some of our group members experienced sea sickness. We did finally arrive at Robben Island where we were met by out tourguide. All tourguides are former inmates or guards which brings a personal perspective to the tour. Our guide told us of the torture and abuse experienced at Robben Island, which was a "coloured" prison. His stories were mortifying, absolutely mortifying. We got to see Nelson Mandela's cell and received a guided tour of the entire island. The island was a little community of itself, one with a school and church for the guards who lived in the housing provided. By the end of the day, I was in favor of a much needed night of rest as we had to leave for our African safari at 5:30 am the following morning.

We had a very cold 2.5 hour bus ride to our game refuge. The heat broke down on our bus and the temperature was about 45 degrees. In South Africa, many buildings are not equipped with heat because it doesn't get incredibly cold, however, I am quickly finding out that I did a poor job packing and did not pay enough attention to the importance of bringing warm clothes. I've already purchased a new fleece and rain coat to combat the unpredictable climate.

We boarded our Hummer for the Safari and entered an enclosed area where they're keeping cheetahs in quarantine. They recently received the cheetahs from Namibia where they were in danger of being poached. In order to enter the cheetahs into the large reserve, they were separated from the rest of the group in order to be monitored for disease. After seeing the cheetahs we saw lions. The lions would not be allowed to enter the reserve because they were "canned" meaning they had been raised to be hunted. They have a reliance on humans for their food and therefore it is impossible for them to be reentered into the wild and expect them to fend for themselves. It was a sad story.

After looking at the lions we entered the main reserve which is approx. 5000 acres. There we saw giraffe, zebras, rhinos, wildebeests, water buffalo, ostrich, spring buck, and much more. I was basically living the lion king. We had the opportunity to see two giraffes spar -- a very rare site. Hopefully I can post the video once my Internet connection improves. Last night we had our first night out on the town for a student's birthday. It was a really good time.

This week we will be working in the townships which means I will not have internet connection. However I will be saving my reactions to the experiences in Gugulethu and posting them at the end of the next week. Thanks for reading!

Soaking Wet!

2008-05-29T10:20:00.001-07:00

I'm sitting in our house right now with 10 other of the group participants. We all tend to blog at the same time. The room is filled with sounds of keys clicking and pencils writing.

Today was the best day so far. We woke up this morning and walked several blocks away to meet our tour bus. We began the morning by taking a tour through Cape Town. The downtown was very urban. Unlike American cities, very few people live downtown and it essentially shuts down at 6pm. The city is trying to make living downtown more attractive simply to cut down on crime. Efforts are touch and go.

Following our tour downtown, we drove to the ritzy suburbs that are situated on the coast. Most homes are condos perched on the cliffs and can be as expensive as $10 million (50 million Rand). The beaches are absolutely breathtaking. Even though it's too cold to swim, standing on the beach is still beautiful.

Following a few opportunities for photos, we boarded a ship that took us to an island off the cape where seals mate. We were unable to get a good view as it started storming shortly after we left the harbor. We were in a little boat with about 6 foot waves and the rain was pouring. Not only were we drenched from head to toe, many were experiencing seasickness. Needless to say, the boat ride was not pleasant and thankfully the guide turned back early.

After the boat ride, we headed to Simonson, a town south of Cape Town famous for its beach dwelling penguins! I had honestly never heard of penguins on a beach, apparently they exist in South Africa, Chile, and Australia. See the picture above for this craziness, notice that I'm still soaked wet from the boat ride. Considering I took 87 pictures today, a bad hair day was NOT appreciated! The penguins were so cute and live on the beach year round. According to our tour guide they have a tendency to be a bit aggressive, however, we had no problems today.

After lunch in Simonson, we had the first opportunity to dip our toes in the Indian Ocean for the first time. Technically, the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet at Cape of Good Hope which was our next destination. The drive to the cape was a bit rough. The roads winding through the mountains did help the fact that many were already still feeling sick from the boat ride. However, the bus ride was well worth the view. I think I have an idea of what heaven is like.

Cape of Good Hope is the southern most point in Africa and the place where the Atlantic and Indian Ocean meet. In order to get to the cape, we had to drive through a national park which is home to many wild animals. We saw baboons and ostriches feeding along the side of the road. It's funny how baboons, zebras, ostriches, and lions are like deer and raccoons to us. After driving through the park, we were dropped off at a visitors center for the Cape of Good Hope and given 2 hours to explore.

I can say with a great deal of confidence that Cape of Good Hope and the surrounding area is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. As we took the path closer to tip of the cape, we came upon a beach with no footprints -- it looked straight out of a movie with a deserted beach. We went down to the beach and were amazed by the strength of the waves. Because both oceans basically meet at that point the rip tides are incredibly powerful. Furthermore, we could see a storm brewing in the distance which added to the intensity of the waves.

After time at the beach, we climbed back up the cliffs and continued on our walk to the edge of the cape. This is when the rain began to pour. Before coming to South Africa we were told of rain and wind being a staple in the winter weather. In fact, we were advised against bringing an umbrella because it would break in the wind -- a rain coat is our only defense. I don't know that any of us had been so wet in our lives. I had puddles in my shoes, my jeans weighed about 5 pounds and my sweatshirt was soaked...even my tank top underneath was wet and I was wearing a raincoat! Despite the rain and wind (rain is often referred to as being horizontal because it doesn't fall, it is pushed by the wind), we made it to the tip of the Cape of Good Hope and took a few pictures. If my internet was working better, I would post a few pictures, hopefully it is working better tomorrow.

While listening to the tour guide talk about the elite properties of Cape Town, I couldn't help but notice how inexpensive the cost of living is. In the prime areas of the city (meaning right on the beach and away from the wind) homes average to be about 6 million Rand or under $1 million. In the classier areas of town, rent tends to be about 5000 Rand/month or roughly $700. Food is also incredibly cheap. Yesterday I bought a good bottle of wine, a good cheddar cheese, a loaf of bread, peanut butter, crackers, and a bag of chips for under $10. Going out to eat is also very cheap. A high end meal usually costs around $7, drinks at a bar are usually around $2. I am unaware of the average income of a South African...it's very difficult to tell because of the small middle class. Unlike my last summer in London, Cape Town is very inexpensive and I am enjoying it!

Overall, despite our issues with the weather, today was an exceptional day. Tomorrow we plan to go to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was jailed during the majority of his incarceration. We will also being having a lecture from another political science professor at UCT concerning current affairs in South Africa. I'm really looking forward to what he has to say!

Thanks for all of your continued comments and support! Hopefully I'll be able to post pictures soon!

Apartheid

2008-05-28T12:31:00.000-07:00

It's a rainy evening in Cape Town, following a sunny day. Because I'm in the southern hemisphere, it is technically winter in South Africa, but it hardly feels like it. Temperatures are in the 70s, it's slightly humid mostly because the town is situated on the ocean. Rain is common in the winter, as tonight was the perfect example. I walked home from Nando's, a famous chicken chain (they also have them in Great Britain) and was soaked by the time I arrived home. I'm looking forward to nice weather tomorrow...

Today was our first day of class and it was probably the most interesting lecture I've had at my time in college. Zwelethu Jolobe is a political science professor at the University of Cape Town and gave us a history of Apartheid which gave us a much better understanding of why Africa is the way it is. I've always wondered why HIV/AIDS is most prevalent in South Africa as opposed to other urban, poor areas such as India or Mexico City. Apartheid, in a lot of ways, seems to be the reason.

Apartheid was created in 1913 by the Land Act which granted 13% to "colored" people and the remaining land to the whites. As you may have guessed, the vast majority of Africa's population then and now are non-white. At the time, the Land Act was a form of modernizing the country in the form of urbanization. Because whites were the minority population in South Africa, they needed to create greater minorities among the majority of the other population. They proceeded to further the divide the population into very specific racial categories such as "blacks," "coloured," and even more specific likewise.

People living in South Africa were divided into two developments: urban and rural. Urban areas were designated for whites who were given a citizen status -- this would explain why the urban areas have a heavy European influence and do not show any signs of poverty. Rural areas were designated for any non-whites (although the specific racial classes had their own communities) and were given a "subject" status -- this would explain why the township areas are overwhelmingly black and do not have the luxuries that living in the urban areas does. Because non-whites were only given a "subject" status, they were given absolutely no rights or benefits from the government and they were not allowed to advance as a society. Their resources were contained and the government did everything within their power to keep them under control of the regime. The laws instilled were reminiscent of segregation in the US pre-Civil Rights Movement. Blacks and whites had strict separations, including separate bathrooms, restrooms etc. and mixed marriages and relations were strictly prohibited.

For the greater portion of Apartheid's existence, there was little resistance to the oppressive ruling. Eventually, in the 1970s, the first trade union was formed among blacks in Durban. This event is largely considered the turning point of the Apartheid because for the first time the government had to recognize a union by a "subject." Opposition to Apartheid grew stronger and stronger, and blacks basically withdrew themselves from the economy, the elite-like government felt as though they were forced to change their policies. When blacks withdrew themselves from the economy, the economy itself collapsed -- whites could not run the economy themselves. The difference between Apartheid and many other revolutions throughout history is that this was not a take over of a government, it was a decision made by the minority government to change their government. While the pressure from the oppressed was apparent, ultimately, the whites made the decision to end Apartheid and move to a new type of government.

While I could go on forever about the details of the negotiations of Apartheid, ultimately, the government came up with one of the most progressive constitutions in the world. Whether the constitution is effective is still up for debate. South Africa straddles the line of democracy and socialism, where every citizen is guaranteed healthcare, education, and adequate housing (the latter has definitely not been fulfilled), citizens enjoy a free market. I am unsure where the income tax level stands, our lecturer did mention that South Africa has the second highest Gini Coefficient in the world (meaning there is a huge disparity between the haves and have-nots --even more so than the US).

Following the dissolution of Apartheid, there was a huge migration to the urban areas, because blacks were finally granted access to the urban centers where the jobs existed. With this massive migration, further worsened the condition of the townships. Millions of people were living in shanty towns (people living in huts, some of their homes were created out of pallets and a piece of steel). With the extreme poverty, followed hunger and the need for survival, hence the high crime and prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Just because the blacks were now viewed as citizens, didn't change the fact that they were unbelievably poor and uneducated. Johannesburg experienced the bulk of the migration and is notorious for being incredibly dangerous and impoverished.

It's interesting because when I look at map of Cape Town, the map explicitly labels the suburbs (and wealthy) areas of the city but gives no mention to any of the townships, many of which house hundreds of thousands of residents. They are generally disregarded as parts of the community, yet they house the vast majority of the population.

Having a lecture from Zwelethu really put into perspective how Africa got to be the way it is. Later this week a colleague of his will give us a better background of the current affairs of South Africa. Currently, there has been a huge influx of immigrants from Zimbabwe due to conflict in the country. The new immigrants are taking jobs from blacks in the townships which has created a great deal of animosity between South Africans and immigrants from Zimbabwe. Riots have been especially violent in the townships outside of Johannesburg, but recently violence has spurred in Cape Town.

The rest of this week will be devoted to learning more about South Africa and its current state with Apartheid. We won't actually enter the townships until next week. I'm incredibly anxious to enter the townships because I feel as though I've heard so much about them, but haven't actually experienced them. The townships are often described as the hangover of Apartheid and I'm anxious to see the disparity firsthand and reflect on how HIV/AIDS further complicates the matters in townships.

I hope you are all doing well. I thoroughly appreciate your e-mails, comments, and words of support. So far, I've largely felt like a tourist in this city, but I imagine as we become more involved in the townships, my perspective will change greatly. It still baffles my mind how I can shop at Jimmy Choo and Louis Vuitton at Victoria Wharf, and less than 5 miles away, I can be standing in the middle of an area with one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the world. I hope all is well!

Finally Here!

2008-05-27T10:59:00.000-07:00

It's just after 9pm in Cape Town and we've finally had a chance to set up our internet. I've been in Cape Town just under 24 hours and I'm already in love with the city. We left Minneapolis at 7:05 am, meaning most of us were at the airport at 4:45. We took a two hour flight to New York JFK where we had a 7 hour layover. Following our layover, we had an 18 hour flight to Johannesburg and after racing through the airport and customs, we boarded a 2 hour flight to Cape Town. All in all, we had about 30 hours of flying and layovers, so we were quite exhausted by the time we arrived at our residences.

Our residences are BEAUTIFUL. They are beyond anything I could have imagined. We live within walking distance to the University of Cape Town and the view from our street is of Devil's Peak (see picture on the right), which is attached to Table Mountain (see picture on the left). We're divided into two homes that are across the street from one another. It's really nice to be so close to each other. I am currently writing this blog from the other residence because we blew out all of our outlets in our residence...

Overall, Cape Town is a beautiful city. It's easy to spot the British influence on the city; the cars drive on the left-hand side of the road and the type of English they use is much more British sounding. The streets are narrow and winding and there are great deal of British chains in the city. There are a great deal of differences among Cape Town, it's British sister, London, and cities in America. The most apparent of those differences are in the residences.

South Africa is notorious for its crime. We've been warned time and time again about locking ourselves into our house and being sure to lock our homes when we leave them. Around each of the houses are gates with two sets of locks. Our windows have bars on them. Every door in our home has a lock and an individual key. The front door consists of a barred door which has a lock and a wooden door which has a different lock. We also have a security system to set when we leave which is operated by a remote control, much like a keyless entry into a car. Whoever is in charge of our keys for the day feels like a janitor sometimes because they're carrying around some many keys!

Today was devoted to exploring Cape Town. We were met by our student mentors at 8:45 this morning to go to the University of Cape Town to have talks about safety and other logistical things. We took our time walking to our classroom on campus and we had a chance to soak in our view and the UCT campus.

The campus sits at the base of Table Mountain. The majority of the classrooms are at a fairly high altitude, so walking to class was quite a challenge. The architecture of the campus is beautiful. It reminds me of buildings I would see in Europe, very victorian and colorful. Many have vines growing on the side of them. The campus truly surpassed all of my expectations I had. I really felt as though I was in

Following our campus tour, we took a shuttle to Victoria Wharf where we had lunch and an opportunity to see the ocean and do a bit of shopping. The view from the Wharf was breathtaking. We could see both Table Mountain and the ocean. We also got a view of the new stadium that is being constructed for the 2010 World Cup. The shopping was fun, I found a few pieces of African art. Because Victoria Wharf is geared mostly towards tourists, most of the shopping was waaaayyy out of my price range, although it was fun to window shop. We even saw some former contestants from America's Next Top Model Cycle 9.

So far my impressions of South Africa have surpassed all of my expectations. Sometimes it's difficult for me to believe that I'm in Africa, mostly because my visions of what Africa would be like surround the poverty and devastation portrayed by the media outlets in America. Cape Town is especially modern and cosmopolitan, which makes it even more difficult to believe that outside of the city are the world's highest rates of HIV/AIDS and extreme poverty. It would be similar to living in Minneapolis and driving outside to where the suburbs would be and seeing shacks and tents.

I'm excited to continue exploring Cape Town. On the agenda tomorrow is learning more about apartheid and how that has affected South Africa. We'll be doing a bit more of touristy stuff this week and next week we will venture into the townships.

That's all for now! Again, your feedback is welcome and encouraged! I hop you are well!

At JFK!

2008-05-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

It's just before 2:30 at New York JFK. The group has been here for about four hours now and the anticipation of boarding our flight to Johannesburg is beginning to build. Our flight left Minneapolis this morning at 7:05, meaning we were at the airport before 5 am. Many students on the trip stayed awake through the night. Most of us are exhausted but are waiting for our 18 hour flight to South Africa to catch up on sleep. We were pleasantly surprised this morning when Rev Run (he has an reality show on MTV) boarded our flight to New York.

I've known that I was going to be going to South Africa for several months now, but with the distractions of school and everything else, I hadn't found a great deal of time to really reflect on what type of experience this is going to be for me. A lot of people ask me if I'm excited, to which I always respond an enthusiastic "yes," but when I really consider the purpose of our trip, I can't help but feel nervous and a bit uneasy.

The places we'll be working primarily in are overwhelmingly poverty-stricken. This trip will be far from any other international experience I've had, simply because I've been well protected from the hardships of other cultures and countries. My nerves mostly come from the fact that I don't know how I'm going to react to what I see. I anticipate seeing and hearing incredible stories of tragedy and survival. What I can't anticipate are my emotional reactions to those stories.

All nerves aside though, I am incredibly excited. I love traveling and the opportunity to go to South Africa doesn't present itself often. The notion of being halfway across the world is a thrill for me. I'm eager to learn more about the AIDS pandemic in South Africa and how its history of apartheid plays a role in the pandemic, in fact, I'm eager to learn more about South African history in general. By the few people I know who have been to South Africa, I've been told that Cape Town is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. I'm excited to explore a new city, in a new continent, with a new purpose.

I look forward to hearing your responses to this blog. I really enjoy hearing from people from home, so please send me an e-mail (blan0196@umn.edu) or write me on facebook. Also, I'd like to extend a HUGE thank you to everyone who donated to medical/school supplies or money. I couldn't even take everything donated, I had so much. Anything that I couldn't stuff in my suitcase will be taken by Kevin Winge (director of Open Arms of Minnesota) on his next excursion to South Africa. THANK YOU! People in South Africa will be very appreciative of your generosity.

Next time I write, I will be in South Africa! Yay!!

Laurie

2008-05-03T13:25:00.000-07:00

Hello! Welcome to my blog!

This is the first of many entries documenting my experiences in South Africa. I've just arrived home from my final orientation meeting; it is officially 22 days until departure and it can't come soon enough. Focusing on the school work I have now is proving to be especially difficult because all I think about are the exciting adventures to come.

Now for a bit of background on my study abroad trip to Cape Town. The class is focuses on the AIDS pandemic taking place in the townships outside of the city. In a sense, these townships are the "hangover" of apartheid. Basically, it is marginalized living situations for the marginalized citizens of apartheid -- blacks. In these townships, an overwhelming amount of the population is living with HIV/AIDS and has little access to adequate healthcare. As I view it, the main purpose of our trip is to study and observe apartheid's and leadership's role in the realities that make living in the townships with HIV/AIDS especially difficult.

As you can imagine, the contents of this blog may become graphic, depressing, and maybe a bit unbearable. But in my mind, it is my responsibility to be completely honest in the realities I see and experience so that you can better understand why the AIDS pandemic in Sub-Saharan Africa is a global problem, not just another one of the misfortunes this continent constantly faces.

So please, read this blog with an open mind. Offer me your feedback. Update me on your life. Let me know your impressions upon reading this. Ask questions. And most importantly, I challenge you to become more informed about the disease that has claimed 28 million lives and affects the daily lives of millions more across the globe.

Thanks for reading.

Peace