Oh well.

Snow day number 3.

They are back. School is canceled. We'll see for how long.

And just like that...

...back to normal.

We're getting ready to go to school where we'll see how many students stuck around.

The Israeli's withdrew last night and life will continue.

More later.

Edited at 10:25 am local time

So we're at school working away when we are told that we should go shopping today to stock up. The rumour floating around is that:
1) The Israeli's are not done with whatever it was that they were doing
2) They will return
3) They will stay in place for a longer period of time (we've heard 10 days)

This is all rumour but people seem mildly concerned.

The incursions usually (always?) occur at night. So in the morning we'll see what's what and who's who. We may have a very long vacation coming up. I hope not.

Wanna see a picture?



Yes they are eating cotton candy. Where did it come from? Well the cotton candy man of course. A couple of times swell and I heard some strange ice cream man music coming from outside. We were confused. Well this day G. was present and heard it as well. We weren't crazy there was music - she heard it to. It turns out that it wasn't an ice cream man, rather it was a man driving around in a wee little car with a cotton candy machine in the back. Swell and G. forced me to go outside and buy some cotton candy. I hate cotton candy. He had a bunch of sticks in his car and he had the machine and for 1 shekel (25 cents) I bought them the cotton candy. If you saw where it came from you wouldn't eat it.




This is us in front of our house. The bottom balcony is ours.

Here's the deal

I'm sitting here in our flat by myself. Swell is at a get together for the women who live in our complex. She was invited after we had lunch at the University Vice-President's house. I guess it's a we-have-nothing-else-to-do-so-let's-get-together kind of thing.

The folks here are hoping that the siege will end tomorrow. They have no reason to believe it will other than hope.

Our situation is as it stand now is as follows:

1) We were not evacuated because this came as a shock to every one. The Israelis are claiming this siege is to arrest 7 wanted men. A city is being held hostage so that 7 men can be found and arrested. The conspiracy theorists believe that this is simply a large scale training exercise for the Israeli military.
2) We are actually not under curfew. We live outside of the curfew zone. Only the old city is under curfew. We have seen nothing. We have heard nothing.
3) So far this siege has left one man dead and an apartment burned.
4) The checkpoints are open. This means we can leave if we feel we need to. So far we don't see or feel that need.
5) An international volunteer was taken to the checkpoint yesterday. She has since left the area for Jerusalem.
6) We have food and water.
7) We have electricity.
8) Our neighbours are very concerned for us and have all offered anything we could need.
9) We have been phoned by 3 different people to ensure we have food and water.
10) We doubt we will teach for the rest of the week as it is believed that students are leaving the city for their villages. This siege is, therefore, costing students the opportunity to learn. They will lose at least a week of their education.

All in all don't listen or read the news as it pertains to Nablus. That is not our situation - but listen and read the news as it pertains to Nablus because this is creating great difficulties for a lot of people. There are stories of the Israeli military using human shields which was declared illegal by the Israeli supreme court. There are stories of 20 plus people being put in a single room in a home and not allowed out of the room at anytime - as the military is using the home as a base of operation. We're getting the full experience during our short time here.

Hope everyone is well.

Snow Day 2

So we're still at home. We haven't left the house since we came home from school on Saturday afternoon.

We're really not sure what is going on other than that we have been put under curfew for at least a few days.

Here's hoping it doesn't turn out like last time. In 2002 Nablus was under curfew for 100 days. People were allowed to leave their homes for 4 hours one day per week to buy food.

There was no food available because supplies were not allowed into Nablus.

Water was turned off for a few weeks.

We have food to last over a week and we've filled up empty water bottles just in case. If this seems like its going to be long term we'll just up and leave and go to Jerusalem until it blows over. We actually haven't heard any gunshots or anything. It seems relatively calm.

Because we have no stories I'll just put up some more pictures.

Two more views of Nablus taken from a speeding van. The first, we believe, was bombed at some point by Israel.





Young man at Wailing Wall. Before they would go up to the wall they would get into groups, surround a Torah(?) dance, chant, and pray. This is them in the praying phase.



A man and woman on a Jerusalem street.



A woman and her son on a Jerusalem street.

Snow Day(s?)

So we woke up this morning got dressed and were ready to leave when we received the phone call. We were told that for the second time in our month or so here that classes were canceled. We have been invaded.

We had no idea. All the action is happening in the old city which is quite a distance from us. A curfew has been imposed by an outside government and classes have been canceled indefinitely. Not good for us as we try to teach as much as we possibly can in a relatively short time frame. We were told by our hosts not to leave the house (but we've heard kids playing in our parking lot all day - our homes are very sheltered in this area) today. We have enough water and food to last a few days but because G was here we didn't do our normal weekly shopping so I might be on a diet in the next two or three days.

Hopefully classes will be held tomorrow but we're not entirely sure. We'll find out later today.

It seems that G. got out just in time.

That said since our pictures were so well received here are four more:

Swell at her desk in our office





Swell on a camel




Two guys at the Wailing wall




Moses finally reaching the promised land (at the Mediterranean)

Fun Day but Swell is Crying

So today was a nice day. We left early in the morning to drive from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. We arrived at the hotel that G was to stay at with her tour group. We were too early for her to check in so she dropped her luggage in the hold room and we went out walking. We walked along the Mediterranean and we walked and walked. We were blessed to see many a man in a speedo. Swell and G were quite excited as they laughed and turned their heads from the obese men wearing very little spandex.

We walked all the way from the hotel to Jaffa where we ran into G's tour group quite on accident. The majority of them arrived in Israel this morning and they immediately went to Jaffa. We didn't hang out with them because there isn't much to see in Jaffa and they were just going for lunch. We went for lunch on our own and then for ice cream. Quite a treat - but extremely expenisve. What it costs for Hummus here we can buy a whole meal for three in Nablus and still get change back.

With our hotel costs and our driver cost we're going to be in the poor house after this weekend. Its not a big deal because we won't leave Nablus again until its time to go to South Africa.

So we had lunch and then started our long walk home (probably about 5 km each way). We stopped at the beach, we cried over our sore legs but all in all it was a good time. G and Swell had a good cry when it was time to say goodbye. Seeing someone from home (even though they haven't seen each other in a year and a half - it's a long way from Maui to Atlanta) made Swell very homesick. She'll get over it but it was a difficult goodbye for them. Now G. gets to listen to an expert in all things Israel and bible for the next 10 days while we get to go back to work and hope that the weather begins to turn warmer.

I'll leave you with some pictures from yesterday and a question. First the question (I know the preceding sentence would indicate that the pictures would come first but I've made an executive decision and the question will come first - deal with it).

Question: "Was it in bad taste that the three of us sat in the lobby of a hotel in the heart of Tel Aviv - the biggest city in Israel - with Jewish people all around us and played pass the pig?"

Pictures:

Some of Nablus as seen through a speeding van





Old guy celebrating a Bar Mitzvah (the presumably American kids from yesterday - I think this guy was hired to lead the whole thing)





The three of us in front of Damascus gate at Old Jerusalem

Me

So today was the day to once again escape Nablus and head to Israel. This time we were to spend the day in Old Jerusalem.

I’ve been to Jerusalem before – 1999 with a group of Amigos (a student led eye care group based at Pacific University College of Optometry) and it doesn’t bring back great memories.

The first time I was in Jerusalem it was my first time out of North America and I was with a rather large group. We visited Jerusalem toward the end of our trip. The beginning of our trip was spent in a town near Bethlehem as well as the Gaza Strip doing “eye care”. (I put eye care in quotes because as I look back we weren’t really caring for the people or their eyes. Rather we were hindering the development of local, sustainable systems of eye health care all the while providing shoddy, unjust care.) Upon our arrival to Jerusalem (in 1999) one of the doctors who was on the trip with us took off on his own to see the Western Wall (the Wailing Wall) while I was forced to hang out with the large group. Our day was spent shopping - an activity that drives me crazy. I hate shopping with all of my heart. I feel guilty spending money – I’d rather use it for something else – and I have no use for cheap, gaudy souvenirs that just create clutter. I was able to see the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (where Jesus was crucified and buried – I had no idea the tomb was 20 feet from Golgotha) as well as the Via Dolorosa (the path which Jesus walked while carrying the cross). Neither impressed me that much so many years ago but I was willing to give it another shot.

So we left Nablus and went to the “easier” check stop which is on top of the mountain where the Samaritans live. We arrived at the check stop and changed cars – from the school van to our regular Israel driver – the same dude who took us to the airport last week. (He happens to speak Romanian so it’s a lot of fun. It’s as if I’m in Romania - the driver speaking Romanian, Swell and G. speaking Romanian back to him all while listening to Romanian music. I’m left sitting contemplating jumping out of the speeding car as I have no clue what is going on, just like in Romania.) We stop at the check stop where the Army dudes once again ask us many questions – this is the first time this has happened. Usually we’re just waved through. I think; “Great here we go again.” It turns out, however, that they are searching every car that leaves Nablus today. I’m not sure why they are searching all the cars but at least the Army dudes were apologetic.

During their questioning they ask G. what she was doing in Nablus. She replies: “Visiting.”. They ask: “Visiting who?” She mistakenly replies: “Them” as she nods at Swell and I.

Immediately the Army Dude asks me if we live in Nablus. I’m forced to explain that we’re just visiting the university. He forgets that G. told him she was visiting us while in Nablus and beings to lecture me on the dangers of living in Nablus pointing out that just yesterday 3 American women were kidnapped while in Nablus. He continues to explain that there is a lot of gun fire in Nablus (we haven’t heard much lately) and that the Israeli army if often entering Nablus. I know I’m not the smartest person in the world but I figure that if the Israeli army would stop entering Nablus some of the other problems might decrease if not stop but I don’t mention my logic to him. I just say we never left the University while in Nablus and that we felt very safe.

He lets us on our way and we drive to the hotel in Jerusalem.

We picked a hotel that was close to the old city so our driver drops us off and we get our room and put our stuff in it and walk over to the old city.

We enter Herod’s gate and find ourselves in the hustle and bustle of the old city of Jerusalem.

I’ll admit hear that I was raised in a very Christian family. We are far from perfect but as I grew up church played an integral part in my life. We were every Sunday we’re going to church people. We were on Christmas Eve we’ll have a cake that says “Happy Birthday Jesus” people. The whole family was active in many aspects of church life. I was at church camp every summer and Sunday school every week.

Growing up in the Church Israel was always talked about as a kind of mystic place that if you were lucky enough to visit you would feel the presence of God as you walked in the same land that Jesus walked. You would feel moved at following the Via Dolorosa because those were the same steps that Jesus took. Just stepping foot in Israel was promised to be a life changing experience.

While my faith differs drastically from the faith of the stereotypical evangelical western Christian I still feel like I should be feeling those things. I should be moved by being in the land of Abraham, Isaac and Jesus. I haven’t been to church in over a year – I don’t like church. We found one in Decatur that we kind of liked but got lazy and stopped going.

Is that why yet again I feel nothing in Jerusalem? I don’t think so. Jerusalem is like a giant shopping mall. When you enter the old city there are shops on either side. In the midst of these shops are some “holy” sights. My main goal this year was to see the Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock. Neither sight is a Christian sight but I wanted to see them, to experience them.

We wandered around and eventually came to the entrance to the Western Wall. We stopped for an early lunch and then entered through the security. Yet again, a sight in Israel that was disappointing. It was a lot smaller than I imagined. There were barriers blocking the view of the wall. I could have gone all the way up to the wall but I didn’t feel right doing it. I find it obnoxious when tourists enter areas that are important to some and do so with very little reverence or respect. I could see over the barrier and I could see the wall. I didn’t need to touch it. I didn’t need to hear the prayers. I didn’t need to experience it in that way. I’m not Jewish – that wall has no significance to me. I wanted to see it. I wanted to see the Orthodox Jews do their thing and experience it through them. I took pictures but felt guilty doing it. Is it an invasion of privacy to have to pray while hundreds of tourists gawk?

The Israelis are excavating right near the wall. Digging for something – who knows what so there is a tent covering some of the land. A very ugly wooden gang plank leads from the area in front of the wall to the area behind the wall – the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque. The gang plank is separated from the area near the wall by an ugly chain link fence. Not an impressive or awe inspiring sight.

It was still neat, however, to see some people at the wall – praying. Even neater was seeing a procession of Jews singing, and dancing as they led a young boy – soon to be man into the area for his Bar Mitzvah. He was obviously not Israeli having come from some other place – I guess the US because of his backwards baseball cap. Their was an Orthodox Jew blowing a horn while two young men played some type of drum and led the family in song and dance. The part that struck me the most was the emotion on the (I’m assuming) father’s face. Here he was in Israel with his son who was becoming a man singing in Hebrew in front of the Western Wall. He sang with tears. I watched with tears.

Even as one watches such a thing or one watches those at the wall one is unable to contemplate, to reflect too much due to the hordes of people, the cameras and the noise. It becomes something to look at. Something to check off of the list of things you’ve seen. It is hard for it to be an experience. It’s hard for it to be life changing. It just is. Most of Israel is like this. You just see. If you begin to reflect on something your reflection is soon interrupted by the call of a vendor or a large tour group muscling by you or stopping in front of you.

The Christian sights are by far the worse. They are simply hideous. The amount of gold and jewels is atrocious. This is where something of Christian importance is supposed to have happened and in true form we tarnish it with gaudy things. It loses its importance when one is distracted by the wealth that covers the sight. That gold, those jewels could have done so much in the world but instead it tarnishes what should be a place of piety, of the celebration of a humble man who forsook riches for the life of a minister. It mocks early Christianity and the call for the sharing of wealth. It disappoints as one reads about the internal fighting between the six denominations that take up the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. How much does this remind me of modern church? A lot is an understatement.

We continue to build multi-million dollar buildings complete with fountains and the finest audio-visual equipment. We do this to attract those around us. “We need to put on a show to put butts in the pews!” is the rallying cry. While we build these things, while we spend money on heating and cooling these monstrous buildings Africa dies. While we host event after event, while the barista makes the cappuccino in the church coffee shop our President fights a war in the name of God. While the pastor preaches about obtaining wealth, while the social secretary describes next months potluck real issues are ignored – poverty, injustice, hate crimes, inequity in health care, inequity in access to clean water sources. We give to our missionaries is the response. We’ve been giving to missionaries for hundreds of years – where are the results? We’re converting people! But you’re leaving them to die.

As we wandered around Jerusalem I thought back to my first visit. It was that visit – that trip in whole – that helped lead me to where I am today. I thought I was going to provide people with glasses. To be the great white saviour. They have no glasses, I’ve got a big box of recycled glasses, how could this go wrong? It went wrong when we were told that we weren’t wanted. It went wrong when the people complained that the glasses were ugly. It went wrong when I had to pull out a pair of glasses that were not correct and say this is the best we can do. Take it or leave it. It went wrong when the team questioned why people wouldn’t weep with joy when this type of care is offered.

During that trip I reflected on James 1:27 “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” (NASB)

This is the Christianity that rings true to me. To look after the orphans and widows (aids orphans, the poor, the disenfranchised, those suffering from injustice, etc.) instead of building buildings and yelling about homosexuality and bad movies we need to change government policies to reflect Christian values – these are not the values currently expressed in the church. Keeping oneself unstained by the church is impossible and is where the concept of grace comes in.

This long rambling post comes down to this – I dislike Jerusalem, I dislike the church, I want to make a difference in the world. Not necessarily a difference via religion but a difference in people’s lives. This is why we’re here. This is why we put up with the cold and the inconvenience. This is why we will go to South Africa and hope and pray that I can find a job. This is me.

Gone

We'll be gone - by choice - for the next two days. We're headed into Jerusalem to look around at the old city and then off to drop G off at her tour group. We wanted to come back late Friday but the checkpoint will be closed so we have to try to come on Saturday morning - we'll see how that goes.

I'm not sure if we'll have internet access at the hotel. If we do you'll hear from us. If we don't you'll hear from us on Saturday.

3 kidnapped Americans released in West Bank

It is very funny that the day that all of our parents phoned/emailed/sent carrier pigeons to check on us was the day that 3 Americans were kidnapped here in Nablus.

I reassured all of you parents that nothing will happen here. And I still say NOTHING WILL HAPPEN HERE to us.

These were three women (not us - hardy har har. I'm not a woman remember) who were somewhere they probably shouldn't have been and were taken. Once taken they were probably given tea or coffee (and yummy pastries) while they had a chat with their kidnappers. The kidnappers told them how hard the Palestinian life is and could they please take a pay-cut so that the An-Najah National University wouldn't go bankrupt (wait... that last part was us.).

All jokes aside the women are safe (at least we think they are. Swell is sure that they were just tossed out of a car somewhere in the West Bank because the news reports indicate that they were "released in the West Bank". She is imagining them wandering around somewhere in the West Bank unsure of where they are or how to get home. Poor women.) They are safe, we are safe. In fact today we went to school and came home. Tommorrow we'll go to school and come home. The next day HOLIDAY - we'll just stay home... no... we get to go out again but then next week we'll just stay home because we are forbidden from going anywhere. We were told that they would arrange a tour of the old city of Nablus. We were excited. Then they said "but you can't get out of the car." That is still exciting because quite frankly driving in the cars here is 100 times better than a Disney World ride. You get the same whiplash and the acceleration/deceleration that you would there. The better part is that in the cars here you also get to run over things. Cats, people, anything that gets in the way. (We actually haven't run over any living things yet but the driver did accelerate, on purpose, in the general direction of a cat. Swell cried out. I cheered. I HATE CATS!)

Don't worry. We're not worried especially for the cats.

Sorry

So I'm sorry for the previous blog's title. I thought it was "punny". Apparently all y'all thought it was in poor taste.

So after our Dead Sea/Jericho/Masada trip we went back to the hotel and had dinner (which is when we heard the happy birthday song and heard the folks talking about Winnipeg). After dinner we went back to our room and tried our hardest not too sleep.

Nicole's good friend was coming from Maui to visit us for a week. After she visits us for this week she will go on a tour of Israel with a group of Americans. Anyway her flight was supposed to land at 2:30 am. We were checking the flight information on line all night and the flight was on time.

Our driver came at about 2:00am to drive from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv to pick up G. We got to the airport right around 2:30 am. It was perfect timing. We had enough time to park the car and get to the airport as G went through passport control, customs and picked up her luggage.

Unfortunately we ended up being late and G had to sit waiting for us.

Upon arrival at the airport in Tel Aviv one has to pass through security while still in the car.

Basically some young kid looks at you and decides whether or not you're a threat to the security of the airport. Apparently Swell and I look like trouble.

Every car before us and after us passed through this security checkpoint with no trouble. We, on the other hand, were asked a bunch of questions and then told to pull over to the side of the road. Once at the side of the road we were asked the same questions:

"Why are you coming to the airport?"
"Why are you in Israel?"
"How do you know the driver?"
"How do you know each other?"
"When did you arrive in Israel?"
"What have you done while in Israel?"

Our driver, an Arab Israeli, was livid. He drives for a living. In fact he owns the company and employs many drivers who drive tourists as well as international press around. He takes great pride in being able to get into any part of Israel or Palestine there is. He takes pride in having connections within the Israeli military. He takes pride in not being stopped at checkpoints very often or for very long.

This was a personal insult to him. On top of it the young security guy spoke to him in a very demeaning and impersonal fashion. This made him even angrier. He asked to speak to the supervisor. The supervisor, apparently, treated him very well and he was somewhat calmed down. The young guy asked us all for any cell phones we might be carrying. He searched under the car's hood. He took Swell and I, one at a time, into a back room where we were made to walk through a metal detector - which I set off four or five times. I had to take my shoes off, my belt, my watch and finally was able to pass through without setting it off.

Swell made it through without any problem (the funny thing was she was wearing the same jeans she wore when she flew back from Egypt. That time she was forced to take her pants off because her buttons were setting off the metal detector.)

After a half hour delay we were finally permitted to pass through to pick up our friend.

Reading this you're probably all thinking: "A little inconvenience for the protection of a nation is not a big deal."

It's not the whole being searched thing that bothers me. It was the attitude and the disgust that was shown to us and especially our driver that got to me. He basically was treated, as he said, like an animal by the young guy. The supervisor was, as our driver said, a very nice and noble man because he treated him like a peer, like a human being.

It was funny that we were the only ones stopped. A Canadian, an American and a Arab Israeli. Not the faces of terrorism but our driver was dark enough to warrant an invasion of our privacy while tens of other cars were able to pass by with nothing but a glance from the security.

My inconvenience is nothing compared to the harsh treatment Palestinians face when they wish to cross a checkpoint. It takes some of our students 3 hours to travel home on the weekend. Without a checkpoint it would take 10 minutes. They are searched, delayed, called names, harassed all in the name of Israeli "safety". They live under the threat of arrest or retaliation if a family member is politically active or if they come across the wrong Israeli army dude at the wrong time.

They are denied health care because they are no longer able to reach the hospital in Jerusalem. They are denied the right to economic productivity and are forced to live in poverty and shame. Depression is rampant, yet these are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. They are proud to be Palestinian even though the world tells them they are not Palestinian. The world tells them that their Nationality is made up. That in the late 1940s when Israel was re-founded nobody lived on this land. Their grandfathers would be surprised to know that they were nobodies.

Do I have a solution to their problems? No. The only thing I can do is experience some of their experiences and feel a small amount of their pain.

Our students laughed with great joyous laughter when I showed up late to class on Saturday.

My excuse: "I was stuck at the checkpoint."

Finally someone from elsewhere could see what it was like. To feel a small amount of the inconvenience, to feel the worry of being late despite leaving on time. To wonder if they will get through to their destination today.

The checkpoint that made me late to class on Saturday is a large checkpoint just before Nablus. Our driver is not allowed into Nablus without special permission on Fridays and Saturdays. What would an Israeli want to do in the occupied territories on the Sabbath is the thought. The answer for me - perhaps show some love and compassion? My thought is not the thought of the Israelis so our driver could bring us to the edge of the checkpoint but no further. While waiting for someone from the other side to experience the humiliation of a checkpoint to come and get us and bring us through to our next driver the army dudes took great interest in us.

We were asked:
"What could you possibly want to do in Nablus today?"

My answer - "None of your business." but in actuality I just stared at him. He eventually relented and let us pass through - not by car but on foot. We had the absolute privilege (and I truly mean this) of walking (in my mind in solidarity) with the Palestinians across an Israeli checkpoint.

The only difference is we didn't have to lug our bags with ourselves. We had some guy with a cart take them through the checkpoint and load them into our next van.

It was an amazing weekend that was thoroughly enjoyable. Difficult but enjoyable.

If you read this and it angers you to no end because I'm a Palestinian sympathizer state your case. I can only write what I see, how I feel and what I experience.

This is my second time here and both times I've been around Palestinians who have been treated harshly and unfairly - for the safety of Israel. My thoughts are my thoughts - they are what I experience tainted by my philosophical views. I am open to change but my life experience seems to ingrain my philosophies deeper rather than change them.

Now we're back at school. Teaching, living, laughing and to some degree crying. In a few weeks we go to the other land of Apartheid - South Africa and we'll see what that country, that conference, has to offer and how it will change our lives.

In the pursuit of peace, love, and justice.

Lowest Point of our Lives

As all y'all should remember this was the weekend we were allowed to escape the poverty, overwhelming cold, and slight boredom that we had been experiencing in Nablus for the past 3 weeks.

We are absolutely amazed that we've only been here for three weeks. It seems much longer than that.

So on Thursday we visited Tel Aviv and saw Jerusalem (the old city) from afar. It was a miserable cold and rainy day so doing much outside of the car was not an option. We drove up the Mount of Olives where swell saw her first olive tree and she wept at the beauty and yumminess of it's bounty.

Following our rainy drive we were taken to Jerusalem Mall where we wandered around for a couple of hours and Swell was able to pick up a few "necessities" mugs, a milk frother, a pillow and other things. The mall was a mall.

Driving into Tel Aviv and parts of Jerusalem is like driving into Anytown, USA and visiting the mall was like visiting Anytown Shopping Center in the USA - except I felt for some reason that that the Jerusalem Mall attracted slightly sluttier customers. Perhaps I've been out of the USA for too long and I'm short changing the plethora of slutty dressers there. My apologies if I've under-remembered the sluttiness of the USA.

Anyway our first day of freedom was fun but not all that exciting. It was wet and cold but nice to see new things. Our next day promised to be fun filled but we were unexpectedly hit with the lowest point we will probably ever experience.

We were picked up by a very nice driver and taken toward the Dead Sea. Our first stop was to be Masada - a very cool old fortress that was the last stand for the Israeli's when they were conquered by Rome. There were a great many relics of rooms and baths. They showed were the wall was breached by the Romans. It was just neat to see a part of Israel of which I was unaware. It was also neat to see the Dead Sea from atop the Masada mountain and looking across the sea and through the haze we could see Jordan.

It was on our drive to Masada that we reached what will probably be our lowest point.

That's right we drove right through the lowest point on Earth. It was great. We were further below sea level than one can be without getting wet.

It was kind of cool.

When we reached Masada we took a cable car up to the top and looked around for an hour or so.

After that we hopped back in the car and stopped at the dead sea. It was cold and both Swell and I were sans bathing suit so we just looked at the sea and Swell looked for rocks. I was happy that by not going in the water I can continue my great quest. Not many people have a quest like mine. It is my life goal to get as close to as many bodies of water as possible without actually getting wet. So far I'm doing alright. The Pacific ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean, Dead sea and countless lakes and rivers. I should keep better track. It would make for an impressive conversation.

Following the Dead Sea we went to Jericho. After a very long and annoying wait at the Jericho check point (Jericho is Palestine, we were in Israel) we finally made it into Jericho and went to the Mountain were Christ fasted for 40 days and was tempted. I found it ironic that at the top of this cable car where Jesus himself fasted for 40 days the main attraction is... of course... a restaurant. We sat and ate and looked out over Jericho and talked to our driver about how hard it is for him to enjoy himself when he knows that below us lay a city - the oldest city in the world - that is being absolutely destroyed by the Israelis. Tour buses no longer go into Jericho as there is now a ring road around the city. The checkpoints make it difficult to get in. Israel does not allow produce grown in the lush Jericho valley to be sold outside of its borders. Jericho went from having a vast economy to the poorest city in the West Bank all due to the actions of a foreign country on the transit of goods and people. No employment, bombed out buildings, rude checkpoint guards who closed the checkpoint for 20 minutes or so while we were there - just because. It was disgusting, educational, but at the same time enjoyable.

We have been told more than once this weekend about a lack of respect shown to Arab people. About being treated like animals instead of people. Being talked down to instead of being spoken to.

We were soon too experience the life of a Palestinian, the humiliation, the distrust just because you don't carry an Israeli passport, the Israelis would soon steal our time, and create in us a sense of anger that was not there to being with. All because we were to pick up a friend from the airport and our driver had dark skin.

I'll write more about that tomorrow after I reflect on it a bit more.

I'll leave you with the fact that the people talk about the ungodly winters in Winnipeg everywhere - even in Israel and you may overhear people talk about how no living thing should be able to survive the harsh hinterland that is Manitoba. I listened with glee and thought to myself: "Canadians are hardy folk with nary a complaint about the weather. Rather than complain about how cold it is they just go to the local 7-11 or Macs store and get a slurpee. Drinking the frosty drink with the winter wind howling around them. Not a care in the world. I, for one, am proud to be a Canadian."

I'll also leave you with the question: Have you ever heard "Happy Birthday" sung in such a way that you were in awe of the singing and the whole restaurant would gasp in unison at the beauty of 12-15 men singing happy birthday in Spanish? We have. A group of priests were dining in our hotel restaurant and we were truly in awe of the beauty of them singing happy birthday. It sounded like a group of monks chanting a beautiful prayer. Amazing.

Released

So today was our parole day. We were finally released from the prison that is Nablus. Upon our release I was forced to reflect on all of the other prisoners.

You see we were driven through the city of Nablus by a very kind man who is one of our regular drivers he took us as far as a checkpoint - he could go no further. We had to get into another car that would take us around today. It was nice to leave the city of Nablus and see other sites but it upset me quite some bit to realize that a whole population are not able to travel freely. I am sure a great many of them have never been beyond the Nablus city limits let alone out of Palestine. It is very sad.

Sadder yet was seeing all of the freedoms in Israel. We saw so many stores full of so much stuff. Food, goods, etc. All of which is beyond the reach of the Palestinians.

We drove from Nablus to Tel Aviv where we were met with the first set back of "parole day". We were dropped on the side of the road for a nice romantic walk along the beach (the Mediterranean) as soon as we stepped out of the car we were hit by a very strong and cold wind. Not too bad we thought to ourselves. We are dressed warm and can stand the cold for a short while. So we walked out onto the beach and stuck our fingers in the Mediterranean. The wind was continuing to gust and with sand blowing in our eyes we decided to head back to the paved path. Mere minutes later we started to feel drops. A few minutes after that we were trapped in a major storm. Hail, rain, wind. We were to meet the car that dropped us off at the end of our walk so we had no choice but to continue. So cold. So wet.

The day didn't get much nicer weather wise but we were able to enjoy a few sites.

Which I'll write about tomorrow as it is now bed time and we are tired.

There's not much to tell as we were unable to see any sites other than through a car window due to the weather and lack of time so don't hold your breath.

Recipes?

I need the recipe for creamed cauliflower from someone in Edmonton. Anyone else with a good veggie recipe, forward it my way. We need some ideas that involve the things we can get here (like onions, potatoes, peppers, cauliflower, garlic, cucumbers, tomatoes (sheepie's allergic to those), zucchini, avocados). I just can't think of stuff to make that is simple with just lots of veggies. Oh, there is no cheddar cheese here that I found yet, but maybe when we go away to Jerusalem. And there's yummy 9% fat yogurt that I devour. We got milk in a box today. It was on the shelf; I had to ask where it was because I couldn't find it in the fridge.

swell

Strange day

A strange day today. It all started with a noticeable warming last night. It was much warmer in our home than it had been for quite some time. (The warmth was very much gone by the am and we could once again see our breath in our home).

We got to school and everything proceeded as normal. Our dean soon left ill, however and isn't expected back until next week - we only see her sporadically now as she is a very, very busy woman. That's not really a problem for us but it is strange that we are there more than she is.

Swell soon had lecture - she lectures from 9:30 to 12:30 but throws in a 30 minute break at 11:00 as the students are guaranteed a 15 minute break every hour. So she breaks at 10:55 and we eat some lunch (not a very good lunch if you have to know - stale pita bread, some un-identifiable lunch meat and water). At 11:20 as she gets ready to go back down to her class she is informed that the university has canceled all classes from 11:30 to 1:30 so that students could attend a protest or festival or have an extended lunch or something - we were never entirely sure and the reason seemed to change constantly. Was she ever mad. MAD. She was so angry it was actually funny. She was mostly angry, I believe, because nobody told her in advance and had she known she would not have given the students a break at 11. She would have lectured until 11:30 and ended class at that time. As it was she was short-changed an hour of much needed lecture time but was able to convince the students to return at 1 for their regularly scheduled lab.

During her unscheduled time away from class the power in the building flickered on and off for a few minutes for unknown reasons. At some point in the day some guy walks into my office and says something about a computer in Arabic - I understood him enough to get from it - I have a similar computer does the internet work? I figure he was asking because when the power went out the internet went out. I start to answer in English and he stops and asks if I speak Arabic. I figure; "Here we go." But it turns out not only does he know English but he actually lives in Savannah, GA and has so for the past 20 years. He is teaching Organic Chemistry and arrived two weeks ago. His question was really; "Why doesn't my computer work?" I showed him what the computer guy did to my computer and he goes off to try to fix his. (He later returns with his computer and asks for my help - I know nothing about computers but was willing to give it a whirl. Luckily at that very moment Swell say the computer dude in the hallway so he came in and fixed this guy's computer)

We get home and our internet has been acting very strange. It just up and quits sporadically for varying periods of time.

Something strange is afoot. I had a regular work day and didn't accomplish much at all. I was able to get tomorrow's "Environmental Optometry" class prepared - I get to teach about light and lighting a topic I find extremely.... boring. I'm sure my students will feel likewise.

For those of you hoping and wishing that our pay would, in fact, be less than we were promised so that we would have to go home - sorry. Long story short. The guy we were talking to isn't involved in that area of the university and was speaking out of turn. We knew it would work out.

This weekend we go to Jerusalem, Jericho and Tel Aviv. Hope to see some good things. On Saturday we pick someone up from the airport and then she will stay with us for a week before a whirlwind tour of Israel with a group of Americans. We're looking forward to the company and hopeful that another body in the house will get us above freezing.

Sorry for the boring update but I'm not in much of a writing mood.

Hope everyone is well.

Most of you probably won't understand this post

Tough.

My jaw hit the floor today. One of the classes Swell and I are in charge of is third year "procedures". I ended up in charge of this one. Basically it is my job to teach THIRD YEAR optometry students how to refract (find a glasses prescription), in addition I am to teach some magic tests optometrists do to determine the status of a patient's binocular vision from which a plethora of treatment options arise. After I teach them that I am suppossed to teach them how to do visual fields (Tangent screen baby! for those who are already confused when I say: "Tangent screen baby!" read "1855 technology baby!" and when I say "technology" read a "black sheet hanging from a wall baby!") Following perimetry (visual field testing) I am supposed to teach them how to use a slit lamp (the light that the optometrist uses to look at the health of your eye - you know when they say: "Look at my ear" and if you're my patient you say: "I can't see your ear" and I say: "That's becuase i) I don't own a comb ii) I cut my hair every 6 months and iii) shut up")

So back to the point of this post. I spent the last two weeks teaching the students a large portion of the distance refraction sequence (finding the glasses one would need for clear distance vision). There was a lot of confusion during this teaching but I thought I cleared it all up.

Today we started the lab portion of this class. I was told that the students knew how to do retinosopy (an objective test that allows the optometrist to figure out the prescription) so I just touched on retinoscopy in lecture. Basically this is retinoscopy and remember you do this and this.

No one mentioned any confusion on that part of lecture. They mentioned confusion on much of the rest of my lectures but not on retinoscopy.

So in the lab portion of the class they were to do retinoscopy on a patient and then 5 other "sphere" tests (what the heck I'll list them here for all of you to know: Bichrome, MSBVA, Equalization, Maximum Plus to 20/20, BSBVA - now you've learned something)

Well I say: "do these things and hand in your sheet when you're done."

Nobody moves. Not a soul. They just stand there staring at each other. Then the questions begin.

"When we're doing the right eye retinoscopy the left eye is occluded right?"

"NO!"

"We just find neutral right."

"NO, please find against in all meridians and then neutralize."

Now I know this is not making sense to the majority of you but suffice it to say these kids are clueless. They haven't an idea about any optometric procedures. They have a small amount of theoretical knowledge but know nothing about the practical aspect of optometry.

We didn't even get through retinoscopy today let alone the other 5 tests. I know have had to scrap the whole idea of going forward with astigmatism testing and revert to at least a week on retinoscopy. I am never going to get through this material.

When I see them again on Monday they will be told that for the rest of the semester they will live and breathe Refraction. If they can't do a complete refractive exam and slit lamp exam within 2 hours by the end of the semester I will consider my time here a failure.

I should have had some idea at how behind these kids were when on the fist day I was asked: "What does OU mean?" (OU means both eyes - something that they should have learned day one.)

Swell is laughing at me because she was faced with similar problems during her "review" of contact lens I with the same students. She is to teach complex contact lens fitting but during her review found out that they don't even know how to vertex correct (determine a contact lens prescription from an eyeglass prescription - which should have been covered in contact lens I).

*sigh.

Wish us luck.

Our First Invitation

Today was a day of firsts. It was the first day that we were invited to a neighbours house for cake and coffee.

Our neighbour - not really a neighbour - they live a couple of buildings down but in the same complex - invited us over for coffee. They phoned at 6:30 pm and we were suppossed to there at 7:30 pm. Not much notice but I guess that is how things are done here. We accepted - well Swell accepted because I let her answer the phone - never again will she answer the phone. I hate going over to people's homes. In fact I hate talking to people and would prefer that people would leave me alone. I'm not saying all people - just everyone but Swell and our families. The rest of you I can live without.

Now don't get upset. It's not you. It's me. You see somewhere during my upbringing I grew to dislike social situations. I was deathly shy growing up and am still shy to some extent. I can stand up in front of thousands of people and speak but put me in a group of five people and I cringe. It's a genetic thing I think. So I'd prefer to stay at home and just be by myself.

Anyway we went over and had a pleasent time. A very nice family. The Dad is the University Vice President and actually founded the Optometry faculty (he's a chemist but he thought there was a need so he put together all the appropriate paper work, curriculum, etc. and was the first dean of the school - last year he found the current dean and gladly gave the position to her as optometry is, obviously, not his forte.) The Mum graduated from An-Najah university years ago with a art degree (and can bake a mean cake) and the youngest son is in year four of his five year computer engineering degree. The eldest son is away in England studying for his PhD in computer engineering. It was a nice time except:

We recived our first invitation to stay on after this semester. It only took two weeks. The set up the invitation quite nicely. They went on and on about how the university is now the premier university in Palestine but that they are having serious difficulties attracting qualified faculty. Computer engineering only has 3 faculty. Optometry really only has one. The students are hard done by. They are poor and deal with great pains to pay for their education and even getting to school is very difficult for them. That the optometry students are some of the finest students in the land. And so on and so on. Then the invitation occurred. It was funny.

Funnier yet is when he talked to us about our salary. He mentioned that I was going to get X dollars and Swell was going to get Y dollars. Not surprisingly X > Y. Well Swell looked shocked. So the man became very concerned that he had just insulted her and went on and on about how I'm getting more because I have a masters degree.

Well she wasn't shocked that I was making more (FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OUR MARRIAGE - good thing I'm comfortable with my manhood). She was shocked because the numbers he said were half of what we were promised before we left. Needless to say there will be a discussion with our dean tomorrow. Funnier yet was that he phoned when we got home to ensure me that he would speak with the president to equalize our pay. NOT the concern. If we don't get what we were promised I don't think we can feasibly stay. On paper it just worked out that we wouldn't go broke here. At best we would break even (expenses = income) and we wouldn't have to hit our savings. At worst we would be able to pay all of our major bills with our income and live off of the savings. With our mortgage (anyone want to rent out a beautiful fully furnished condo in Atlanta?), and our student loans... we can't work for free. Those are really our only bills so we don't demand a lot but we do need to avoid missing payments.

Oh, well. It will work out.

We survived a coffee invitation (I had to drink tea - YUCK!!! but didn't have to drink coffee - which would have killed me) but have been pre-invited to dinner at a later date. Yippee!

Anyway. Tomorrow starts our third week of school. We have the classes we've taught for two weeks now but will also start some labs. We're getting busier but we're still doing well.

It's been a month

So we left home a month ago. It seems like a year. We left the comfort of a very expensive, very nice condo to explore the world unknown. We left jobs that paid us very well for a job that will hopefully keep us afloat financially. We left a culture we understood for a culture we don't. We left our car, our television, our comfortable bed and our heat. What have we learned in the month we've been gone and the two weeks we've been in Nablus?

1) Heat is nice. You don't miss it until it's gone.
2) A dryer is nice - without one you wash your clothes but you can't wear them for two or three more days.
3) If you put speed bumps on all the major roads all that it does is make the drivers speed from bump to bump - slamming on the brakes at the last possible moment and then accelerating at break neck speed until they get to the next bump.
4) If you block intersections to prevent U-Turns all it does is make the drivers U-Turn over the curb.
5) Freedom is nice. I don't like having to call someone every time I want to go to the store, or out for lunch.
6) The people here are overly kind, and overly generous. They will share with you their last shekel. They will buy you lunch, desert, serve you coffee or tea and don't take no for an answer - even when you know you have more money than they do.
7) The Israeli checkpoints are hindering Palestinian student's right to an education - often preventing them from getting to school for poor or no reasons.
8) I really don't miss seeing patients.
9) Some members of our families are concerned enough about our welfare to check on us. Others - not so much ;)
10) Buying an airplane ticket from Tel Aviv to Durban, South Africa is i) expensive and ii) a very long, long flight. Five hours from Tel Aviv to Paris (YUCK - I hate the Paris airport), 11 hours from Paris to Johannesburg and then a little bit over an hour to get to Durban. All told slightly over 20 hours to get their and about 24 to get back. Should be fun.

We've learned other things but I think 10 is a nice number and will leave it at that.

Lazy day today as Swell points out in the post following this one. We only worked for a couple of hours but will have to bite the bullet and really get to work tomorrow. Beyond planning classes I really need to work on writing my paper - I worked on it all day on Tuesday and will do some more on Sunday. I was also encouraged to write a little something about our time here and try to get it published so I should start jotting some thoughts down.

All in all we're very content - albeit cold - and very happy to be here. We've taken to teaching, although we have yet to see if our students have taken to learning. I handed out an assignment that will be due on Wednesday so we'll see if they understood any of the last two weeks.

Hope all of our readers are doing well.

Send some warmth our way!

Well, it is still freezing. It's not bad when we are sleeping, but getting up in the am at 6:00 really sucks when it is so cold. You just want to stay in bed because that is the warmest place. Even in the hot shower you cannot get warm! Good thing I like hot drinks (poor Sheepie doesn't). I just sip on a Tim Horton's cappucino or tea every 3 hours or so. Our portable heaters work well though, and we are warm when we are just sitting here. It is just impossible to want to do anything else but sit here on the couch on our computers. We had to re-arrange our living space due to the phone plug-in suddenly breaking in the "living room"; so now we are in the "dining room", but it is all just one huge space. We're thinking about moving our entire furniture/rug/computers to a spare room so we can heat it better with our portable heaters. One bonus about being so cold... Sheepie is literally doing all the cooking/cleaning! He's been making some yummy meals and I'm greatful.

Today we were to go do our usual food shopping. We went to the biggest supermarket they have and spend too much money on groceries. I think the biggest supermarket is also the most expensive. We will ask to go to a smaller one next time. They were out of pita bread (or didn't get get their shippment), so we had some guy translate to our driver (sucks when you can't communicate with your driver) to take us to get bread. He took us to a bakery! We got HOT pita bread, right out of the oven. I, of course, had to get other stuff while there: 4 pizzas (2 cheese, 2 egg!), sliced bread, and a traditional big sweet bread. YUM! That only cost us 11 sheckels (about $3). So that really proved to us that we are shopping the wrong way. We need to hit these specialty stores for everything...cheaper and better stuff. But that would take a whole day to just shop!

After the bread shop, the driver stopped somewhere and said, "Come! Please come!" (He speaks a little bit of english that he picked up along the way). We ended up at his apartment, where we were greeted by like 7 kids and his mom (?) and wife was a little shy. The older lady made tea for me (sorry Sheepie, you don't like hot drinks!) and they just introduced all the kids to us. From what we gathered he has 5 kids, the rest live there but are cousins I think. They were adorable kids and so shy. The older ones knew a little bit of English and that was fun.

Then we went to go pick up a cleaning crew... We were told to "Please come!" again and saw a castle that was built in 1890 or something. It had 40 FREEZING rooms. The school rents it from the owners and they hope to make a museum there and maybe a recidence for the school to use. And offices for restoring stuff. That was a nice surprise.

Then we dropped up the cleaning crew at the school and finally went home. Long shopping trip for us.

We hope to get lots of work done, but we are lazy today.

swell

Surprise Day Off

Yesterday was a terrible day for Swell. She was very unhappy. I guess I started the unhappiness. We have been quite far behind in getting our notes ready for the classes we teach. We are often printing and photocopying them minutes before class starts.

Yesterday was that kind of day. I had finished my notes over the weekend and had them up and ready on the computer that is hooked to the printer. The bad thing was that the woman who works in the office that contains the printer was a touch late. So we had to wait, and wait, and wait. As soon as she arrived and turned everything on I tried to print my notes. No luck. Something was wrong. I'm no computer expert but I can usually figure some things out. When the error messages are written in Arabic it becomes a little bit more difficult to figure out exactly what is going on.

We called the computer guy. He fixed the connection and my notes were printing. Soon I had them photocopied and stapled but I had to run down to class and got there just in time to start lecture. (I'm ahead in all of my notes now so this shouldn't happen anymore). So Swell was stressing out for me and then saw me when I came back from that first class.

I came back shaking my head. These students - and I know optometry is different here and that they've had a rough go of it - really need a swift kick. All I see is blank stares as I lecture. I had enough so I asked what was going on. The only reply that I got was that they are not used to so much detail. TOUGH! You're in University, get used to it.

I see no way around presenting detail. If you have a patient in your chair and you see reduntant tissue aligned with a Dentate Process and it is located superior nasal you need to know that you don't need to rush them to the hospital. You need to know that this is found in a large percentage of people. You need to know that the risk of retinal detachement increases if the fold is found temporally and is large (covering process and bay). I can't just show you a picture and say this is a meridional fold - you need to know about it and what to do.

So I was shaking my head because they are overwhelmed (I've told them numberous times that they shouldn't understand everything when they leave lecture. They need to go home and read their notes. They need to go to the library and look at books.)

So that made Swell a little bit more angry. I then went to my next class. Teaching the same students procedures. They are so far behind it is scary. They have some knowledge but it is scattered and they don't know how to apply it to optometry. I got through about half of what I wanted to. Oh well.

Anyway after that class Swell had to go to her class where she was told that she is giving too many notes. "6 pages a day means that we get 18 pages a week. That's too much." Little do they know. They should see what we got.

She went downhill from there. "What are we doing here, etc. etc." She's better today because I told her its not her responsibility to condense the notes into bite size pieces. The students need to study. They need to determine how it is best for them to learn this information. 6 pages of notes is not a lot. I don't think the students are used to going home and reading and studying to learn. I think they're used to just getting it in lecture and knowing enough to pass their tests. We'll see how this week goes.

Today, Sunday, we got up at our regular 6 am time. Swell had a shower and we made breakfast. At 7:40 am our driver arrives to take us to school. He picks us up as well as the vice president of the University. We drive a few feet to the end of the parking lot where the vice president lives and wait 10 minutes. He never comes out of his house. The driver phones someone and then hands me the phone. We are told: "No lecture today." I say: "Yes, no lecture today (because on Sunday's we don't have class we just do preparation for future classes)." The guy on the other end of the phone says: "No University today." I say: "Oh..." and the driver takes us home.

We immediatly go onto the internet to find out what is going on.

Nablus - Ma'an - On Saturday the Hamas movement in Nablus announced that several of its members and supporters were attacked by gunmen, whom the movement described as "night militias." The assaults since yesterday are as follows:

1- Shooting at the house of the Palestinian Legislative Council member, Dawood Abu Seir, and an attempt to abduct him.
2- Shooting at the house of Dr Muhammad Sleiby and an attempt to abduct him.
3- Attempts to set alight the "change and reform" bloc's (Hamas) offices.
4- Abduction of Fayiz Al-Bishtawi from his work.
5- Abduction of Dr Khadir Sunduq, dean of Islamic religion at An-Najah University.

From: (http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=19199)

We say, in unision: "Oh...". Swell shouted: "SNOW DAY!" And then we went back to bed.

We're not sure why the Palestinians are being so stupid. We hope that they stop killing each other soon. The Dean of Islamic religon has been released already and we haven't seen or heard anything out of the ordinary. Strange day but we're getting some work done while at home.

'Till next time.

The end of week 1

So today is Thursday - the first day of our weekend. It's around noon here and we haven't really acomplished much today. In the next hour or so we'll start working on getting some lectures ready. Our goal is to work really hard to get well ahead on the lecture front to give us some breathing room. As it stands now the hour before class we're busy printing, photocopying, collating, and stapling notes. We then run down to the classroom and hope the computer and the projector will actually communicate with each other.

Swell's computer isn't able to be used with the projector as they don't have the right cord available for it so she uses mine. This becomes difficult when she creates gigantic files that need to be transferred to my computer. Hopefully she'll start making smaller, more friendly files this week forward.

We don't have much to say. We're living pretty boring lives right now. We get up at 6 in the morning get ready go to school for 8 and then lecture/work on lectures until 3pm. We then come home - often stopping at the supermarket to buy food/supplies - and work some more and/or watch Freaks and Geeks. Not an exciting life but we're enjoying it.

We did spend a few hours yesterday putting a selection of our Egpyt photos up for all y'all to enjoy. (http://picasaweb.google.com/xmattodx double click on the first photo to make them bigger and then you can scroll through them. I don't suggest doing slide show) I'll try to write out some stories behind the photos later today. Now - I need to eat and get to work on next weeks lectures. But before then while we were on our Nile cruise the cleaning staff would make towel designs on our beds. They made a flower, cobra and other things. We could identify all of them but this one:




What is this? Please guess away.

Bottom line of the above post: We're still safe but we're freezing to death.