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.