2 posts tagged “falafel”
i managed to go out today. rule of thumb: if your security officer places you under house-arrest then pisses off back to jerusalem you can generally do what you had already planned on doing.
we went to three schools in the middle areas (deir al balah and bureij) is was good to go back out in the field. to meet with people, to chat. so much gets done over a cup of coffee, its one of my favourite things about here. it can be frustrating at first, but its just a different way of operating, you just have to adjust and then its amazing. you sit and have coffee with someone and they appreciate it so much, then you are friends, then you can speak frankly, then you don't have to keep up these facades of 'everything is okay' cause everything is not okay.
its a sad, sad day when one of the standard questions on a school evaluation form is: 'how many days/hours have been lost to military activity in the area?' even worse is when you can't find a single installation that hasn't been affected.
i also got to visit a health centre, that was very interesting since i have never really toured one before, and the doctor at the facility that we visited was fantastic! and he was so happy about the follow up from a previous visit and that things had actually been done. but its horrible to sit there listening to this man who is so educated who received his medical degree in the states, who has worked all over america and saudi arabia and is now trapped in gaza. this man who has spent far more years in higher education than myself, someone who has helped so many more people. and he is asking us if he can have a budget, just a small one of USD 1000 or so, so that he can buy things like a cordless phone so that he doesn't have to run back to his office everytime the phone rings - because it is the only phone in the entire health facility that serves 65,000 refugees. this amazing man who is asking if he can have a petty cash allowance so that he can get a map of the health centres operational area framed so that all staff know what areas are and are not covered.
it is absolutely humbling.
it is also the best incentive that i have ever had to do something and to make even more of an effort to make a difference.
i also took care of some administrative stuff today. the world revolves around admin, it really is the sad sad truth. and they gym, thank god for a gym! its the only exercise that i get and the only thing that separates me from a blob. it is also one of the few things that keeps me from going stark raving mad!
and abu hani surprised us with fresh falafel and fresh bread. it was sooo yummy! that is one of the few things about the region that i will never tire of: falafel, hummous, and khobz (pita bread) - it is so divinely delicious, and they really know how to make it here. i have been spoiled, i will never be able to eat any other hummous ever again.
and i took some pictures. just a few. its difficult to not feel like you are intruding as you try to get that perfect shot. i think its a skill far greater than the technicalities of the camera, its a skill to be unobtrusive and encouraging of trust so that people continue to do whatever you're trying to get a picture of.
i'll try to post them - at least one - once i figure out all of the cords that connect between the camera and the computer - there is a particularly great one of a dirty little boy with the biggest grin on his face.
and now i am off to scrounge up dinner - i managed to go through tonnes of tomatoes yesterday - not really, but it felt like it! i made a creamy tomato soup, which was an adventure since i sort of took three different recipes, took the bits and pieces that i liked and combined them. it turned out well, i'm still walking and talking! and i made some red pasta sauce, which might be interesting cause i tipped in a bit more red wine than intended, but it tastes okay, we'll just have to see what the after affects are!
you should all read this site: http://theglobalbuzz.typepad.com/ where I am also posting. there are little bit more insightful, where as this tends to just be me rambling about what ever happens to be on my mind at the time :)
today was another fantastic day in Jerusalem. My life is full of oddities, but I don't think that I could survive otherwise. The day started with us trying to go and see al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Let me tell you that this trip had been three days in the making!!! The whole complex had been closed for Eid al-Fitr. And if we had not been persistent we definitely would not have gotten their today either!
The saga begins: in my guide book it says that the complex is open from 07:30-11:30 and 13:30-14:30. So, we planned an early-ish morning, leaving at 09:30. Well, luckily I phoned before we left, because while it was open today, the hours had mysteriously changed from 07:30-11:30 to 07:30-10:00 and 12:30-13:30. Well, after explaining to the man on the phone that I was really unhappy about this (bear in mind this is three days of frustration being let out) we planned to leave at 12:00 to maximise our time there. Well, we got there at 12:35. We went to Chain gate, because that is where we were told that we could enter, only to be told by several Israeli police officers that it was closed.
At this point I admit that I was probably a bit reckless, but I decided that enough was enough and I was truly sick and tired of the Israeli's pushing us around. I pointed to my watch said its 12:30 and I was told that the complex was open today, and that the afternoon session was from 12:30-13:00. To everyone else: it is probably not wise to yell at the heavily armed Israeli police who stand outside the entrance to the entrance to the complex. But I was sick and tired of them. They did look a little taken-back and eventually relented that actually it was open but we couldn't enter here and had to go in another way. No directions were forthcoming. So I asked. Eventually someone managed to decide how to get there.
To enter the complex one had to go through the Western Wall area, at least that was the decision today. So, we back tracked, walked back to the entrance to the Western Wall, passed through the security and asked - again - exactly how we were supposed to get through, since its pretty well sealed off. We had to cross the Western Wall plaza, exit through security, then go through security on the other side of the fence through a tunneled in wooden structure. Upon entering this security we were asked where we were from. We then had to walk through this whole tunnel-esque structure - a bit like the Erez crossing in that I felt like we could be picked off at any moment. Have I mentioned the riot police and IDF presence?? It reminded me a bit of all of the police at a Chelsea match, except instead of being friendly and approachable in their neon yellow vests, everyone was in khaki uniforms, heavy anti-riot gear, and toting at least two weapons a piece.
Finally, though, we were in! I have never before seen something so magnificent. The architecture and history are amazing! To be standing there on those stones that are millenia old. But even more than that, simply the feeling of being there. Its like a little slice of calm in the middle of the bustling suq. The atmosphere in the complex was lovely. It felt welcoming and the tension from trying to navigate all of the security check points was gone. There were families everywhere, picnicking in the shade of the olives and firs, sitting in the shade of the dome. The boys running around playing football, the girls running around playing make-believe games that entertain you so much at that age. It was fantastic. It was a bit like being somewhere normal. Just seeing all of those people together, enjoying this space, this historic, religious space was wonderful. It didn't resemble the austere decorum required of one when visiting a church. It was a place for living, with everyone enjoying the area.
It was so lovely.
And then came the odd experience for the day. We met up with two friends of S's and went out to lunch. We mentioned that we liked falafel - which elicited some groans from the two men, who are Palestinians living in East Jerusalem. Anyway, off we trek to what is supposed to be this great falafel place. Where is it you may wonder? We pass through the Old City, through West Jerusalem, out and out to modern Jerusalem. To the very Jewish area that houses all of the government buildings. And we stop. We're having lunch at a restaurant inside the Israeli ministry of finance. Two Palestinian Arab's and two girls who work for the UN in Gaza.
I felt like I had 'imposter' or 'enemy' written on my shirt!! Not that people really stared - I think it was mostly in my head. But I spent lunch today in an Israeli government building, discussing my life in Gaza....I was seriously waiting to be arrested, thank God it was only the ministry of finance!
