4 posts tagged “work”
you know what i miss? a lot? milk. there's no fresh dairy products here. well, thats sort of a lie. you can get goats and sheeps milk and cheese. but i like cows milk. and since there are no cows in the strip, there is no milk. and that long life stuff is just not the same. steph brought me back some cereal from the px (which is a whole other story in and of itself) and i was all happy to sit down and have a bowl for dinner, when i suddenly realised that i had no milk. well, no, i had that horrid long life stuff. i tried. i really tried. but part of the job of having a bowl of cereal for dinner is drinking the milk afterwards.
so, that is being added to the list of things i miss. and that i am so going to over indulge on when i am back in the uk. yup, i just bought my ticket, i am coming back to visit over independence day weekend. nope, that would be palestine's indepedence day weekend. its a long story. just read here, it'll make a bit more sense: http://www.counterpunch.org/boyle1108.html thank you to my mother for doing the leg work on that one.
so yes, i have some time off coming my way. which will be nice. its not that gaza is bad, its that not being able to move freely is lame. and as much as i whine and complain about it, its not anything like what the palestinians in gaza have to deal with. i was talking to one of my co-workers. she grew up in saudi arabia, and her family moved to gaza in 1998. she hasn't left the strip since. not because she doesn't want to. she's educated (with a university degree in business administration) and has no intention of getting married until she's done something with her life. its so fantastic to talk with her, she's an average palestinian, and she's just like most other girls my age in the rest of the world. its important to remember that. just because someone lives here does not make them the enemy or some kind of a pity case. these are tough people who have taken care of themselves for so long because no one else could be bothered to help them. they are entitled to be a bit bitter after all that they have gone through. it still amazes me how much hope there is here.
anyway, my flight is with el al, which should prove interesting. they have amazing security. i cannot wait to check it out. but at the same time i am a bit nervous to see how they treat me with my erez stamps in one passport and my lebanese and syrian visas in the other. nothing quite like being an enemy of the state to see how the other half live.
sorry this is being a bit sporadic and all over the place, but as previously mentioned its been a long week. a long and productive week, but long none-the-less. i ended up going into work today for a few hours. it was not my intention, but when something happens things have to get done. there was an incident yesterday where the idf blew a great big hole (there are really no technical terms for that) in the wall of one of our classrooms. luckily the school had been evacuated. so we're of course filing a complaint and the press want to know whats going on. my colleague is taking the weekend off - deservedly so. but could not access the pictures which are only available on our internal system. so i had to make a quick trip into the office to take care of that. and then once i was there there was all sorts of other stuff to do.
but, its kind of good because now our spokesperson owes me dinner and drink and things i am a complete angel. and i helped make a good story even more compelling with the addition of pictures. so alls well that ends well. i also made another trip to the gym, so while i am exhausted i also feel a bit contented, even if i did slightly over do it. who knows? i might well leave gaza in better shape than i came. at least physically.
i am trying to remember when i last wrote....it was a while ago. well, since then there has been substantial change on these factsheets that we're doing. they're really coming along. i cannot wait to see the final product!! oh, and i got to ride along to a tv interview that my boss did at the karni industrial zone. that was cool, i hadn't been there before, so it was interesting to see. depressing, but interesting. for those of you in the UK that should air on ITN in the near future. i got to ride in my bosses car of the convoy which was a nice step up, and we got to chat on the way there and back. hes an amazing guy, and yet he still manages to undertake idle chit-chat with his personal assistant. that is what makes amazing people great, when they can relate to everyone and are happy to do so.
he will also be doing an interview with CBS for the evening news with katie couric to air two weeks from now, so look out for that. its amazing to hear him speak, hes so passionate on the issues and committed, it really makes you understand the issues.
oh, and in the fun news, i got to flirt with the cute swiss journo who came to interview him this week. ah, the small things in a life filled with about 25 other people (we only really socialise with the other internationals, for obvious reasons, which makes it a very small community....)
um, and thats sort of it. there is just so much going on. but a lot of it is day-to-day stuff, and a lot of it i can't really go into much detail about....
but i can expand on the list of things i miss and plan to indulge on when in the UK:
1 - the Economist: its like my bible! and i still haven't quite figured out how to get it here, maybe get it sent to Ashqelon and then bribe one of the international drivers to go and pick it up...
2 - pret's chocolate mousse
3 - dumplings in china town
4 - shopping!!!
5 - walking, everywhere, all the time
6 - borough market
7 - seeing people i miss
its not a complete list, but its a good start. oh, and theres a good story i have for the week. they came to install my special door. the one with the steel frame and multi-locks so no one can break it down, not unless they come super prepared or with explosives. anyway, i had to do some serious negotiating to get that bag of cement, its like on of the last in gaza. but, i now have my special door. the kicker? i managed to get it done before they came and did my bosses. it pays to be young, female, and speak enough of the language to get by.
and i think thats it. i am half a bottle of riesling and half a slab of dark chocolate down, while reading bits and pieces of the 'Brains not bullets" Economist. what more could a girl want on a friday evening?
you know what i miss? a lot? milk. there's no fresh dairy products here. well, thats sort of a lie. you can get goats and sheeps milk and cheese. but i like cows milk. and since there are no cows in the strip, there is no milk. and that long life stuff is just not the same. steph brought me back some cereal from the px (which is a whole other story in and of itself) and i was all happy to sit down and have a bowl for dinner, when i suddenly realised that i had no milk. well, no, i had that horrid long life stuff. i tried. i really tried. but part of the job of having a bowl of cereal for dinner is drinking the milk afterwards.
so, that is being added to the list of things i miss. and that i am so going to over indulge on when i am back in the uk. yup, i just bought my ticket, i am coming back to visit over independence day weekend. nope, that would be palestine's indepedence day weekend. its a long story. just read here, it'll make a bit more sense: http://www.counterpunch.org/boyle1108.html thank you to my mother for doing the leg work on that one.
so yes, i have some time off coming my way. which will be nice. its not that gaza is bad, its that not being able to move freely is lame. and as much as i whine and complain about it, its not anything like what the palestinians in gaza have to deal with. i was talking to one of my co-workers. she grew up in saudi arabia, and her family moved to gaza in 1998. she hasn't left the strip since. not because she doesn't want to. she's educated (with a university degree in business administration) and has no intention of getting married until she's done something with her life. its so fantastic to talk with her, she's an average palestinian, and she's just like most other girls my age in the rest of the world. its important to remember that. just because someone lives here does not make them the enemy or some kind of a pity case. these are tough people who have taken care of themselves for so long because no one else could be bothered to help them. they are entitled to be a bit bitter after all that they have gone through. it still amazes me how much hope there is here.
anyway, my flight is with el al, which should prove interesting. they have amazing security. i cannot wait to check it out. but at the same time i am a bit nervous to see how they treat me with my erez stamps in one passport and my lebanese and syrian visas in the other. nothing quite like being an enemy of the state to see how the other half live.
sorry this is being a bit sporadic and all over the place, but as previously mentioned its been a long week. a long and productive week, but long none-the-less. i ended up going into work today for a few hours. it was not my intention, but when something happens things have to get done. there was an incident yesterday where the idf blew a great big hole (there are really no technical terms for that) in the wall of one of our classrooms. luckily the school had been evacuated. so we're of course filing a complaint and the press want to know whats going on. my colleague is taking the weekend off - deservedly so. but could not access the pictures which are only available on our internal system. so i had to make a quick trip into the office to take care of that. and then once i was there there was all sorts of other stuff to do.
but, its kind of good because now our spokesperson owes me dinner and drink and things i am a complete angel. and i helped make a good story even more compelling with the addition of pictures. so alls well that ends well. i also made another trip to the gym, so while i am exhausted i also feel a bit contented, even if i did slightly over do it. who knows? i might well leave gaza in better shape than i came. at least physically.
i am trying to remember when i last wrote....it was a while ago. well, since then there has been substantial change on these factsheets that we're doing. they're really coming along. i cannot wait to see the final product!! oh, and i got to ride along to a tv interview that my boss did at the karni industrial zone. that was cool, i hadn't been there before, so it was interesting to see. depressing, but interesting. for those of you in the UK that should air on ITN in the near future. i got to ride in my bosses car of the convoy which was a nice step up, and we got to chat on the way there and back. hes an amazing guy, and yet he still manages to undertake idle chit-chat with his personal assistant. that is what makes amazing people great, when they can relate to everyone and are happy to do so.
he will also be doing an interview with CBS for the evening news with katie couric to air two weeks from now, so look out for that. its amazing to hear him speak, hes so passionate on the issues and committed, it really makes you understand the issues.
oh, and in the fun news, i got to flirt with the cute swiss journo who came to interview him this week. ah, the small things in a life filled with about 25 other people (we only really socialise with the other internationals, for obvious reasons, which makes it a very small community....)
um, and thats sort of it. there is just so much going on. but a lot of it is day-to-day stuff, and a lot of it i can't really go into much detail about....
but i can expand on the list of things i miss and plan to indulge on when in the UK:
1 - the Economist: its like my bible! and i still haven't quite figured out how to get it here, maybe get it sent to Ashqelon and then bribe one of the international drivers to go and pick it up...
2 - pret's chocolate mousse
3 - dumplings in china town
4 - shopping!!!
5 - walking, everywhere, all the time
6 - borough market
7 - seeing people i miss
its not a complete list, but its a good start. oh, and theres a good story i have for the week. they came to install my special door. the one with the steel frame and multi-locks so no one can break it down, not unless they come super prepared or with explosives. anyway, i had to do some serious negotiating to get that bag of cement, its like on of the last in gaza. but, i now have my special door. the kicker? i managed to get it done before they came and did my bosses. it pays to be young, female, and speak enough of the language to get by.
and i think thats it. i am half a bottle of riesling and half a slab of dark chocolate down, while reading bits and pieces of the 'Brains not bullets" Economist. what more could a girl want on a friday evening?
alright....i admit the title is in poor taste considering todays events, but it kind of just got stuck in my head. excuse the insensitivity, but at this stage, i just don't care.
Is it wrong that i am sitting in gaza rocking out to bad russian pop??? at least the esf guys don’t understand russian, score one for me!
today was another long day. made only slightly better by my boss being out of town for half the day, meaning that i had a chance to sort of catch up...i still haven’t gotten my passport back, which means no security course for me, and another weekend in gaza....but it looks like a few other people are staying here, so at least i’ll have a bit of company. and maybe a few hours to actually email everyone....i do apologise i have a list, you’re all on it. and i will eventually email you, and post pictures, i have all these amazing ones from the dome of the rock.
and i feel like i am back in az down the road from davis montham. freaking israelis. i am going to get no sleep tonight. there are ongoing incursions in rafah, deir el belah, and beit hanoun. its been a real mess of a day. in other news, i am getting really good and picking out the different aircraft flying over based only on their engine noises. i am not sure this is really an applicable skill in my other situations. oh well.
i really don’t have much else to say. it was a long, full day, but not really anything that will interest anyone much....lots of admin stuff, fact sheets, and a few light moments to brighten up an otherwise grim day.
they really are cutting off the fuel coming in. its having a huge impact already. since gaza barely gets enough, was getting enough, there’s nothing stock piled. so since they’re lessening that there are going to be some real problems. if i was up to it i would do a nice literature review of some good stuff thats been coming out in the regional and international press, and some clips from my boss - i don’t know how he does it, hes done like 3-4 interviews a day since the announcement. maybe this weekend when i have a moment.
its starting to get a bit chilly here. not cold like London or Seattle, but chilly. especially in the mornings and evenings.
and thats really it. i have to be the only person who moves to gaza and is boring.... :) i am working on getting a picture in my flak jacket - after several requests. we’ll see when we have a moment since it sort of has to be a team effort.
and i’m out. i have to go to bed if there is any hope of me functioning tomorrow. which is kind of necessary....oh, i did have a few good moments today. when people tried to blow me off, and my boss stepped in. its good to have back-up, it makes people realise that when i say things, there really is something behind it.
and thats it. sorry. i’ll try to come up with something better tomorrow...or maybe not. calm is good. boring is good. especially when you do live in gaza.
after working a 15 hour day the first thought when you get home is not about jumping off the roof.
but seriously. 15 hours is a LONG time. in an office. okay, actually i ran up and down the stairs a lot today. but not nearly enough to merit 15 hours in an office. but i do love my job. its like a mantra. i just have to keep repeating it.
and that is pretty much going to be the content of this post. life here is crazy!! tomorrow i will hopefully have a better post, everything is just super busy, and i might be out for thi security course, so i am trying to do like 5 days of work in 21/2, gah!!
and yeah. i can't think. i apologise. this is rambly and silly, but i feel bad for not posting for too long, and i want to reassure my little sister and parents that i am alive.
and thats about all i am capable of now. unless you want me to regurgitate everything on our series of factsheets going to the HDM next week. oh god, and now i am back to talking in acronyms. bed time. thats for sure.
oh!!! but massive excitement of the day: I GOT MY UN CERTIFICATE!!!! its a nifty blue passport like thing, an its got my pic in it, and the UN emblem on the front. i feel very official and special!
