Rockupation

Hey all,

Sorry for the lapse in communication. This week has been more difficult because my volunteer placement actually decided to use me, significantly chewing into my time to blog! How dare they! As I've mentioned before, the folks back in my home stay are essentially addicted to Facebook online poker; a point of endless frustration. They're actually leaving to visit family in Honduras and America in less than a week (August 2nd), which will mean me and Trey will have the house to ourselves! Block party! Hahaha... it'll actually be pretty sweet. We're definitely going to miss our host father, but not our host mama! Terrible, I know, but that's life in the West Bank.

In many respects, it's actually been a pretty difficult week, and I thank God for getting me through it. I found out last week that I didn't get into my intended major at the UW: Human Centered Design and Engineering. Huge letdown. I suppose this topic is outside the context of this blog, but it matters, it has impacted me. Last year I found out right I had been rejected by engineering literally a day before leaving to help with a camp for children and their families who have cancer (Camp Side-by-Side)... I don't know if this is any better save for my maturity in Christ and my long-term-understanding.

Don't get me wrong, I was distraught. If it hadn't been for the mercies of His People around me, several e-mails and a phone conversation, it would have been much more difficult than it was. I'm already considering a couple other directions for my life, but honestly, it's all in His hands regardless. He keeps closing some very specific doors on purpose which leads me to imagine there's something headed my way I simply can't anticipate...

Partly in response to the above, I've really dedicated myself to making the most of the time I have left here. These final 15 days...and interpreting for myself what that means. Part of what that's looking like right now is to really be not only reading scripture for personal assurance and growth, but to study it. Spending some decent time following a collection of lessons compiled by a professor at Union College in 1894 that really directs an array of important concepts...and provides ooodles of passage references. If anyone is interested, I could send you one of the lessons. Maybe I'll include one on here eventually...

Essentially, I can no longer ignore the significance of ignorance. Biblical ignorance. This conflict swirling about me is essentially based on assertions of Biblical authority, or at least, from the Torah. For goodness sake, settlers are attacking children in the name of honoring God! How can this result from anything but profound ignorance, when combined with the evil naturally present in all our hearts? How can this be tolerated except by a people ignorant of Christ's passion for the downtrodden?

Anywho, enough ranting for today. Hopefully all is well wherever it may be that you are reading this. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

Impressions of Egypt

Positives:

(+) Incredibly cheap food. The average full course meal (including complementary lemonade, dessert, at very special price!) ran me about 6 bucks.
(+) Incredibly cheap accommodations. 4 bucks a night, yeah baby!
(+) Generally beautiful vistas. Particularly due to the ocean.
(+) Fabulous environment, however touristy it really was (Think: something out of Disney Land but real)
(+) Totally killer bonding time
(+) The Ocean. / The Red Sea (same difference if Saudi Arabia wasn't in the way! Most the time you couldn't see it through the dusty haze, so it's a moot point)
(+) Frequency of showers concerning me increasing about 7-fold
(+) Getting to be shirtless for basically 5 days straight
(+) Being completely removed from the conflict in Israel








Negatives:

(-) Constantly being harassed by the hordes of shop and restaurant owners hanging in the street, which at any given time just about outnumbered everyone else there.
(-) Non-potable tap water
(-) Bathrooms without toilet paper...that is to say, every single bathroom in the Sinai.
(-) Having sweat pouring down my face...while I'm doing nothing but standing. The heat was cuh-RA-zy. (And A/C was quite noticeably absent from the entirety of Dahab)
(-) "ugly days"
(-) What amounted to a bureaucratic nightmare on the part of the Egyptian Government...or lack thereof.

It's good to be back, though. =)

Travel Plans and Etc

Half way done.

Yikes!!! Where does time go? Is there a big ole hole somewhere it all gets sucked into? Gosh dang...

This is a quick one for lack of sleep time.

I'll be traveling to the Siani Penensula for about 4 nights starting tomorrow... it's going to be awesome. We've just hit some major free time since we're between sessions of the Holy Land Trust (which also means there's a bunch of folks leaving which is totally sad!). There's 7 of us trekking out into the wilderness, should be awesome. I'll be sure to take plenty of good pics. ;) Might be outta blog-contact for a while, just as a heads up.

God's Peace be with all of you!

Happy Day-After American Diplomatic Immunity Day

[As written 7/5/2010 11:55am (+2 GMT)]

[Note: Anyone interested in seeing better quality photos or to comment on them, visit my Picasa album]

 

Wow.

An incredible weekend.

I mean, seriously. If you could measure a time by the quantity of pictures one takes, well… I think I took about 200 pics. I feel tempted to overuse the word "breathtaking" to the point that I'd basically be admitting to suffocation.

Our group from Holy Land Trust had for us a weekend-long adventure through the northern bits of Israel and Palestine, giving us our first opportunity this whole trip to really be “tourists.”

Here’s what our weekend’s itinerary looked like:

 Bethlehem --> Jordan “River” --> Sea of Galilee (Including a boat-ride! Complete with Titanic soundtrack) --> Capernaum à Mount of the Beattitudes -->  The Golan Heights --> Haifa --> Mt. Carmel --> Caesarea (Beach on the Mediterranean) --> McDonalds --> Bethlehem

Now that I’ve just written that out, aswell as cross-check with my map, the prospect of describing all these places seems like an overwhelming task! How about bullet-points and pictures? Ya’ll good with that?

Jordan “River”

• Pathetically small, ever since the Israelies have been pumping out more and more water from the Galilee and creating dams and such, there really isn’t all that much to this water-way anymore. BUT, there’s this “Baptismal Location” you can visit (as we did… felt like they were – dare I say it – marketing baptism. It was  honestly disgusting… get your photo while being baptized! Get your bottle of “Holy River Water!” Get your samples of holy dirt, holy oil, holy smokes! Felt like overturning some tables…) There was a place you could stick your feet in the water, and these fish would eat off your dead skin. Totally exfoliating.

Sea of Galilee

From Deputation

• Small wonder they called it a Sea! Seriously, the most vast body of fresh water I’ve ever seen. You couldn’t even see the farthest end of it! We took a boat to the otherside, ate some horrifically overpriced fish (“Jesus Fish”… the “same fish” that Jesus ate. So I gained like, 200 Spirit Points).

Capernaum

• Now, a Tourist Trap. It was pretty alright, had some sweet reconstructed ruins. A massive Aloe-Vera plant thing that seriously looked alien. Someone made a comment about it being a giant venus fly-trap. Ironic, visit the West Bank, get killed by a plant.

From Deputation

Mount of the Beattitudes.

• Traditionally believed to be the location where Jesus preached His sermon on the mount [Mathew 5-7]. I actually was just reading through that passage, so to be able to put a place to the words: ridiculous. The view of the Sea from there is breathtaking. The church there is also pretty alright, lotsa nuns. More gift shops.

The Golan Heights

[multiple pictures, coming soon]

• !!!!!!!!!!!
• Stunning.
• We spent the night here in a hostel, in this small town up by the border with Syria… I’ve never seen anything like it. The Mountains literally all around, a view down into Israel like nothing else… ending up playing soccer with some kids and Trey and Eric (another HLT participant)… sunset like nothing ever…
• Me and Trey both firmly belive we’d come back to this place… it was also the only place I’d say we got to more than simply “taste” for half an hour, like most the other places listed here.

Hafia

• Most industrialized city in Israel.
• Nuclear Power Plants --> totally sweet [photo coming soon]
• Ba’hi Gardens  O_O
• Mount Carmel

Mount Carmel

From Deputation

From Deputation

• Neither sticky nor sweet, yet had a killer view
• Place where Elija did some awesome stuff
• Spetacular view of the Meditterean and the Ba’ai Gardens
• Ice Cream Truck

Caesarea
 

From Deputation

• Beach on the Meditteren
• Were only there for 30 minutes… =(
• Ancient Roman aquaduct right there on the water! Poor choice building on the Sand, silly Romans. Should have visited the Mount of the Beatitudes first…
• Got my jeans pretty soaked, Trey and several others decided to strip down and jump in (Skivvies only…or, as Jenny our Brittish friend would say: Pants only)
• Never getting time at the beach = a piece of my heart never getting satisfied. Right next to the part of my heart that never get peanut butter or bacon or mashed potatoes or tacos or milk or OJ or cerial…..

McDonalds

• Our single act of patriotism. Supporting Cooperate American Supremacy. I opted for for the chicken sandwich from the 10-Sheckle Menu. Total Rip-off. Trey got a Big Mac ™ . Paid for it later.

Oh geez….  *takes big breath*

That’s a lot of stuff, there.

Infused amongst it all, and almost more importantly… I had ample time to reflect while on the bus when I wasn’t socializing.

Praying a ton, reading… and really feeling God working in me about patience and judging others… to unpack this statement completely would take more than what I’ve already said… suffice it to say, there’s some interesting characters on this trip. And my heart, being full, in some respects cannot wait to get home, or to someplace where I don’t have to be on edge. And being patient to let this time do it’s work is key… but I’m starting to miss home. The green forests. The deep blue bodies of water where-ever I turn in Seattle. The Music, oh… the music. The Friends. The Lady… it’s rough.  And honestly, there are times where if I could, I’d teleport right over there from here. And then I have to tell myself:

no. This is where I need to be. If I keep looking forward, I’ll miss the significance of the right-now.

And keep telling myself.

And get to my host-home, and feel so completely the opposite of “at home”… almost the exact antithesis. To be tired regardless of how much I sleep.

It is trying to my soul, but I know it must be true: that I’ll be better for this. I’ll be stronger. I’ll have a better understanding of myself, and how stinky I can get. Of who I want to be, and who He wants me to be. Of me. For me. Through me.

Honestly, politics aside, people just need to be loved. That’s all I see here, when it comes down to it…. Everywhere. And we’re all just so stubborn and reluctant to do so…

Christ, preserve me. Uplift my spirit, encourage me and Trey. May Your peace soak us in this thoroughly dusty land…

Shotgun- Update

I've made my frist visit to an Internet Cafe here... got super tired of trying to cut in edgewise with my host parent's addiction to Internet Poker (On Facebook no less, thank you Zynga). So I'll keep this farily quick, some highlights.

Interesting Wildlife:
-- Horse at/in the ATM
-- JUMPING spider!! O_O (In my bedroom!!)
-- Goats in the street

Interesting Places
-- East Jerusalem, turns out this place is actually technically one of the Israeli settlements. Comprises several settlements, in fact. Where the Israeli appartment complexes end and the Palistinian neighborhoods begin, no more sidewalks, nice streets, fountains, publicly servicable dumpsters, or watered lawns, or decent busses or schools. These particuar folks have Israeli citezenship and pay taxes just like the rest of the Israelis....
-- The "Bethlehem Meusem." $2 USD to see 8 rooms from 18th century homes. Totally a tourist trap, but sweet. According to Trey, we lost major street cred.
-- The Wall Lounge. A Restraunt here in Bethlehem with a projector screen attached directly to The Wall... interesting way of protest (?) or attempting to make light of the situation(?), great place to watch USA lose in the World Cup  >.<

Interesting Happenings
-- Someone in the group has started a Bible Study on Wednesday afternoons to compensate for our total inability to go to church because we're always traveling on Sunday. Should be awesome, there seems to be about 8 of us interested. =)  Finally get some serious spiritual time in! It's been so difficult always sneaking it in the cracks in my schedule... in the morning... when I have a moment during Volunteer time, et cetera... That's honestly been one of the most difficult things for me is really staying connected with Christ. Be praying for me in this regard... my heart is full. My spirit grows tired...

Mas Salaame, sadiiqi (Go with Peace, my friend) -- I don't know how to make this plural yet! Maybe I'll ask in Arabic class today...

Little trouble in Big Bethlehem

There’s been a recent grumbling amongst certain unnamable followers of this blog that some of you may be wondering what my daily schedule is.



Consider yourself lucky, that I have a moment while “on the job” ;)

Typically, each morning begins at about 7:30am with me literally peeling myself out from amongst my sweaty bed-sheets (I know, mega-gross. The nights are rather toasty here…) Shortly following, after I’ve already “put myself together” I usually have to remind Trey that breakfast will be soon (Promptly at 8am) and as we both know at this point, to miss a meal seems to be quite the offense to our host family. (Their generosity and overbearing hospitality does have it’s dark side…)

Breakfast has consistently consisted of pita with a wide selection of “dips” including amazingly fresh hummus, homemade marmalade, olive-oil, thyme mixed with sesame seeds, fried (or hard-boiled) eggs, and this white chunky stuff the two of us generally avoid. And always, as with every meal, it’s served with sweet tea with fresh mint.

Yeah. Elaborate. But awesome.

From there, I walk or bus into Bethlehem where my volunteer job is. (Doing all sorts of different things, actually… I stuffed envelopes the other day. Fixed a computer. Typed a bunch of stuff into better English, etc etc... Cool people though when they're around. There's also a few pianos there, and I'm definitely taking time out of my day to practice music. =)). Sometimes I even might get lost and wander around downtown for a hot-hour (Christie, that’s for you! ;) ) struggling in the heat and hills until about 5 taxi drivers converge and “help” me find where the place is...but it’s not like that really happens, I mean, it could. Probably. ;) Volunteering officially is from 9am to 2pm.

Between 2pm and 3pm, I have time to travel to the Bethlehem Bible College, maybe chill a bit, who knows. Arabic lessons at the college from 3 – 5, and then after that, the schedule is different for each day. Yesterday, for example, we learned some of a traditional Palestinian folk dance called Dabkeh. (Pretty awesome, I might say). Tomorrow we have some “football” and BBQ going on with the team.

That’s the typical day. ;)   All kinds of adventures, mishaps, and thinking about my girl back home (^_^) are typically thrown in-between for variety, I can assure you. Like trying to get a “burger” at 9pm two nights ago when me and Trey were starving. 40 minutes later… ughhh…. We finally got our "food". I don’t even really feel like talking about it. And how when we got back to our host family, they were upset with us because they’d saved us dinner food in an obscure metal dish hidden among all the other pans… SO frustrating! >.<

Anywho, I suppose I should get back to work!

Take care, all of you. Your thoughts and prayers on constantly appreciated! Shokran! (Thank You!) It makes it a little easier to be so far and away from everything I know, regardless of how exciting it is to be over here… a faint amount of home-sickness started to settle in my heart this morning… you guys really are helpful in that respect.

Hope you’re holding things together back home ;)

Mas salaama!

"I Have Business to Attend to in Remallah..."

If it wasn't for your constant prayers, and the near-constant supply of falaffel and rice with lentils and schwarma and pita...I'd be dead. Exhausted. Helps with the sleep, I must admit (which has been fab-u-lous by the way). The heat does to, but our past few days have been packed.

I fully anticipate that eventually the frequency of these posts will subside, but it's all fresh and new still!

Finally, after nearly a week, my mind and heart have become set in this place. After walking the city, "talking" with the people, hearing Arabic conversationally and musically all day long... I'm here. I'm in Bethlehem and I'll be here for two months. Well, closer to 7 weeks at this point, but still.

Oh, and another fact of life that reminds me I'm in a very far away land:

From Deputation

I've seen several of these around at this point. Makes me wonder if they're actually doing anything useful in these parts...


The other day, Me and Trey and the rest of our team spent the entire day traveling, building relationships, and getting baked by the sun...but it was awesome. Really got to know some of the folks on the team owing something to the hours of bus riding and bus-breaking-down-ing (see Image below).

From Deputation

On a more serious note, however, the point of the trip was to expose us to some of the tragedy happening here in Palestine. Besides the ever present wall one experiences where-ever one travels around this land, the first thing we saw as we traveled North was one of the so-called Illegal Israeli Settlements . Honestly, it was rather disgusting. Surrounded by the poverty of Palestinians and the water-starved landscape there this settlement stood among the desert like a green gem, perched on a hill (like every other city around this part of the world). Locals of the West Bank are not permitted to enter the settlements or use some of the surrounding roads. As I've heard, the idea is to cut the West Bank in half with these towns, tearing apart the Palestinians even more. (I have photos, they don't seem inclined to upload themselves. >.< ). As one of the more... opinionated... team members stated, Israel's goal is to kill all the Palestinians and that Israel is a terrorist state that will be wiped from the planet. Needless to say, I don't exactly share these views. Don't worry. But it was weird to encounter such a blatant perspective

We continued on, through the various sectors until we reached Sector A, which is completely under the legislative and military control of Palestine, toward one of the Refugee "Camps." (Built in '48, they're just as permanent as anything else around). As we were being shown the bullet holes Israeli soldiers left in 2002, I couldn't help but notice the children playing in the street...

From Deputation

such a confusing contrast...

We also visited a Woman's center, and a Media Center which had a really great mission. They aim at educating children in visual arts to allow them to express the horrors that they've experienced in the society and through the wars... to start a cultural revolution that will eventually repel the Western and Israeli cultural influences and re-establish an identity of their own. In the middle of a refugee camp. In a place where they are constantly confronted with pain and hurt established by generations of violence.

We saw the houses that were bulldozed to build another section of wall:

From Deputation

Or the houses that were torn in half, just as many families of this town were similarly cut in half... for the life of me, I can't remember his name, but we also had the chance to hear from a renown ex-Freedom-Fighter that now strongly advocates non-violence. Very wise were many of his words and answers.... heavily confident in the next generation, although I fear the next generation may have already have been tainted by the scars of their fathers...


After that day, all I wanted to do was process. To sit... and figure out what I'd just seen. I suppose I had plenty of that time on the bus, but that wasn't all that alone, all that focused of a mental space. (Taylor Swift's You Belong with Me may or may not have been sung on the bus-mike by me... ;)

The only thing I could seem to grasp after the end of the day, was that the world is a place that is full of suffering. The evil contained within the human heart is not something that knows geographical boundaries...it is ever present. It is in America, it is in Great Brittan, it is in the Sudan, it is everywhere. And regardless of how many "good people" a society may contain, that somehow doesn't seem to make all that much of a difference. People need something more in addition to social service and volunteerism.

They need Christ.

And so, I push on, explaining myself and attempting to articulate this love I've been given to others as the time arises... and also as I do computer tech-support and web-development for a small music academy in Bethlehem! (My official task!) I may also be visiting Remallah where the family of one of the team members lives, along with Trey. Should be pretty stellar. 8)   <--- *Stunna Shades*

Sorry if the post seems... abrupt in many subjects. So much has happened... maybe I should start focusing on individual events, yes? I feel it'd seem less disjointed. Hmm... but the whole time has seemed strangely disjointed for myself aswell. Pray for my brain and heart!

God's Peace to each of you! Your thoughts, prayers, and Google Voicemails have been hugely appreciated!!! =D

Mas Salaam!