It is nice to be back in Jerusalem. The transition has been easier than expected. In my first couple of days wandering I have seen some of the same homeless people in their regular spots, security guards still working at the same cafes, and the same guy near the
Jaffa gate, offering tours of Palestine. I ran into someone I knew at the baggage claim as soon as I arrive to Ben
Gurion - it's amazing how many people I run into in this country. (And I got my 3 month visa with little-no struggle, thanks to Jewish
privilege)
But what I time to arrive. I spent I relaxing
Shabbat with old family friends in Jerusalem, in the neighborhood I lived in when I was 6. Had some interesting conversations with people at synagogue about my research, and have gotten a rather negative response when I mention that I am talking to Israelis, Palestinians, and Jordanians. Things like 'what do the Palestinians have to do with it?' and 'You are looking at cooperation? You mean how there is no cooperation?' No! Get out of your bubbles!
I am impressed how quickly I have moved back into using Hebrew, after not using it for a year. I am glad to be researching in places I am already familiar with - I can speak the language, know how the
buses work, know which cafes in the center of town i can walk into (after showing the contents of my bag) to use the facilities. But I am constantly having to think about what I am doing and who I tell where I am going, since not everyone will approve. I don't dare wear long skirts or
bandanna on my head, because people will think I am orthodox and married. I take my Arabic ring on and off, depending on my surroundings. I don't like needing to sensor myself. I like being in this familiar place, but at the same time I am wishing I was in rural India, with the tough decision of which color pencil to give to which kid...
-----
This week is complex. Sunday night-Monday was Memorial Day, Monday night-Tuesday independence day. Sunday night at 8 pm there was a siren all over the city, and no matter where you are or what your are doing you stop to remember fallen soldiers, who lost their lives for the land. I was on a bus when it happened. We didn't get off, but the bus stopped and everyone stood in their seats. People who were walking down the busy road stopped, bicyclists dismounted. Two minutes of silence except for the siren ringing in your ears, then the city comes back to life as quickly as it stopped. I was on my way to meet a friend to go to a dinner party. While waiting for her at a classy hotel in the East, I ran into my boss from Amman, from the German foundation I interned for. Random. The dinner party was nice - lots of Italian
NGO workers. I wasn't feeling super social and they weren't so much speaking-the-English, but it was a nice re-introduction to
NGO/activist-y expat life.
I decided to participate in
Yom Hazikaron stuff. I wrote down some stuff about it after the fact, but don't have the energy to go into it now. I think there is enough for
y'all to read, anyway.
---
Going to
Ramallah wasn't terribly eventful. The bus got full. We drove through back streets in East Jerusalem, then suddenly THE WALL. It was huge and imposing and totally overwhelming. We drove along it for a few minutes until arriving at
Qalandia. A couple of years ago it was chaotic and you could only take a bus from East Jerusalem to the checkpoint, walk through, then get another bus on the other side to get to
Ramallah. This time we went all the way through, passing through what looked like a highway tollbooth, with a billion cameras all around.
The way back was a little bit more of an ordeal. I'm sure I will be passing back and forth a lot in the next couple of months, and will go into the details of the process later. After getting through the main checkpoint, we came across a flying checkpoint, about 5 minutes later. There were no other ways onto this road, aside from coming from
Qalandia, so I don't understand the point. Just additional humiliation? It works. There were two soldier eating sandwiches. One comes onto the bus, still eating his sandwich, with an Israeli flag across his chest (celebrating Independence day early, no doubt, in the face of Palestinians who are not celebrating this holiday). He looked to be about 16 years old. With his mouth half full of food he asks to check our Ids. What's the point??
(A couple hours later)
Culture shock!! It took about 1.5 hours to get back after getting into the
serveece. After my interview in
Ramallah I met a former King's student for coffee. When I got back to Jerusalem I walked from the East to
Kikar Tzion (the absolute West), to see what festivities were happening. It was only about 7.30, so I had some pizza and wandered around until stuff started at 10. The whole Ben
Yehuda area was closed off. I kept getting my bag checked, going in and out. If only they knew where I had just been, they probably would take more than just a quick look at my bag and me and wave me right through. People have toy hammers and glow-sticks. I didn't see too much confetti. Every time people pull out shaving cream the police and soldiers pounce. There are also soldiers in casual clothes, with big guns slung across their backs. It scares me how quickly I acclimate to this place. I sat for a while, waiting for
Hadag Nachash to start their set. I ended up speaking to an old man for a while, all in Hebrew. In the end he was talking more to me than I to him and I didn't understand everything, but it was still pretty impressive how much I got and could communicate. Dumb-ed down form the political conversation I wanted to have, but all things considered it was still pretty good.
Tuesday was Independence Day. I was thinking I would go to the library, but felt I should help my lovely hosts with their big family picnic. I got sunburned sitting in the sun all day, eating
mangled-meat, seeing lots of families from the old neighborhood who hadn't seen me since I was 6. So many babies. So much patriotism. So much racism. I was
overwhelmed and went home to type up notes from
Ramallah.
Today's schedule: Hebrew U. I am already 1 hour off schedule. Have to get these damn papers done..
