go back and forth. In the Jewish parts of Jerusalem I make eye contact
with men, but in the East I tend to avert my eyes. Sometimes I forget
where I am and look into the eyes of the wrong people. But, nothing
bad so far, hamsa hamsa.
It's been a crazy week. On the one had I can't believe I have already
been here 10 days. At the same time I have been doing so much, and it
seems like I have been here forever.
Thursday I went to Haifa to see a friend I hadn't seen in a couple
years, and had a much-needed conversation about politics, with someone
I tend to agree with. Friday morning another informal interview in
Northern Tel Aviv, followed by lunch with an Arava friend in a
fabulous only in Tel Aviv café/Laundromat/internet café/movie rental
place. Went running back to Jerusalem before Shabbat to get a new
change of clothes. Watched the sun go down from the Tayelet, and
enjoyed seeing Arabs picnicking in the Jewish-free time. Went to an
Irish film festival in Abu Tor, followed by the UN party – saw some
old friends, and made some new ones. Stayed over at a friend's in the
East, and got to sleep past 8 for the first time since arriving.
Saturday I walked up to the University and spent most of the day
typing up notes in a coffee shop, and getting distracted by free
wireless. Saturday night I learned how cricket works! And met some
nice peacekeepers, and went to a BBQ. This morning I went to Ramallah
to get a visa for Jordan. It was way faster than going all the way to
Tel Aviv. The taxi dropped me off in front of the main door, so I
walked right in. Didn't realize the consular section had a different
entrance. I wandered around the building for a while, until I found
the kitchen where a couple guys were making coffee who were nice
enough to escort me to the right section. Took all of about 4 minutes,
then 45 minutes back to Jerusalem. Met my old boss for lunch, and now
am back at Hebrew U, where I am supposed to be doing work because the
RIDE starts tomorrow. And won't be able to have contact with the
outside world for a while…
Parting thoughts
It is nice that people don't bring guns into the university library.
This might be the one place where I can come to 'escape'. There are SO
many amazing books here – great stuff on methodology that even King's
didn't have, and I can't wait to dive (pun unintended) into the water
books - English Arabic and Hebrew, right there on the shelf! I don't
have borrowing rights (though I might be able to get them if I tried),
but perhaps it's for the best, so I need to come up here to get work
done. This is going to be a really interesting summer.
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