Entries from June 2005

Slingshot Hiphop: The Palestinian Lyrical Front

June 24, 2005

Last night, a group of us ended up at the Bethlehem Peace Center to hear DAM perform, a Palestinian hiphop rap group (some video I took is here). Apparently, there are a lot of Palestinian rap groups in the states (one of them being Iron Sheik). It was pretty good stuff. I was also told [...]

Posted in Politics, Tunes | 7 Comments »

Olive Wood carving

June 24, 2005

One of the treasures of the Palestinian land and heritage is its olive trees and the carvings that are made out of the wood. This is another reason that the Israelis build their settlement by-pass roads directly through olive tree fields; as well, they often uproot the trees and sometimes even replant them within their [...]

Posted in General | 1 Comment »

How to be present…?

June 24, 2005

Have I mentioned yet how much I love free wireless internet in Bethlehem? I’m sitting Reem Al Bawadi, the restaurant right next door to the Holy Land Trust’s office, and I’m soaking up their free wireless, so thanks Holy Land Trust! The above picture is from our time last night at The Tent in Beit [...]

Posted in General | 1 Comment »

Bethlehem

June 23, 2005

Kids playing soccer. Apparently they have closed the checkpoint that we entered less than a week ago - there is now a huge wall in front of it. These kids live a few blocks from the entrance to Bethlehem.

Posted in Politics | No Comments »

My new friend…

June 23, 2005

This is my new friend. She gave me a green heart necklace today. And I am practicing my Arabic with these students. I had fun today and tomorrow we are going to the pool. I’m leaning towards doing this for the rest of the month, and then starting something on my own, after that. The [...]

Posted in Politics | No Comments »

Walking in the footsteps of Jesus (and his sandals)

June 23, 2005

It’s fun to know you’re walking around the birthplace of Jesus. It’s also fun to wear Jesus sandals. This is my first pair - my uncle had a pair and I always thought they were so cool. So, here they are. My Jesus sandals…bought in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Posted in General | 8 Comments »

Opal, Tony and Internships…

June 22, 2005

I have too much to write tonight, and I don’t have time to write it. But, last night I walked from Bethlehem to Beit Sahour after getting a tour of the Nativity Church (on accident) and being told that a silver and opal necklace was really worth $150 US dollars and that I definitely needed [...]

Posted in Politics | 2 Comments »

Jobs and…Arabic (ugh…..)

June 21, 2005

Just a quick update, as I need to grab some dinner (which will consist of shwarma or fallafel - like always). I spent this morning just hanging around the office while they tried to figure out what to do with my job placement. As it turns out, the Bethlehem Peace Center will be having huge [...]

Posted in Rants | No Comments »

Bethlehem Mayoral Address

June 21, 2005

If anyone is interested, below, you can find the text for the Bethlehem Mayor’s address to the Palestine Summer Encounter program:
The Mayoral Address to PSE 2005
June 19th 2005
Bethlehem Mayor, Dr. Victor Batarseh
On behalf of our municipal council, it gives me a great pleasure to extend a warm welcome to each and everyone of you and [...]

Posted in Politics | No Comments »

Beginning Arabic (why oh why!?)

June 20, 2005

Arabic. Ugh. I was pretty excited initially that learning Arabic was one of the components of the Palestine Summer Encounter program that I am with. However, as I was sitting through hour 3 of this afternoon’s Arabic class, I was beginning to question my original thoughts. I already had 1 year of Hebrew grammar last [...]

Posted in General, Rants | 2 Comments »