read all about it

you may have heard the news about gaza. if you haven't, i recommend reading at least two sources from two different countries. try cnn, aljazeera, bbc, etc.
or type palestine or israel into google news.
last night bbc world was broadcasting a live feed on tv of the artillery guns firing. they've got some photos from the assault you can see here, and snips of what both sides are printing about it here.

there was also a bit of a scare here in the ramallah area. nearby, dozens of officials and ministers were captured last night.

since i've been asked by more than one, i'll just say here: i'm ok and ramallah is relatively ok. nothing like gaza.
pray for gaza.

sunny day in oxford

it's true! much sun. i came on a good day.

here are some of my [so-so phone-camera] pics and detlef's [awesome camera] pics from my layover.

arrived

2nd day at birzeit university. just got out of my arabic placement exam.
lots to talk about but little time on the internet!
next week when i get my id card i'll have more time.

i will blog soon about the ..er.. interesting experiences with 'security'.

thanks for your prayers. i'm safe and my clothes are now with me (yay! i don't have to wear the same thing for the fourth day in a row!)

i have lots of people here to take care of me. so no worries (ahem, mom/nana/rose) ;)
but again, thank you for your prayers.

visiting oxford

safe and sound in oxford, after a long immigration line at heathrow and a bus ride. i was happily greeted by my long lost friend, meredith.
quick email check & blog post, and we're off to meet detlef and get some exercise!

packing

i had almost forgotten that when you go back home/to the blad, everyone wants to send things over with you.
my aunt in nm gave me two large shopping bags full of things for her son and mother. dad slipped in about ten pounds of coffee and creamer (apparently they like the american stuff??)

in any case (no pun intended, hah!) stuff and things are beginning to be packed.

my uncle is preparing my ride to jfk on friday afternoon.

cute cousins

to see just how much work i need to do on my arabic, i went to my uncle's (dad's bro) house in ne philly tonight. actually, i came to see my aunt (dad's sis) and cousin who are passing through for three days on their way to california. i often forget how beautiful my dad's sisters are until each time i see them again.
showed them some photos of my baby nephew, and snapped these of my very adorable and very hyperactive cousins here in philly ;)

homemade hoummous

it started as a joke when i told esther i don't pay for hoummous because it's so cheap and easy to make... it continued as others have said they enjoy mine more than store-bought...
someone suggested i have a bake sale to raise money for the trip, and it ends now with the one week AND ONE WEEK ONLY...

***HOUMMOUS SALE***

Only in Philadelphia. Pickup at my apartment.
Choose from the following varieties or make a special order.

Classic ------------- garlic, lemon, peppercorn
Green Herb ------- parsley, dill, chive, marjoram
Roasted Red ------ sundried tomato and roasted red pepper
Baba ---------------- roasted eggplant
Cucumber Dill ---- um... cucumber and dill
Triple Onion ------ vidalia, scallion, chive
Kalamata olive --- you guessed it
Spicy --------------- cayenne, chile, cumin, cilantro, lime
Pesto --------------- basil, pine nut, parmesan

All varieties contain chickpeas, tahini (sesame paste), garlic, lemon, and salt.

8oz $3.00
16oz $5.00

Order form (copy the following and email to me)
Quantity:
Size: 8oz or 16oz
Variety:
Choose Pickup time:
Sunday 6/11 (1pm-3p)
Monday 6/12 (5:30pm-6:30p)
Wednesday 6/14 (5:30pm-6:30p)

getting ready to get on a plane tonight in abq. back in philly tomorrow morning.

riwaq

for the past seven or eight years, i've pretty much known what i've wanted to do in terms of college/career, minus a tangent here or there (engineering and music). a strong desire to create unique environments for inhabitation coupled with concerns for THE environment come together well in sustainable design (and hopefully will do so in my upcoming architecture/environmental studies combined senior thesis). but another vision, of ministry of community building, previously seemed to be a different life-direction possibility has recently begun to meld in my mind with the first into what you might say is a calling.

that may sound confusing (in which case i apologise), but it comes down to this: an organization in Palestine does almost exactly what i want to do, and in the place and among the people i'd like to do it. i discovered the website of Riwaq a little over a year ago. i immediately contacted them and tried to make plans for last summer that fell through. now that "i'm in" for this trip, i'll be joining them for a few hours a week (more if i don't raise the money for the birzeit program) as a volunteer, primarily working on site surveys.

if any of this sounds remotely interesting to you (it gives me chills! haha), visit their website.

tagging

thanks to friends (esther, you're the best) and friends-of-friends who believe in the cause and are coming in with support of money and word-spreading (and thanks jgrice for the heads up).

est put it this way:

If 5 people read this and put in $5 a piece, then tell 5 other people who also put in $5 a piece, it would only take 4 cycles to raise 90% of her trip costs, at no significant cost to any of the contributors. Moreover, if anyone puts in more than $5 or tells more than 5 people, obviously the whole thing gets accelerated.

sitti and other family

my sitti (grandma), mother of yabba (dad), still lives in deir dibwan, east of ramallah. that is where she raised my dad and her three other children. i first saw her there when i was a little girl during our first (and my only yet) trip overseas. at that time my grandfather was still alive. this was a really important trip, because it was the first time they saw their grandchildren, but especially for my grandfather who got to see his first son's first son (my brother) before he died just a few years later.

my parents never let us forget that trip. one of our favorite pastimes as children was to look through the 'auntie book'-- an album of photos of us and all of our relatives and friends in the village. my mom and yabba would ask me, "do you remember when you laid down for a nap under the tree with your yabba and he got up and you woke up wondering where he was?" and to my sister, "do you remember when we lost you and found you at your auntie's candy shop with your shoes off drinking tea?" heh. she was two when that happened.

and so the memories of palestine never left us.

my sitti later stayed with us in albuquerque for several months, but other than that time and some short visits, i have not seen her. i miss her and love her very much, and much of why i want to learn arabic is to be able to talk with her.

for several years now, i've wanted to go 'back home' (that's how many arabs refer their home countries). things never seemed to work out. money of course is one large obstacle, the political situation--never really stable-- is another. this time when i broached the subject with my parents, they were surprisingly supportive, and even excited. we prayed. mom was certain that it would be possible, that we could somehow pull it off. and God has opened the door for this long-awaited visit.

thanks

THANK YOU!!!

Thanks so much for your donation. It's generosity like yours that makes dreams happen-- I couldn't do it without you!


-Leila


PS- Check back soon-- as soon as I see your donation, I'll add your name to the Donors list on the site!

donations

on the sidebar on the right, the donate button leads you to my paypal account.
there you can make online payments using a credit or debit card. this is free for you, charges me about 3% for each transaction*, and does not require that you have a paypal account.

paypal is a great resource. i highly recommend it for personal online purchases (it's the primary payment option on ebay) but do what is more comfortable for you. of course, if you'd like to donate it the old-fashioned way, send me an email and i'll give you my mailing address, if you don't have it already. after 16 june, however, i'll be away from my apartment mailbox!

*if you have a paypal account and wish to donate without a fee, email me and i'll give you a link to my personal (non-premier) account.

if you're wondering where your money is going, click here to see my budget.

thanks again for your generosity. i couldn't do it without you.