condoleeza rice is here

my second class was cancelled today because so many of the students went into ramallah for the demonstration against rice and america's support of israel in the current offensive in lebanon and gaza.

this was much larger than the one from the last post. first people gathered in the city center, then paraded around the streets to rally more, then the whole crowd headed for the pa compound, but the pa soldiers did not allow the demonstrators to go any further than a certain intersection. that point is where things got a bit heated.
it was sad to see palestinians clash with palestinians. it seemed they had orders from president abu mazen.
it was also interesting to see the huge difference between the police, who even helped the demonstration, letting people use the loudspeakers from their trucks, and the army who even at one moment pointed their guns to the crowd.

geography lesson

it's come to my attention that many aren't sure exactly where i am and some don't even know where this region is (shame!). and so again, since people are worried, here's another 'i'm ok' post, this time with a bit of chart-reading!

so i'm in the ramallah area. our village is just east of the city, on the road to jericho.
here's a general map of Palestine/Israel from maps.com. click to enlarge.

here's a map of the west bank that shows my village! click for a larger, clearer picture

and here's bbc's map of the current crisis. click for details from bbc.

so, yes, i'm less than a hundred miles from some pretty major violence (although it takes several hours to actually travel that distance). but at the moment, this whole area is ok.
my arabic professor is from gaza and his family is still there except for his wife and kids with him. he hasn't seen them in six years. when his mother died he still wasn't allowed to enter. a couple weeks ago he said in arabic that the life in ramallah is 'kitkat' (yep, the candybar). of course he's comparing it to what his family is going through under attack in gaza.
i think it's true. ramallah is as bustling as always with buyers and sellers, commuters and businesspeople. there was a protest-esque gathering on monday in the city center. notice the hizb-allah flags and the guy on shoulders with a microphone

archeological tour

last weekend we got on a bus with a professor of archeology at birzeit u. we went to ariiha (jericho) and stopped at a few sites on the way.
i was surprised that we went through my village to get there (i thought there must be a better way than those winding streets). and even more surprised to stop in my village, up a hill, to visit the site of an ancient city- older than jerusalem- around 3000 bc. i forget the name but it sounded like 'tel-ai' (i'll ask). we also got to see khirbat almafjar, which i studied extensively in islamic art history with renata holod. it's a palace from the ummayyad dynasty/caliphate (8th c. ad) and the site of the infamous al-walid and his ..er... wine, women, and song. check out the mosaics.

for this and any other slideshow, hover over any photo to see the caption, and click to see the full size.

sitti's place

when my driver brought me into deir dibwan, our village, he called it the most beautiful village in the area. my friend fofo across the street says she's proud to say it's where she's from.
while i haven't been able to spend much time walking around the village, my daily drive all around it in the service taxi (looking to pick up that seventh person so we can go!) has brought me to see much of it.

and i must say, i agree with the others!

i thought i'd introduce you first to sitti's house. it's certainly small, nothing like the villas with balconies and grand staircases one finds nearby. but those families in the villas come over to my grandmas house to pick from her yellow plum tree and her grape vines. she's got only one flowering bush, everything else is useful and edible. the olives and almonds aren't ready yet, but when they are, i wouldn't be surprised if neighbors came in flocks to 'visit' and harvest :)

so here are some pics- and allow me to remind you that all of my photos are being snapped by my little camera phone.

communication

i guess i shouldn't make any promises about updates.
a distant relative passed away and sitti and i went to visit the family to pay our respects. and so i haven't made it into the city this weekend. tomorrow i'll be on an archeological tour of jericho. i promise no photos, that way you'll be surprised when you get them :)

alex has finally figured out how to call my 'biliphone' (mobile) here. so any news could come to me through him if you wish. i heard a rumour about an internet cafe here in the village, but i'll believe it when i see it.

also slide.com, my trusty little partner for posting photos, seems to be down for construction many middle-of-the-nights, pacific time. heh.
anyway, coming soon... ;)

i'll be back

getting online is a bit difficult here. the university has a computer center, but it closes at 3. i have class 8-2, and i need lunch after 6 straight hours of class. then i have to be back in the village before the service taxis stop running there, and so far the only internet luck i've had there is the neighbor's 28.8 k dial up on an old laptop that crashes every 10 minutes or so. heh.

found a great internet cafe in ramallah for 3 shekels an hour (i'm there now). but i've still got to get back to the village lest i get stuck in this town.

got some photos & thoughts to share, but there's no time (internet time!).

i promise two slideshows and paragraphs by friday ;) (please don't stop visiting!)

i'll leave you with one ramallah photo i just had to snap: