City Inn Ramallah

Eigentlich wollte ich ja nach Jericho, die aelteste Stadt der Welt. Das hat aber irgendwie nicht geklappt, vor allem, weil ich nicht in Erfahrung bringen konnte, was es dort genau zu sehen gibt, und weil die Alternative Couchsurfen im Staedtchen praktisch nicht existiert. In letzter Minute konnte man mir dann eine relativ guenstige und recht bekannte Tour dorthin empfehlen, die aber nur donnerstags stattfindet... also aus Planungsgruenden nicht moeglich. Selbiger ...

Today was a very interesting day.

I met Michelle and we got on the bus to Ramallah. It only takes 30 mins but right at the end you pass through 'the wall'. For those that dont know It is a security fence that passes through Israel - roughly along the lines of the suposed border between the westbank and Israel. It is a horrible contraption and no one seems to be happy about it ...

On Monday we visited Al Haq, a Palestinian organization that promotes and protects human rights in the occupied territories. They attempt to bring about action and change through international litigation against Israeli violations of international law.

One of our presenter's most important points was that the occupation has become highly profitable for the Israelis. Because there is a lack of proper economic infrastructure in Palestine, supplies needed to ...

... time" (huh? I don't remember that); "Here's where Veronica wipes Jesus' face" (who the heck is Veronica??). Then you get to the last five stations, and they all take place within the Church of the Holy Sepulchur, within the Christian quarter. The last five stations are where he was stripped, was nailed to the cross, died on the cross, taken from the cross, and buried. And there are several places where tons of ...

... our passiontide journey. I had hoped that we would walk the stations in some prayerful way, but it was very much a tour. We had a guide, not our previous instructor, and he expeditiously pointed out each station and explained the tradition of that station. The highlight of the day was a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This place is unlike any church anywhere. Here is an article to read for more about it. Going there with a ...

... City part of Jerusalem--just like our Patagonia trip, this is adventure travel not a relaxing vacation. But is has already been a great educational experience. Weather also great, sunny and warm , temps in the 70's. Checked into our hotel tired after a long day and had a great cheeseburger in the bar lounge! Shirley couldn't stay awake so let me have my turn with the blog. Bob in the promised land.

Friday, July 4th, 2008 I left Amman early in the morning from my friends, Rajai and Mona's, apartment, where I was temporarily staying thanks to their generousness. I found a taxi and told the driver to take me to Abdali, where the service taxis are that go to the King Hussein Bridge. He told me though that there are no service taxis at Abdali anymore so he would instead take me to another place. I was confused and thought my Arabic might be ...

... so not allowed to sit on the hallowed carpet and that is when the guide rushes to get me a wooden stool that he will hence forward carry around from one point to the other. Strange that I am allowed to sit on the stool but not on the carpet... I genuinely thought I could sit on it since all the people around me were prosternating... Maybe prosternations are OK but not sit-ins! At least, from my stool, lifting my head up I can see how beautiful a mosque is the Dome of ...

Checkpoints and Spiritual Pilgrimages Yesterday, we drove to Bethlehem and the checkpoint was moved from where it was in 2005. We found the entrance, and after showing our passports and being asked why we wanted to go to Bethlehem, we entered. We wound our way up the hill to Manger Square and pulled into a garage labeled "public parking," a half a block from the corner. (The large public parking garage we ...

... never told any child or person about their story until that day they were videotaped. Many stories are like that. Ahuvah's grandmother made a videotaped. I was fortunate enough to watch most of it. Yad Vashem was closing and I had to fast forward through some of the movie. But it's intense to hear these stories at different points throughout their lives and what they went though. Ahuvah's grandmother said in her story that she will forever have ...