Five Days, Five Jobs

So, I realized today that it might be fun to have a different job every day of the week. Now, all you nay-sayers and party poopers, just stay with me for a moment.

You could have five different jobs, one for each day of the week, and if you have four friends who have the same interests and skills, and five amenable companies, you guys could be a team and rotate jobs! Imagine the fulfillment and intellectual challenge and cross-job enrichment! The brain juice! The happiness level would skyrocket!

Here's what I might design:

Day One: florist, chef, gardener, farmer, animal caretaker

Sell farm veggies. WWOOF or work on a local farm. Animal care at shelter or private. Chef/cafe.

Day Two: ESL teacher, nanny, daycare provider or adventure provider.

Tutor/teach mini courses on variety of topics. Part-time childcare or music classes.

Day Three: Travel consultant, planner, reader, learner, languages.

Travel planning for others. Reviewing travel locales. Attend lectures. Translate.

Day Four: Multimedia installation artist. Calligraphy. Music. Filmmaker, writer.

Installation commissions. Etsy, calligraphy, crafts, import/export. Sell writing. Make music.

Day Five: Volunteer, nonprofit, manual labour, learn a new skill, active kindness.

Charity volunteer work. Barter/trade to learn a skill. Shadow interesting people. Freelance consult. Clear trails. Paint. Help people move.

Whaddya think? Anyone want to have a five-way with me??

Budgeting

Regular Costs:

• Monthly loan payments: $300
• Rent + utilities: $400
• Food: $100
• Entertainment/adventure/leisure: $50
• Savings: $100
• Business costs (website maintenance, advertising, travel, etc.): ?? $50 ??

TOTAL: $950

(*note: I acknowledge that if necessary, I could cut out adventure/entertainment, savings, and shave some off the food budget: perhaps subtracting 50+100+25= 175, or $775)

To Acquire Before Leaving:

• MacBook Pro: $1,269
• Digital camera: $3,000
• Unlocked iPhone & local SIM card: $450
• $5,000 to open account with First Republic Bank in California - awesome for travelers!
• 3 months buffer to cover first three months of relocation without needing to full-time work

TOTAL: $12,569

Yeesh!!!  That's a little absurd, no?

I could move abroad tomorrow, with no laptop (I have an iPad and keyboard), no digital camera, no fancy phone (buy a cheap local on arrival), no fancy bank account with no fees (keep my current account and pay hefty fees for international transactions and withdrawals), and no buffer. 

I think there's probably a nice middle ground to be found. I just wanted to give you a sense of what my 'ideal', 'safe', 'high-town-and-fancy-to-do' vision of being a freelancer abroad looks like. 

And then we'll see how I actually make this happen. 

Because there's NO WAY IN HELL that I'm waiting until I have $12,000 saved up to move. And you shouldn't either. 

Ideas for Staying Alive Cheaply and Comfortably

Lodging

• WWOOF
• GOOD: learn a skill, meet cool people, engage in community, guaranteed bed
• BAD: lack of solitude, daily grunt work requirement, too much routine
• Couchsurfing
• GOOD: meet local friends, stay in better homes than I could normally afford 
• BAD: no privacy, accountable to someone else's schedule, can't have all my things
• Hostels
• GOOD: meet other travelers, in-the-know info for local sights and spots, cheap
• BAD: no privacy, no space for my things, security, sharing facilities, tourist vibe
• AirBNB
• GOOD: usually a well-maintained space, solitude, room for things, guaranteed bed
• BAD: someone else owns the space, no help with transport or questions
• Local rental unit
• GOOD: landlord to help, legal contract, I 'own' the space, solitude, room for things
• BAD: no forced interaction with community, tied to a lease
• Friend/Smithie network
• GOOD: free or cheap, seeing my favorite/new favorite people, very short-term
• BAD: no privacy, accountable to their schedules, no space for things

Income-generation

• Busking
• GOOD: unique show could pay for daily food in right areas/set list, no obligation to work
• BAD: various laws about busking, not skilled enough on instruments, no guarantee
• Translating: eLance, oDesk, Pandora Language Services
• GOOD: choose my own work schedule, get to work on language skills, marketable later
• BAD: no guarantee of work, have to develop own business, language skills need work
• Hostel work
• GOOD: can be insular and stay in hostel and work for my keep to get established, easy
• BAD: on a schedule, must clean other people's mess and be around hostel vibe, no place to escape to, living and working in the same place can be tricky
• Import/export
• GOOD: enjoyable work, make local connections, art daily
• BAD: business management is not my strong point, or enjoyable, trick laws for exporting
• English teacher
• GOOD: guaranteed income, easy work for me, better pay than other local jobs?
• BAD: regular schedule, no room for spontaneity
• PT childcare for expat community or hotel
• GOOD: maybe flexible work schedule? easy work, high pay for expat or tourist parents
• BAD: maybe regular work schedule? all-day childcare doesn't inspire as much as art
• Blogger: advertising
• GOOD: easy money AFTER everything is established, make connections with bloggers, etc.
• BAD: feelings of being tied to computer, don't connect to real local community, business know-how
• Music tutor for expat community or local school
• GOOD: make music all day, higher pay than other posible jobs, 
• BAD: regular schedule, not actually music, just ESL music/childcare
• Travel consulting
• GOOD: travel for work, make connections, earn lots of money, flexible schedule + vacay
• BAD: lots of up front work to make connections, pressure to conform to industry norms
• Installation art commissions
• GOOD: thrilling work, creative every day, high pay, publicity, connect with creatives and support good causes
• BAD: pressure to produce would mess with creativity, hard to get materials, connect with community when abroad

Friend tour

Alright y'all, here's who I might visit on my imaginary friend tour:

• Katina: Totnes, UK
• Jess: Paris, France
• Lucy: Portland, OR
• Julia R: Portland, ME
• Tsering, Emily, Emily: New York, NY
• Abdelkader: Algeria
• Yoko & Yuko: Okazaki, Japan
• Casey: Cairo, Egypt
• Ashish: Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Haneen: Abu Dhabi, UAE
• Alessia: Italy
• Mitos: Thailand
• Hijjawis: Nablus
• Margaret: Colorado
• Julia H: Boston
• Dharamsala crew: Dharamsala, India

Just getting this all out into one place, to make room in my brain and to put it into YOUR brain...

Silence calls...

Hoo boy, I need another meditation retreat like WHOA.

My brain is crowded! I haven't slept properly for a week now. Part of the reason for that is because I was working my ass off on a job application, and my brain was swirling with ideas and connections and existential thoughts during the five days straight that I worked on my application materials.

Literally. Five days straight, out-of-bed-in-the-morning STRAIGHT to the computer and then back to bed at the end of the day.

We'll see what happens with the job. It is pretty much my dream job. But one must continue to make plans and be joyful and look for opportunities no matter what, right?

Anyway, back to meditation.

Here is my continual problem with every good habit I try to set for myself:

I want to be able to do it without any help.

Anybody else out there do that, too?

Like, oh, I won't pay $20 for a drop-in yoga class. I should just be able to discipline myself and practice at home and develop my own practice. But then I don't take the steps to do so, and I end up doing NO yoga.

Or, for example, I don't have the time for a 10 day silence retreat! The world needs me! Priorities! I will miss updates on Facebook! I have a 9-5 job that neeeeeeeeds me.

BULLSHIT.

We all need support, infrastructure, encouragement, and a plan. Maybe you have the self-discipline to just pick up a new habit like *that*, but I think you're in the minority.

What's that, you say? You agree, but you can't afford $20 for every yoga class you want to attend, and you really can't just up and quit your job to go meditate for ten days?

TRUTH. Here's what you could do, and what I'm going to try.

Call your friends who feel the same way about yoga -- they want to practice regularly but don't want to pay for or travel to the classes. 

Find a time where all of you are available, and commit to a group yoga session at the same time every week. Someone can host the 'classes' at their house, y'all can help clear out the living room, set up someone's laptop on the couch full screen and crank up the volume on one of those free yoga videos on the Interwebs.

Free information!
Accountability and sociability with friends!
FREE YOGA!

The key is that these people have to be your friends. People you actually want to see and hang out with. Not random people who you'll pull out on at the last moment. Motivation to see people you like, and social accountability because EVERYONE WILL KNOW if you don't show up.

This would work for weekly meditation sessions, too. The tricky part for me is that I consistently bounce between cities where I don't have a core group of friends to hang out with, AND that most of my friends aren't meditators and wouldn't be able to sit through an hour of silent sitting.

But! I shall persist! If YOU are a silent meditator, or a yogi, or a musician, or writer, or freelancer, FIND A BUDDY WITHIN YOUR FRIEND GROUP RIGHT NOW. 

And drop me a line to let me know what you're working on, and how it goes....

Ideal Escapist Freelance Packing List

Ideal Escapist Freelance Packing List for Temporary Relocation

1. MacBook Pro
2. iPad (with books)
3. iPhone headphones
4. Noise-canceling headphones
5. Unlocked iPhone and SIM card(s)
6. No-contract Virgin Mobile MiFi 2200
7. Blue Yeti USB microphone
8. Pilot .5 pens
9. Wallet
10. Jeans
11. Adventure pants
12. Black leggings
13. Casual black pants
14. Casual non-black pants
15. Wrap around skirt
16. Black tank top
17. Colored tank top
18. Black tee
19. Grey tee
20. Brown tee
21. Button-up blouse
22. Pant suit set
23. Casual/nice pullover jacket
24. Black zip-up jacket, blazer-esque but warmer
25. Hoodie/sweatshirt for comfort and layering
26. Nice formal-ish dress
27. Black jersey dress
28. Sundress
29. Black bra
30. Nude bra
31. Sports bra
32. 4 pair casual socks, 1 pair warm/wool socks for winter and hiking
33. 8 underwear
34. One piece swimsuit
35. Winter scarf
36. Spring scarf
37. Baseball hat
38. Winter hat
39. Thin, durable, warm gloves
40. Raincoat/winter coat, if necessary
41. Running/walking shoes
42. Flip flops
43. Black calf-covering flat boots
44. Black comfortable flats
45. Barefoot five-finger shoes...yes, I know I'll stick out and be mocked by locals and tourists alike...
46. Flashlight
47. Universal travel adapter
48. Reusable water bottle
49. Reusable metal thermos for hot drinks and soups
50. Reusable metal lunch tin or bento boxes
51. Fork, spoon, knife
52. Day backpack
53. Day cross-body purse or messenger bag, nice-enough looking
54. Moroccan bedspread
55. Hostel sheet
56. Towel set
57. Guitar
58. Toiletries (hair stuff, teeth stuff, shower stuff, razor, feminine hygiene, makeup, CHAPSTICKS)
59. Jewelry and watch
60. Sunglasses and case
61. Digital camera and case
62. Passport and travel portfolio for staying organized with travel docs, receipts, etc.
63. Notebook/sheaf of blank paper
64. External hard drive
65. Bike

Two things:

Obviously, the guitar and bike are huge. I would bring my guitar, and buy/rent a bike locally.

I don't own a digital camera, MacBook pro, iPhone, MiFi, or microphone yet. IDEAL list, I said.

Making a Change

Ahoy there, mateys!


Once again, I've been reading up on my favorite blogs: minimalist blogs, nomadic traveler blogs, freelance designer blogs, and be-yourself-and-be-free blogs.

And I'm inspired.

They all have incredibly beautiful blogs, and I know mine needs some aesthetic help. That's a skill I don't know and may ask for help with soon.

Destinations I am considering:

Chiang Mai, Thailand

SEA-BKK flight with my privileges: $230.20

Monthly rent: $400

Cuenca, Ecuador

SEA-UIO flight with my privileges: $133.20

Monthly rent: $400

Antigua, Guatemala

SEA-GUA flight with my privileges: $100.20

Monthly rent: $300

• Friend tour: visiting friends all over the world in geographic order, by land where possible

Portfolio of careers & services I am considering as BUSINESSES:

• Travel consultant
• Translation and interpretation
• Installation art commissions
• Import/export businesses

And here's the work that I ENJOY doing but won't pressure myself to EARN from:

• Creative writing
• Crafting/making art
• Music

Here goes the brainstorming and courage-grasping...

And photos to boot!

Aaaaaand I'm back!

It has been way too long since I have bothered to post any of my adventures on this blog. Just goes to show that I was too engaged in the adventuring!

To be honest, my life has totally changed since February. Let me count the ways.

1. I was a spring break nanny for a family with four children on Passover retreat in Orlando, FL, where I got up close and personal with crowd Judaism + lots of money. Where the result was some classism, some overeating, and some self-examination.

2. I accidentally got myself an awesome job in Toronto by following my instinct to email a film director and chat about the arts and creativity. In the course of our conversation, he mentioned he was looking for a nanny, and the rest is history!

3. I spent three months in Okazaki, Japan, teaching English, with no Japanese and no formal training. Being a vegetarian was challenging, as were the language difficulties and the intense heat and humidity of summer, but I learned so much about education, made some great friends among the students and the mothers, explored some beautiful places, and got to spend a lot of my free time focusing inwardly.

4. I completed another Vipassana meditation retreat, although this time I didn't sit the 10 day course but served. This means that I was not required to be silent, and that I spent ten days cleaning and cooking for about 100 people interspersed with thrice daily sittings, for one hour each. It was transformative -- jumping back and forth between noisy kitchen work and the intense quiet and focus of meditation was a great challenge, and I practiced such deep compassion and mindfulness during those ten days like I have never experienced before. I am still not sitting every day now, but I am more mindful and I am working towards twice daily sits.

5. I attended my dear friend's wedding in Maine - significant because it was the first wedding of a close friend, and because I was fortunate enough to spend two days with my dearest college friends. Transformative, and also grounding, in the way that any contact with your past is.

6. I spent about two months in the Seattle area, visiting friends (hey Anna!), attending college happy hours, and enjoying the Whidbey Island area with family. Lots of solitude, which I crave, and lots of planning and mental work in preparation for my move to Toronto. This time is drawing to a close in about three weeks, when I will relocate to Canada!

In the meantime, I am focusing on being here and now, and enjoying the tiniest changing of the seasons each day. I am trying to be mindful of my body and what I allow into my body (food and other people's interactions and judgments).

My excitement for Toronto is immense - I am beyond thrilled to have my own apartment, to be making money, to get to know a new city and make new friends (who speak English!), but above all, to be working with a family who values me and what I bring to the table, and whose values I also respect. What a gift!

Off to snack on some vegan, gluten-free, melt-in-your-mouth ginger molasses cookies and some tea.

Happy fall!

[2.5 months of downtime]

So, I have about two and a half months to waste until the next job starts. And I still have free flight privileges for another 10 months. So.....I'm thinking perhaps a whirlwind, unplanned Southeast Asia tour would be fun. And/or South America. Because I speak Spanish. And Southeast Asia is just so appealing to me. I mean, come on, beaches, temples, delicious vegetarian food? I'm in.

via

I pretty much always pack as if I could travel around the world and never come home. So I'm all ready! And I've never done a trip where I don't plan anything. I've never traveled in such a way that I have to rely on other people and pure old karma. It sounds thrilling! I also have barely enough money to feed myself, which would double up the fun, I'm sure. Let's be honest here -- all my money right now is either going to pay off my student loans or to finance an overseas adventure.

via

Think I'm crazy? You're right. But I love adventure. And this would sure be one hell of an adventure, am I right?

Here's as much planning as I think I'll do: I'll make a list of things I want to do and places I want to see in all these countries, plus a starter list of cheap hostels in each location. The plan is to start in Bangkok, and go through Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and perhaps Burma, Malaysia, and Indonesia if I can swing it (and if I don't get too distracted). And then I'll just ask nice people on arrival and do some scouting around for places to stay and eat (see below). How's that for minimal planning?!

Me eating a fried sandwich in Varanasi, 2012 = YUM.

I'm going to try to lower my standards so much that I can survive on a low, low daily budget. Like, street food (that's been fried or otherwise safely prepared!), grocery shopping and keeping myself stocked with fresh fruit and snacks and packed lunches, public transportation, and crowded dorms with at least lukewarm water. Don't worry folks, there will be a well-kept record of this crazy affair, complete with costs, locations, reviews, and stories.

I am so ready to be challenged and terrified and awakened and satisfied by a trip like this. Thoughts? Is this totally nuts? What do you think I should do to prepare? Do you have any activities or locations you think I should seek out?

[four more days in paradise lost]

Alright, friends. We all knew this day was coming, when the adventure of Palestine would come to an end. I did not expect it to be so soon. The brief rain this morning was followed by gorgeous sun and dark clouds, and the air smelled like springtime. It smelled so familiar, welcoming, and alive -- it smelled just the way spring in Kirkland smelled.

I have come to feel about Nablus the way I feel about Kirkland and Northampton. These are places where I know people, where I have favorite places, where there are regular spots I hang out, where I have experienced the full range of emotions from lowest low to highest high. It is a place I will return to, throughout my life, I am sure.

Palestine itself has been welcoming and challenging and inspiring and educational. 'Nothing in the guidebooks is true but the maps,' said Dave Eggers in You Shall Know Our Velocity. That's certainly true in this part of the world, except that depending on who you ask, even the maps aren't true.

I am confident that Palestine and my friends here will always hold a special place in my memory, and in my future. We're not done yet, Palestine. I'll see you soon. Thanks for the ridiculous amount of life experience you've managed to cram into four months. It's been real.

[al-quds in february]

I'm currently camped out at the Austrian Hospice in Jerusalem's Old City. This is where my grandfather and I will spend the night this evening before migrating to Nablus tomorrow so I can be back in time to help administer the first adult choir rehearsal.

via

It was fairly sunny and breezy on the way over from Nablus and through Ramallah. My favorite kind of weather. The apartment gets pretty cold at night, but when I'm out walking and the sun is on my face and my feet are moving, it's not too bad. I am also really grateful that the weather is dry today -- a rainy day would have made the meeting up with my grandfather even more tricky and potentially unpleasant.

We'll spend one night here in the Hospice, explore the Old City tonight and have dinner and do a nice walk around the area tomorrow morning before heading back to Nablus tomorrow around lunchtime.

Speaking of which, his plane landed about an hour and a half ago, and depending on how long it took to get through security and how long the shared taxi service is taking, he could be arriving at our meetup point anytime. I think I'll migrate over there and have some tea and write some letters in the meantime. Not looking forward to shimmying and shoving my way through the crowd around Damascus Gate again.

Wish me luck!

[grandpa comes to palestine!]

Folks, I have an announcement to make. In spite of the rainy weather, the 11 hour flight, the horrendous security checks and the multi-transfer journey from Tel Aviv to the West Bank, my grandfather is coming to Palestine tomorrow.

He is well-read, well-traveled and incredibly enthusiastic about this trip. He's wanted to visit this region of the world for quite some time, and now that his granddaughter (me) is living and working here, the timing is right!

My to-do list for his visit:

• Jerusalem/Al-Quds: Old City, all the associated churches, mosques, Wailing Wall, museums, delicious dinner out
  
• Bil'in: Friday weekly non-violent protest
• Bethlehem: Church of the Nativity, Dheisheh camp, cultural centers, the Wall and Banksy graffiti, visit my favorite mosque (Mosque of Omar) on the main square, Palestinian Heritage Center, potential hike around Mar Elias and the orthodox monastery, Holy Land Trust?, Taybeh beer, Stars & Bucks cafe
  
• Nablus: soap factories, Ali's oud workshop, dinner with Music Harvest folk, Sameh's piano workshop, tea at the Hijjawi dress shop, dinner with Haneen, Old City knafeh, An-Najah University, visit olive groves, Salem village, Balata camp, Sama Nablus, soccer game?
  
• Hebron/Al-Khalil: Tomb of the Patriarchs, souq and abandoned main street, Breaking the Silence tour or Green Olive tour, Hirbawi kuffiyeh factory
  
• Jenin: Freedom Theatre, dinner with friends
• Ramallah: Arafat's grave and Muqata, nice dinner out
• Jericho: gentle walk around the city
• Maale Adumim? Ariel? http://www.toursinenglish.com/2008/01/israel-west-bank-palestine-alternative.html?
  

In other news, I'm ready to be onto the next thing. Good thing I have a few months to wander around before Japan in May.

Ahlan wa sahlan, Ba!

[quote of the day]

“Dance, when you're broken open. Dance, if you've torn the

bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your

blood. Dance when you're perfectly free.”

-Rumi

[quote of the day]

"Be content to seem what you really are."

-Marcus Aurelius

via

[do it again, but better]

It's finally 2012. We really are living in the future now. Soon it will be 2019, and then 2042, and then 2078. My grandchildren could be born in the 2050s.

via

But that is a long way away from today. Right now, the world is in chaos. War, famine, natural disasters, crime, gender inequality, occupation, and unhealthy habits abound.

via

This is the year that things are going to change, for better or for worse. This year, Presidential elections in the United States will change how Americans are viewed around the world, how international foreign policy affects war and peace, and how domestic policy affects the lives of millions of people.

via

This year, governments and activists around the world are preparing to deal with the effects of global climate change: intense heat waves, outbreaks of malaria, increased floods, more cases of food poisoning (which increases along with average temperature), increased pollution, melting polar ice caps, continued deforestation and desertification, and the continued unnecessary endangerment of plants and animals (including us!).

via

via

via

On the other hand, people everywhere are mounting an ever-stronger resistance to tradition, capitalism and occupation. All over the world, people are claiming their rights to equality and independence, to control their own fate.

And I believe, along with Paulo Coelho, that when you want something, the whole universe conspires to help you achieve it.

via

For me personally, 2012 is a year of momentous change. This marks the first year in which I have been free from the traditional bounds of education and the restrictive schedule and expectations of college.

I am 22 years old, and I am ready to make my own change. I am not following anyone else's lead now. Nothing is original, and I am preparing to steal and innovate on the worthy ideas of others this year.

I am brainstorming organizations that will support my own creativity (check back soon for official announcement), and that provide opportunities for others (friends and strangers) to do the same. I am living according to a system of morality that never keeps me awake at night. I am taking more risks. I am dreaming bigger, and slowly beginning to make concrete connections between my dreams and reality.

I have been around for more than two decades, and I'm not wasting any more time.

This year:

• I am prioritizing my health. (I will not eat gluten, nor will I consume animal products of any kind. I will eat as locally as possible, and I will minimize sugar consumption.)
• I am prioritizing my happiness. (I will not regret or resent time spent dreaming or recharging. I will value creativity and the simple pleasures in life.)
• I am prioritizing my intelligence and my dreams. (I will not let my own ideas and convictions fall by the wayside in the face of challenges from others. I will continue to educate myself and to seek opportunities to translate thought into action for the benefit of all living things. By the end of 2012, I will be operating my own non-profit.)
• I am prioritizing my loved ones. (I will be vulnerable with my friends and family, and I will support their dreams and well being as I support my own.)
• I am prioritizing my planet. (I will educate myself about environmental issues and sustainability. I will take steps to offset my own contributions to global climate change, and I will participate in meaningful activism that protects and respects the earth.)
• I am prioritizing peace. (I will not spend any time or energy on activities that do not directly contribute to increasing peace, whether they be in my personal or professional life, amongst family, friends, or co-workers, or on a local or global scale. I will engage in meaningful conversations and actions that encourage genuine peacemaking and reconciliation, as opposed to surface-level resolution.)

What are your commitments for 2012?

[quote of the day]

Today we struggle for the soul of our country.
-Charles Perkins

solidarity: now and always, here and everywhere

Bil'in Village, West Bank, Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Great things are happening all over the world. Oakland, Bil'in and Springfield are excellent examples.

What does solidarity mean? Solidarity means resistance. It means acting together. It means drawing inspiration from one another. Sharing ideas and being creative. Making change. Never forgetting that we belong to one another. And that another world is on her way, and if we're quiet enough, we can definitely hear her breathing (Arundhati Roy).

Solidarity can be dangerous.

From the 1999 Seattle WTO riots.

The shape, texture, and purpose of resistant is different for every community. But resistance to unjust systems and laws is always necessary, and always requires great courage.

This video, of friends and colleagues in Massachusetts, inspires me to take more direct, nonviolent action against the illegal and undignified occupation of Palestine.



What are you working on?


What inspires you?


What does solidarity mean to you?

[palestine: ahlan wa sahlan]

Life in Palestine goes one. People go to work, children go to school, and the occupation continues. If you stay in one place, you don't directly encounter the occupation. But the effects are clear.

Poster, Old City, Nablus, Palestine.

'Made in USA', Separation Wall, Bethlehem, Palestine.

Separation Wall, Bethlehem, Palestine.

Handala, Separation Wall, Bethlehem, Palestine.

Separation Wall, Bethlehem, Palestine.

[sumud: resistance]

I have been in Occupied Palestine for a week and a half now. And it's glorious. People are friendly, the landscape is positively incredible, the food is delicious, the Arabic gorgeous and nuanced, and my work is challenging and fulfilling. I am teaching music (voice and piano) to kids in individual lessons at a music center in Nablus, and we begin group music classes at a local primary school tomorrow.



I have passed by many checkpoints, but only gone through two of them. One was unmanned and I walked through the maze of turnstiles, and other was manned by a barely legal Israeli girl who giggled and flirted over the loudspeaker with the male volunteer with whom I was traveling. There was also a gruff 30-something man who simply waved me past when I flashed my U.S. passport.

I spent hours walking along the separation wall in Bethlehem and trying not to tear up at the graffiti (pictures to come). I also picked up a fabulous book called 'Challenging the Wall: Towards a Pedagogy of Hope' which contains case studies, academic analysis, interviews, etc., about the separation wall and it's role on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.




I crossed into "East Jerusalem" from "West Jerusalem" and the discrepancy was shocking. One crosses the street near Damascus Gate (Bab el-Aamoud) and immediately the signs are in Arabic and the voices speak Arabic.

So far I've managed to figure out how to take a serveece (like a cross between a taxi and a bus), order my daily felafel sandwich, and talk to my kids to see how their days have been. I also know my way around the Old City, how to cook in a gas-lit oven (my cake turned out fabulously), and how to ignore the 'how are yous' and the 'what's your name' and the 'i love yous' shouted at me from all directions whenever I walk down the street.

Crazy adventures:
-hiking Wadi Qelt near Areha (Jericho) at sunrise
-making friends with the owners/10-month old daughter of the restaurant in Areha
-being invited for tea by the neighbor kids, which turned into dinner, which turned into shisha on the roof
-baking/inventing a delicious cake in our gas-lit stove
-stumbling upon the PLO Negotiations headquarters, eating lunch there, and then forcing the guards to take my cake
-being in the main square of Nablus during the rally when Abbas was speaking to the UN
-observing the Via Dolorosa walk in the Old City of Jerusalem
-sharing a seat with an older woman and her granddaughter on a serveece to Ramallah
-leaving the Bethlehem Couchsurfer host's place at 3 AM and wandering around the city
-befriending four policemen in Bethlehem and being invited to cook lunch with them in their bachelor pad across from the Church of the Nativity
-leaving my mark on the separation wall

And three more months to come!

Palestine is a beautiful country. It is NOT scary. It is NOT dangerous. It is NOT full of Muslim terrorists.




...it's full of Jewish terrorists. Not that all Jews are terrorists, and not that all Israelis are terrorists. But the people in Palestine who are terrorizing Palestinians are Jewish Israelis.


It's full of Israeli teenagers toting guns, as well as armed Jewish settlers who assault regular Palestinians on a daily basis. It is also full of American-financed systematic oppression and intimidation of an entire people. It is full of brave, persistent, courageous, normal families whose every breath constitutes an act of resistance. Many people have made a choice to stay here in Palestine, or to immigrate here, to an occupied territory where their very lives and the lives of their loved ones are threatened and where their existence is denied by major players in the international community.

Palestine is a peaceful place. People are tired of violence, but they are actively demanding their right to self-determination regardless of what international leaders, Palestinian leaders, and Israeli leaders are doing behind the scenes.

One can understand nothing about a place until it is experienced for oneself, and that understanding will change every minute as the situation itself changes. Palestine is not static. Palestine is dynamic, in constant change and adaptation with the requirements of daily life and the whims of the State of Israel as well as the ignorance and cowardice of the international community.

Visit Palestine! Or at the very least educate yourself. There's so much to love here.