Homestays

Amazing food, new card games, Arabic homework help, blossoming friendships, and a loving home: this is homestays. Last week, our group broke off into pairs to live with a Palestinian family for the week in the Bethlehem area. We were all pretty nervous going in, unsure of how large our culture and language barrier would be, but also excited for the opportunity to learn more about daily life in the West Bank. 

It turned out to be one of the most rewarding experiences I've had thus far. I lived in Beit Sahour, part of the larger Bethlehem area, with an Orthodox Christian family. My family was made up of my host mom, Randa, who teaches middle school science, my host dad, Nasri, who is an architect, and my three host sisters; Dareen (15), Daniella (13), and Nicole (11). They were absolutely wonderful, and made us feel so welcome. 

During the week, we still had classes every morning at Tantur, but in the afternoon, we would make our way back to Beit Sahour to hang out with our family. Our host sisters were the best. Since my first words when Kellen was born were, "But I wanted a sister!" I was ecstatic to get to have three younger sisters for the week (Sorry bud, love you!). In the afternoons, we would all work on homework together, them helping us with our Arabic and us helping them with their English. Of course, they were teaching us words like "apple" and "grandma," while they needed us to explain words like "hydroelectric energy" and "fossil fuels." Similar, not. Our whole family spoke great English, so language wasn't really an issue, but they did teach us all sorts of new Arabic words during the week, and helped us practice for our Arabic test. Every night after dinner, we'd all sit down together and watch TV. Communal TV watching is a big part of the culture here. The whole family sits down together every evening and first watches Turkish soap operas (which were entertaining to try to follow). Then, the girls would turn on MTV, showing that globalization is making the world a smaller and smaller place. I swear, the girls knew more American singers than I did! We even watched Harry Potter with Arabic subtitles, which just made my night :) Each night, the girls would teach us new card games, which we'd play while watching TV. 

The best way to learn about any culture is through the food, and we were given a true feast each night of amazing Palestinian cooking. Some of my favorites were malfouf (meat, rice, and spices rolled up in boiled cabbage leaves, then drizzled in lemon juice) and musakhan (flat bread with grilled onions, tons of spices, and melt in your mouth chicken on top). Needless to say, we went to bed every night stuffed and happy. 

Weekends in Bethlehem are Friday and Sunday, to account for the Muslim holy day (Friday), and the Christian holy day (Sunday). Thus, on Thursday night our sisters took us to the Catholic Action Center with them. Its a place for the local kids to hang out Thursday nights, with a gym to play basketball in, a movie theater, a pool, a game room, and tables to sit at and talk. We got to meet many of our sisters friends, hear the gossip about the mean girls at school, witness an almost fight between two high school boys, and theorize about who was dating who. It felt like I was back in high school! After hanging out for a while, we went to our host mom's sister's house for a while. We hung out with our sisters and their cousins, and I had my hair braided in every design I've ever seen on Pinterest by their amazingly talented cousin Mireen. We then made it home in time for the latest episode of Pretty Little Liars. 

On Friday, we had breakfast at our host mom's parent's house. Then, we got to go on a field trip with two of our sisters! They are both in the environmental club at school, which meets one Friday a month, and happened to be taking a trip to a conservation site in Beit Jala that Friday. Our sisters asked their teacher if we could go, and she said yes, so away we went with around 30 middle and high school girls from various Catholic schools in Bethlehem. While the presentation was all in Arabic, my sisters and their friends tried to translate for us. This got increasingly comical as we tried to pantomime environmental words back and forth, which neither of us knew in the opposite language. We had a presentation on tracking birds, got to see the museum, full wall to wall with taxidermy birds, and played group games in Arabic.

The best part of the week was the conversations we got to have, both with our family and with our sisters' friends. We learned about normalization in Bethlehem, how daily life goes on despite the occupation. We learned about being a Palestinian Christian in a region where you make up 1% of the population, and where most Western Christians don't acknowledge you exist. We learned about strikes, as our mom's teachers union was on strike one day we were there, because they government had been withholding their wages. We learned about Muslim-Christian relations within the West Bank, and how opinions vary on the viability of friendship between the two groups. We learned about school curriculum and universities in Palestine. We learned about travel restrictions. We learned about marriage and dating in a modest and family oriented culture.

We also learned that our commonalities define us much more than our differences. Middle and high school girls in the West Bank AND the US love Justin Beiber, Demi Levato, Selena Gomez, One Direction, Pretty Little Liars, MTV, and Twilight. People watch movies like Les Mis, the Hobbit, X-Men, Harry Potter, and The Vow for fun. Moms worry about their kids going off the college, moving away, and not visiting. Dads tease their daughters about any boy they talk to. Siblings "borrow" clothes, fight over the remote, complain about having the same teachers as the older ones, and tell each other to turn down the loud music blaring in the next room. Families gather around the dinner table to talk about their day, laugh, and tease on another. Parents love their children deeply and want what is best for them. 

At the end of the day, its the commonalities that I'll take away. Not because I like people to act and think like me. But because underneath all our different opinions, politics, religions, clothes, countries, nationalities, and ethnicities, we have a common humanity. And at the end of the day, this is what really matters. 

Masada, Dead Sea, Ein Gedi

Our first official weekend excursion was the highlight of the trip thus far, taking us to Masada, the Dead Sea, and Ein Gedi national park. We started at Masada bright and early, ready to hike to the top (or take the cable car, for those of us who were sick). Masada is a fortress built by Herod, used as his winter palace. More important historically, though, its the place where the last of the Jewish resistance fighters held out against the Romans in 70 AD. In order to reach them, the Romans had to build a ramp up the mountain, in order to push a battering ram up to break the wall. They finished the ramp one night, and went to sleep, planning on taking Masada in the morning. The Jewish fighters inside knew they had a choice to make. Rather than be taken into slavery by the Romans, the fighters, women and children included, committed mass suicide. When the Romans reached Masada in the morning, they found only 1 woman and 2 children alive. Our group had fun exploring the ruins, especially the Northern Palace where Herod lived. A few of us even got a Rabbinic blessing from the Rabbi working in the ruins of the old synagogue! 

View from top of Masada

Siege ramp Romans built to reach Masada

Bathhouse 

Herod's Northern Palace

Next, we headed down to the Dead Sea. Yes, you float. Yes, it is the weirdest sensation ever. Yes, it is a ton of fun. You start wading in, thinking the water is normal. Once you get about knee deep, you decide to lean back, and suddenly find yourself floating. No matter how hard you try, you can't make yourself sink. This makes everyone end up looking like a beached whale, with arms and legs constantly flailing  trying to propel yourself around, but not being able to get your legs far enough under water to kick. Needless to say, we were highly entertained.  The salt water already makes you skin feel amazing, but then you add the magical element: dead sea mud. There were barrels on the beach of mud, which everyone coats their body in, then waits for it to dry before rinsing off in the sea. My skin has never felt smoother, it was amazing. After playing in the water for a while longer, we headed back to our hostel for the night. 

The next day, we explored, hiked, and swam our way through Ein Gedi national park. Supposedly where David hid from Saul, the park is full of caves, waterfalls, rocky canyons, and lots of amazing views of the Dead Sea and Jordan. There are two canyons, Wadi David and Wadi Arugot to explore. We would hike for a while, swim in a waterfall for a while, then hike some more repeatedly throughout the day. In the afternoon, we ran across the street for one last dip in the Dead Sea before heading home. 

Life in the Big City: Tel Aviv

Thursday we had a full day of class in Tel Aviv, which some of us turned into a weekend in the city. In the morning, we had the incredible opportunity to meet with a US diplomat from the embassy, who has been in the Foreign Service for the past 15 years, about US foreign policy in the region, specifically in regard to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. 

Since it was raining (and most people are from the South, hence think beach means sun. HA! Come to the Oregon Coast), we skipped the beach and instead went to the Jewish Diaspora Museum. Very interesting exhibits on Jewish life in the diaspora, from 70 AD, persecution in Europe, and the Holocaust, through the creation of the Jewish State. 

In the evening, we listened to a panel of Israelis from differing backgrounds talk about Jewish identity and what that means to them. Those of us who were staying the night then went to wander the city, and found this awesome fountain in downtown Tel Aviv. Hence spent a good 30 minutes taking cool jumping pictures. You're welcome. We then grabbed dinner at a cute Italian restaurant, because nothing says, "I'm in the Middle East," like a good ravioli.  Our multicultural evening included sampling all their desserts, just to be fair. 

After dinner, we went down the beach to "look." Also known as getting in the Mediterranean Sea with our clothes on at 11 pm. Best experience of the trip thus far: wading in the Mediterranean, looking up at a starry sky, with giant breakers crashing in front of me, racing waves back to shore with good friends, while watching people at the marina shoot off Roman Candles. Yep, studying abroad is really hard. 

We got up the next morning at took a leisurely stroll down the beach. Along the way, we found: 1) Work Out Parks- they look like a playground for kids, but are really work out stations for adults. So. Fun. 2) The best playground ever created. Bold claim I know but its true. Probably more fun because I'm pretty sure some of the play structures wouldn't pass safety codes in the US, but oh well. A giant pyramid of ropes tied together that you can climb, 25 feet tall, overlooking the sea. The best. 

We made our way down the beach to Jaffa. Tel Aviv is a fairly new city, but Jaffa can be dated back to biblical times (then Jappa). We explored the old city, including the clock tower, built by the Ottomans. As you wander through, you feel like the streets belong in southern France or Italy, rather than the Middle East. We saw the famous floating orange tree, the harbor, many art galleries, and lots cool architecture. After lunch and gelato, it was pouring rain, so we decided to head back to Jerusalem. 

 It was the best weekend we've had so far, and I loved seeing a different part of Israel. While Jerusalem is religious, traditional, and historic, Tel Aviv is secular, modern, and cutting edge. It was great to not only explore new areas, but to see the different kinds of people that live in Tel Aviv. It definitely attracts the younger crowds, and for once, we didn't feel like we stuck out everywhere we went. Tel Aviv was a blast, and  I definitely hope to go back to again on this trip, and in the future. 

Hebron

Abraham's Tomb-Jewish Side

We visited Hebron this week to see both the Tomb of the Patriarchs and the unique settlement movement happening there. The Tomb of the Patriarchs is divided, one side Jewish and the other Muslim. We began by visiting the Jewish side, where you can see the tombs for Abraham, Sarah, Jacob and Leah. The view of the tombs on the Jewish side isn't nearly as good as the view on the Muslim side. These four tombs are behind grates, each set in their own room with prayer books and candles surrounding them. Orthodox Jews can be seen reciting prayers in the corner of the rooms throughout the day.  

Israeli section of old city-a ghost town

We then wandered through old city Hebron, which was once a thriving souk. Today, though, only a few shops are still open, since the 2nd Intifada forced the Israelis to close much of the souk, according to Israelis, or since the Israeli settlement began, according to Palestinians. Few tourists journey into the once thriving souk nowadays, with the locals making up the regular clientele  Thus, when a group of Americans came parading through, every merchant was clamoring for our attention. We are used to being hounded by merchants in the Old City in Jerusalem, but there was a different level of desperation in the clamoring here. The souk is a sad, quiet place most afternoons, and I wonder how these people manage to make a living. Jews for centuries have viewed Hebron as a pilgrimage site, and as violence rose in Hebron in the 2nd Intifada, Israelis saw an opportunity to assert their claim in the area. The current settlement is built on top of the existing old city, with Israelis above and Palestinians below. Palestinians put chicken wire over the walkways of the souk to prevent the garbage that is being thrown from "above" from falling on their heads. However, when you enter the "Israeli" section of Hebron, it is almost deserted. The fact is, few settlers want to move to Hebron, due to the frequent and often heated interactions between the Jewish and Palestinian residents. Currently, there are about 800 Israeli settlers, protected by a force of 3,000 Israeli soldiers, in a population of over 10,000 Palestinians. 

Abraham's Tomb-Muslim Side

We then entered the Muslim side of the Tomb of the Patriarchs, which is a mosque. This was the first time the girls had to cover our heads, so we had fun arranging each others' scarfs before going in. The inside of the mosque was beautiful, and it offered much better views of the tombs. On this side, we could see Abraham and Sarah again, as well as Issac and Rebecca. One of the coolest parts of the Muslim side was the view down into the actual tombs. There was a hole discovered in the floor of the mosque in the 1980s, which leads down into the actual caves where the patriarchs are buried  Thus, you can look down a hole and see a lamp burning at the bottom, illuminating the floor of Abraham's tomb. An interesting day in a city that is easily the most divided we've seen thus far.