This title explains my day quite accurately. From today on, I started decided to train after work, around 3:30pm at the SFP premises. On my off days, I can enjoy parks and maybe the sports center or even the beach! But today, which was exceptionally hot (30C), for the first time I trained at SFP. It's the foyer of the workshop building. Quite wide, nice looking, with wooden columns and a wooden roof, of the four walls one overlooks the beautiful garden with palm trees. Pretty, indeed. But before that, the whole day I worked on a report we needed to send to Germany. A foundation from there financially supported a project that the Humanitarian Aid Organization of the school had initiated with the organization we visited this week in Nablus. If you remember, I met the director, Ahmad, of the Future Generation Hands Association. So this project, called the "Child Victims of War" aims to provide children who suffered war-imposed injuries the medical treatment they need. So far they initiated help for 3 young Palestinians who got physical and psychological damages and varying levels of injuries during the Second Intifada.
So while I was working on the report, I had to retrieve information from FGHA's website. Luckily it's all in English. But a broken English. So I asked Halim if he could ask Ahmad what he thinks if I edit the whole website, for free of course. He told me to go ahead even before talking to Ahmad. So now I have another thing to work on this week. Yael also asked me if I could film the whole conference! I said, yeah! On one condition: you're going to allow me to interview people. And she said YES! I can see a documentary taking shape.. :) Well, I hope.
Then this lovely Jewish family from the UK came into my office asking for help. They wanted info and brochure for the primary school here. I took them to Howard Shippin, the Communications Coordinator, and had a nice chat with them on our way to the public relations building. They work at another "unique" primary school in the UK and they were looking for some kind of an affiliation with the one here. Then I met Emma at Ahlan Cafe, while waiting for my delicious lunch. Emma is around 8, lives in Cincinnati, Christian, is in Israel for holiday with her family. She was so surprised that I speak English so well and not from an English-speaking country. She was sweet, maybe I see her in Jerusalem tomorrow.
I like it when I meet people like that, at random, on a sunny day like that. Anyways, the school was already empty around 3:30 so I decided to lock down our quarters, and move to the workshop building for some capoeira. It was good training but I have to figure out something about the dryness of the weather here. Because of that my feet are so dry, and it makes it even more slippery for me on a stone floor. Mop it, says Sean. We'll see about that. I also had a bizarre, awkward and funny encounter there. So I was training, upside down, minding my own business when these elder, conservative looking Arab and Jewish men walked in. At first I thought they're walking by, because you can walk through the foyer to get to the garden and the shack where they sometimes host events. But they didn't. They stopped, started staring at me, looked puzzled like you have no idea. So, I had to get up and well, face them with my dirty outwear (white Chuvisco shirt, and my dark red abada). I asked if I could help them. No answer. I said, "Do you speak English? Because I sure can't speak Arabic or Hebrew." Nothing. They kept on staring at me, not sure what to do, where to go. So I stood there, smiling, not liking the fact that I'm cooling down. Finally though, one of them said something about a meeting, or a workshop they're supposed to have here tonight. So I directed them over to the shack.
Good Training, a nice walk back home and what do I see at the volunteer house?! A GIANT, NEW fridge and again a brand new washing machine!! Mouna was trying to fit in everything we had in two of our broken fridges. She's doing a pretty damn good job. So I helped her peeling the potatoes while she cleaned the kitchen. And I'm proud to say I don't have even a small cut in my hands. She's going make spiced baked potatos with garlic-yogurt-mint sauce. Mmmm. I have to get ready for the bed soon tonight because tomorrow I'm going to be a person at the bus stop in Neve Shalom, hitch-hiking for either Latrun (where I'll take the bus to Jerusalem) or even better for Jerusalem. I"m very hopeful by the fact that every single person I met here told me how normal and common it is to hitch-hike here, so I have a strong feeling that one of the good sirs or ma'ams of Neve Shalom / Wahat al Salam will give me a ride. I'll be at the Breaking the Silence tour in Hebron, and then striding through the city of JE-RU-SA-LEM! So excited. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment