I feel
heavy.
Weighed down
by decisions.
Lack of
accomplishment.
Do you miss
the things
you will never
complete?
If not,
I will
miss them
for you.

Each And Every One

Spring break is next week and my mom is coming to visit. It should be interesting to travel around a bit more, I haven't done much of that since I've been here.

I'm looking forward to getting out of here though, not that it hasn't been nice but this is probably going to be my last summer home and I'd like to savor it. I want to sit on the dock and eat Waterfront pizza, I want to go to The Rose and eat their delicious popcorn, I want to sit at Dogs-A-Foot with Sumi and drink tart lemonade, I want to get a scoop of Oreo Mint at Elevated Ice Cream, I want to drive around town with the windows down listening to the radio, I want to watch the sun set at Fort Worden, I want to drink a margarita on the deck at Sirens, I want to be with my friends and my family, these moments are summer and home to me and I'm looking forward to each and every one.

April showers bring May flowers

Happy April! It's been so sunny and warm lately but today we had a reminder of winter with rain and cold. However, the tiny pink blossoms outside my door looked beautiful covered in raindrops and I got to wear my kickass brown boots so it wasn't too bad. Work was slow and I resumed my attempt at reading The God of Small Things, I didn't get very far...

One of my students told me he might be dropping out because he's not getting along with his girlfriend. He wants her to wear the hijab and not talk to other boys and she's saying no. And he wants to marry her but can't unless she does these things. Ah young love, drama drama drama.

On the way home today the small car in front of us had five sheep squished together in the back. I felt bad for them because I could see them losing their footing every time the car went around a corner. They were really cute though.

Almond and Lemon Trees

The almond trees are in bloom, light blossoms cover the branches and men are selling the raw green nuts off of carts near Manara. Winter was short and is a faint memory these days as the sun comes out to warm my face. The months seem long yet but weeks are passing in a blur. I can't decide how I will feel when I finally leave this place. I'm looking forward to summer maybe a little too much, I must remember to live in the present. The tree in my backyard is heavy with lemons, I'm tempted to pick all the fruit and make lemonade. Maybe once the heat comes I will no longer be able to resist.

Nablus

After having a delicious meal of hummus, pita and fool in Ramallah I went to Nablus last weekend and walked around the Old City. I saw an amazing stall where a man was selling dozens of different types of pickled vegetables, the neon pink and yellow mounds were beautiful, unfortunately it was too dark for me to get a good picture. Had some delicious fresh squeezed orange juice. There was a lot of raw meat sitting around.

A Sense of Hope

Friday night I walked down to the Manara to see the demonstration. Palestinians of all ages stood in a group between the building where Stars and Bucks is and the Bank of Palestine cheering and chanting. It was cold but there were a few hundred gathered together, chanting in Arabic 'down with the regime' and 'freedom for Gaza and Jerusalem.' I could feel the energy in the air and I kept smiling. A woman handed out candy bars and the guy next to me passed me one. Other people threw candy in the air. Men waved large Egyptian and Palestinian flags. The fall of Hosni Mubarak has lit a spark but there's still a long way to go. A friend of a friend leaned over and said to me 'feel sorry for our country, they can't celebrate Egypt only, they have to do something for our country too.' My friend Tala says that no Palestinian with a brain is going to try to start a revolution the way the Egyptians did because it just won't work. A new government has to be put into place and it's going to take time. But after so much time of stagnant tension, there's truly a sense of hope in the air.

Back to work

Well I'm back in the West Bank. Leaving India was hard, it's going to be quite different the next time I go. My trip went fairly well, I talked to this interesting guy from Germany who had been doing a year long program on Leprosy education. We talked about Germany and how he always feels sort of ashamed saying where he's from because of history. He also said that a lot of Germans feel sympathetic towards the Palestinians but can't be seen as being anti-Israel in any way. He was reading Shantaram.

On the flight from Mumbai to Istanbul I was lucky to see two empty seats so I changed seats and slept for most of the 7hr flight. In the airport I bought a few more pretty coasters and then went to wait at the gate. There was a group of students doing study abroad who had been in Cairo recently but had to leave because of everything that's going on there. I talked to a few of them about their program, they were all very nice and it was sort of nice to talk to some Americans my own age doing similar things.

When I arrived in Tel Aviv luckily the line at Immigration wasn't long but I'm still on a tourist visa and will have to leave and come back in three months. My taxi plans got a bit mixed up so I waited in the airport for an hour so he could come get me and then I was finally one my way. The sky was beautiful as always. cloudy with patches of light shining through. My apartment looks the same. Today is a day to rest and then it's back to the grind tomorrow.