Clarifying the Program I Am In

By S.M. - 2005

Hey all. Thanks for taking the time to read. Things have gotten even better here with the arrival of the group I am in this past weekend. As I mentioned earlier, I came 10 days early to meet up with family before my summer program begins.

To respond to Alvin's wonderful comment in my blog, I'd like to clarify the details of the program I am in. I am here in Bethlehem with a program called Palestine Summer Encounter through the Middle East Fellowship [MEF] (http://www.middleeastfellowship.org/). I heard about the program through my cousin Nader who participated last summer. My original plans for this summer were to go to Jordan and study Arabic at the University of Jordan. My parents preferred I do the MEF program as I have closer family in the West Bank and I'd be with my cousin. So far I'm really impressed.

MEF is a US group that works with Holy Land Trust, a group based in Bethlehem. They do three major activities. First they sponsor forums and in school education to promote non-violent resistance to the Israeli occupation among Palestinian youth and teenagers. There is a library of Ghandi and MLK in their office which I think is really cool. I never realized Ghandi wrote so much. The second major program is the Palestine News Network. This is a group of reporters who cover all the news in the West Bank from an unbias point of view. This program grew in reaction to a lot of misperceptions of Arabs and Muslims in Western media. (http://www.palestinenet.org/english/).

The third thing is the Summer Encounter program, where I am enrolled. The Summer Encounter brings foreignors to the West Bank to educate them about life, culture, and language in the region. While in the program I'll be set up with an internship, live with a family in Bethlehem, take Arabic courses, see films, engage in group discussions, and travel extensively throughout the West Bank and parts of Israel. There is a lot to do, and like I said I'm pretty impressed so far.

The people in the program I've met with are really cool. Nader, myself, and one other girl are the only Palestinians enrolled. I think it's great that people from all over the world with no ties to the region have come here to learn and help out.

I've actually gotten out twice to run in the last few days for a 1/2 hour. Taybeh, where I stayed at before has a problem with wild dogs. In addition to wild dogs there are wild cars (people here cant drive). Also there are rarely sidewalks or shoulders in the road. Running here in the suburbs of Bethlehem is little better. I still have to learn the neighborhood as there are some parts you just shouldn't go. Running isn't a priority for me here but it feels good. I hope to get out again soon.

There is a dichotomy here in terms of the scenery (note: I'm not sure if dichotomy is the proper word to use here, but it makes me sound smart). From a distance the region is beautiful. Hopefully my pictures can show better than I can describe. However when you actually walk on the street the place is littered with political spray-paint, garbage in the streets, and worn and torn posters which appear stuck to walls. It's beautiful and ugly at the same time. Either way it's interesting.

My family killed a sheep last night. They invited a butcher over the house to kill the sheep, skin it, and pack all the meat for them. The butcher looked like he was a butcher. I can't imagine this guy doing anything else but killing and skinning sheep with his bare hands. They should be having the sheep for dinner the next few nights. It was interesting to watch it from a cultural perspective. The whole process was rather...gory to say the least. I have pictures if anyone is really interested.

My family also invited me to a few family functions. I went to this funeral type thing the other day. All the elder males from the town and myself went to pay respects to the family of the wife of the town's former mayor. There was a lot of cigarette smoke, coffee, and male pattern baldness in the room. It's pretty cool though to do all these little family things. It makes me feel more like I'm living here, not just traveling.

I came hoping to do some volunteer work with kids or legal work as my internship. They have me signed up with this Fair Trade Olive Wood company. I'm not really interested in the work. I think they put me there cause I am an Economics major and I speak a little Arabic. It's easier for those who dont speak Arabic to do volunteer work playing with kids. I'm trying to get myself transferred to a different internship program.

But yea all in all the people, land, food, culture, and experience has been awesome so far. I have two months left which often seems like a long long time. Overall I'm really excited although much of me still misses home of course.

Anyways, I'll update soon when I can. Thanks for the emails everyone. Let me know if you had any questions or if you'd like me to pick you up something from the Middle East. Peace.