My next trip

I decided tonight that I'm going to travel for 6 months after my next trip to Palestine in August. I thought about everything I saw while in Palestine. All the history, all the things I learned, all the things I experienced, all the pictures, all the people I met walking around and seeing things.

I'll just have to REALLY save money during this season, which shouldn't be hard since I've paid off most of my debt, I'm not moving, there aren't too many crisis' going on. Should be possible over the 6 months of the season to save enough for my ticket to get to Palestine and then enough to slum it around several countries. I also want to try and go see my uncle in Bulgaria. He's my dad's brother and he's the only one I haven't met yet. Plus, I'll have finished my book already AND hopefully it'll be on it's way if not published already and there will be some money from that.

So maybe mid-August to mid Feb or something and I'll be back in time for the season to start up again so I'll have work.

So I think this is what I want to do:

Start in Palestine and see more things there. My brother and sister should be coming with me in August to see the fam for a couple weeks and once they go back to NYC, I'll head down to Egypt for a few weeks and see all the pyramids and ancient sites and go see some of the artists, writers, poets and hip hop folks there, then come back up to Palestine and see the northern part of the country that I didn't get to see a lot of while I was there, like Haifa, Nablus, and Nazareth. Then head up to Lebanon (if it's safe enough) and then head over to Turkey. If Lebanon isn't safe enough, I might fly to Turkey. I'll travel through Turkey and check out the sites and after Istanbul, I'll head over to Bulgaria and see my uncle for a couple weeks. After Bulgaria, it might be up the air. I could either head south and go to Greece or head North to Romania or Serbia. I think though I'd prefer to check out Greece because there are some amazing things in Athens and Patra. If I go to Greece first, I can head up to Macedonia, then to Serbia (traveling through Kosovo) and maybe up to Hungary and then to check out Budapest after that. OR After Macedonia, I could fly to Italy since it's sort of around the corner, but would be far to just walk to across the land. Southern Italy shares water with Albania which is right next to Patra, so it would be close from there too.

I would actually love to after Egypt to go south into the rest of Africa, but if I'm traveling alone, I don't know how safe it is to try and go all the way down to South Africa especially since Chad and Sudan are right there. The rest of Africa would be so amazing to see though. It would be just as special as Palestine for me. But maybe going back north After Egypt would be best. I could always travel again later on and go south.

So if I make it through all of that and want to go by Italy after Greece, I might (depending on how long all of this takes me) go to France. It's right there and I think it would be fun. If I go up to Paris, I might head to London after. If I go south, I'd probably hit up Spain. I think I would probably do the Spain thing because then I could go to Morocco after, kind of doing a half circle and ending back up in Northern Africa. By then I think 6 months may have passed. If not, I might go through to Northern Algeria, Tunisia and Libya since they're there and I'd end up back in Egypt if I wanted or could leave from one of those other places and come back home. Or go back to Palestine to say by to my family and head back to NY. Of course I'd have to decide before hand where I'd be flying back from.

Whew!

I know it's a very ambitious trip. People backpack all across Europe all the time. This is pretty similar I think. Or maybe it's just insane. Maybe it's too much. Maybe. Or maybe it'll be the most amazing time of my life. I know people in Egypt, Turkey, Bulgaria, France and of course Palestine. I can make some friends in other places before I go there through friends there who do international work in those countries. All I need is a backpack with my stuff and my camera. I'll do all the research I need to do to research it. I'll sublet my apartment while I'm gone. I'll make sure I have enough medication and know where all the hospitals are. I'll bring my laptop to keep in touch with people. Find out where the small hotels are or find friends to stay with. I don't know if there's anyone I could find to go with me, BUT I think it'll be amazing. Maybe 6 months is too long. Maybe 2 or 3 months. I'll be back to write while I'm away. See history.

I think it would be something great and amazing to do after I turn a quarter century old :). We'll see what I can make happen. We'll see where the world is in August. We'll see where my life is in several months as well.

I've been writing. I'll be writing more on here soon.

Much love

Jerusalem Day 1 Part 1

Today I finally made it to Jerusalem and although it is going to be the first of many trips along these cobble stoned streets, it's definitely going to be the most memorable. Not only because of the sites and sounds and smells, but also because my Aunt Maha showed me around and we had a lot of fun together.

We walked along the old streets with our first stop being Al Aqsa, or so we thought. I read about them having 2 different entrances for people. One for Muslims and one for Haramiis (non-muslims). Because my father was a Muslim, the family considers me a Muslim too. Byproxiy, of course I am. Im a muslim, a christian, a spiritualist, a buddist, a hindu, a connected being to the universe at large. But they didn't think so.
I forgot that pants and the like are a no no. Of course IF I HAD MY FRIGGIN LUGGAGE I would have worn a long skirt and lose shirt and not the same old pants I've been washing and wearing.
In any event, my make shift hijab wasn't working for them. And my non-ability to recite the quran on que in arabic had them turn me away from entering the muslim part. BUT MY aunt didn't give up. Hours later, we pulled a 007 and she found a skirt and hijab set, got it, put it on me and we entered from another side. I recited as much as I could and it was more believable with a flowery garb on this time. She refused to bring me through the non-muslim entrance. WHo are they to tell me how muslim I am? Or whats haram or not? Thats up to God, not these bored dudes who sit around telling folks ye or ney on whether they can enter.
In any event, The guy didn't want to really believe it when we were in there and going by the mosque, BUT having a arabic name helped. Thanks Dad!

But I'll write the inside later.

After we were turned away the firs time, we walked around and found these Orthodox Greek Church. There were some beautiful pieces of art in this place and the folks who came through, came with priests and 6 foot tall crosses that they kneeled before as they said a prayer in the church.
It was an amazing scene. Hopefully I'll be able to upload all those pictures soon so that everyone can see the rest.

After that, we made our way down the street to her brothers restaurant Al-Aeata for some Shawarma and coffee. Can you say yummy in arabic? I can't, but it's was Tayaab (good)! So there ya go!

We made out way down and bumped into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where the items of Jesus's last hours are. The stone he was beaten on, the stone that the cross was in, the piece that had the crack from the earth quake, the stone that they washed him on, and the tomb where he was buried and resurrected. When we got to the Church it was already around 12 so it was packed with tourists. We met an older man, Marwan, who gave us an impromptu tour, which was nice because I didn't know about some of the things he told us about and there were no signs of what things were. You're just supposed to know. He smelled sweet like old school pepermints and a hint of sweet Brandy. For a muslim in Jerusalem, thats really taboo, but who knows what Brandy smells like unless they've had it.

Less than a week until I leave

I've been so excited. I am excited. I'm ready to be there. Ready to do all the things I want to do, all the things I plan on doing, all the new things that may happen that I haven't planned. I'm excited.

But also very nervous. Very nervous about so many things.

Its like this hole that been in my heart about who I am and where I come from. In my soul and slowly, it feels like coming home. Palestine feels like home to me. It always has, it's just been out of reach. And now I get to reach it. It's always scary to get what you want. But I'm going head first into my fear and nervousness and going to experience everything that it has to offer.
Another reason I've been nervous is because of the news. Some of the news has been ok. Some of the news hasn't been very good and it makes me wonder how much traveling from town to town I'll be able to do. I check the news, all news sources to get all sides to see whats going on.

I know I'll be ok. I have this strong feeling, deep inside me. Just like the feeling I felt that I knew that NOW was the time for me to go. Just like that feeling, I know I'll be ok. But it still makes me nervous. I don't know what the soldiers will say. I don't know if someone will have had their last straw and board a bus I'm on and take his/her and everyone else life. I don't know. I guess no one knows.
I'm going with very positive energy and a very positive attitude.

But I can, of course only control myself. We'll see what happens. Next week on Thursday, I'll be flying. Thats another nerve-wracking thing. I hate flying. And it's going to be cloudy and possibly rainy. UGH!
It's time for bed. It's time for reading my arabic.

Min fadlek read my blogs as they come along through October. I want to share my experience with everyone. I've noticed I've been getting more traffic on both blogs. I'm really glad. And excited.

Until later.

Here are some articles I found. Good news, Bad news, Scary news. All going on right now.

Jerusalem crash 'not deliberate'

The family claim the 19-year-old driver was murdered by Israelis

Relatives of a Palestinian who was shot dead after his car ploughed into a group of Israelis at a bus stop have denied it was a deliberate attack.

Nineteen people, mostly soldiers, were treated for light or moderate wounds in the incident in central Jerusalem.

Off duty soldiers shot the 19-year-old driver, in what Israeli police have said was an attack.

"My son was murdered, they killed him. He did not carry out a terrorist attack" said the driver's father.

"This was a car accident. The car stopped after hitting a wall. Why did they kill him?" Mahmoud Mughrabi said at his home in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem.

Israeli police have said they were "100% sure" Qassem Mughrabi intended to carry out a deliberate attack, with one spokesmen saying a failed romance may have been the trigger.

Israeli police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said investigators had found Mr Mughrabi, who had no prior police record, "wanted to marry his cousin but when she refused he apparently decided to carry out the attack".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7631693.stm

A mobile circus to challenge immobility

The beautiful story of the First Palestinian Circus School

The First Palestinian circus school was set up in 2006 when Shadi Zmorrod and Jessika Devlieghere -“father and mother circus”- launched that original project. Based in Ramallah, the school teaches circus arts to children from the West Bank. Bringing much more than circus knowledge to the kids, the school aims to break the barriers– both physical and social- within the Palestinian society, gather people with art, and provide a new way of expression for Palestinian kids. This summer, the Circus school was touring all across the West Bank to present a ‘mobile circus’ filled with Palestinian and Danish performers, joy, motivation and audience’s smile.

It all started in a checkpoint, like many Palestinian stories. At one of the biggest ones in the West Bank -Qalandia- were we met on a Saturday the members of the Palestinian Circus School. It is 3’o clock in the afternoon, and the sun is burning while some 25 teenagers and circus performers are waiting and queuing behind the gates of the checkpoints to leave Ramallah for a day and attend their first performance in Jerusalem.

Sebastian, circus performer from Denmark at Qalandya checkpoint

Pictures: Thomas Freteur

Amongst the teenagers, there’s Mays, Nayef, Marah, Ashtar, Hazar or Fadi … 10 Palestinian circus trainers and students along with Ramit, Mariam, Sebastian, Steffen, ... 7 professional circus performers from Denmark who came to Palestine for cultural cooperation.

The beautiful story of the circus started several years ago when Shadi Zmorrod, a young Palestinian actor discovered randomly circus art in 2000. Two years later, he met Jessika, a Belgian woman who came to Palestine a couple of years ago and fell in love both with the country, the man and the project and decided to stay in the country. Together, they start up a circus project that then became a school. They started out of nothing but now, the determined dreamers have performed with the school in Europe and Palestine, training more than 130 kids in the West Bank.

http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article609

Eid al-Fitr arrives to empty pockets

26.09.08 - 11:32

PNN / Fadi Yacoub - Under the Israeli siege and closure imposed on the Gaza Strip, and with the deteriorating economic situation that has followed, the coming Eid al-Fitr is looking bleak. This year is the worst yet, according to many in the Palestinian street. There is little money, prices are up and the dollar is down so low that the world market is being hit hard. Ghazi says there are many obstacles preventing the Eid celebration. He told PNN that in Gaza there is nowhere to go except to walk on the beach. "There is no money to shop or go to cafes." The Gaza resident continued, “The financial hardship experienced by citizens because of underpayment or nonpayment of salaries is an additional hardship to the other factors which include price increases because of the continued Israeli closure of the Gaza crossings.”

http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3624&Itemid=1



Abbas: Israeli, US Leadership Changes Won’t Deter Peace Efforts
AHLC Urges Israel to Relax Restrictions, Pledge $300m to PNA

23/09/2008

Palestine Media Center – PMC

En route to his summit meeting at the White House with U.S. President George W. Bush on September 25, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in Dublin, at a joint press conference with the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Miche?l Martin, that the uncertainty caused by leadership changes in Israel and the United States will not deter efforts to further the Arab-Israeli peace process.

Meanwhile a group of international donors pledged nearly $300 million in new aid to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), according to Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, at a meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC), which urged Israel in a statement Monday to curb its settlement activity and relax restrictions on the West Bank and Gaza Strip in order to help revive the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.
http://www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=1&id=2024

Settlers raid 'Asira al-Qibliya and attack residents, Sept. '08.

Over the past year, settlers from Yitzhar and the surrounding area have sharply stepped up violent acts in nearby Palestinian villages. The attacks include throwing stones at passing cars, physically attacking farmers, burning down crops, and stealing livestock. On 14 Sept., after a Palestinian stabbed a Jewish boy and burnt down a caravan in the Shalhevet Yam settlement near Yitzhar, dozens of settlers raided the village of ‘Asira al-Qibliya. They threw stones, fired into the air, broke windows, drew Stars of David on walls of homes and widely damaged property. Testimonies given to B’Tselem indicate that soldiers were present at the time, yet did nothing to prevent the settlers' actions, and fired at the Palestinians.

http://www.btselem.org/English/Video/20080913_SB_Settler_riot_in_Asira_al_Qibliya.asp

One week until Palestine

I leave next thursday. It's all I can think about. I know the places I want to go, want to see. As I've written about them here, it's made the desire, the need to be there even greater.
It'll be Eid when I go since now is Ramadan. I did that completely by accident and I'm glad.
I'm also very nervous. To meet the family. To see the soldiers. To experience whats going on in the country.
I'm nervous but also excited and can't wait to be there. I've been waiting a long time for this.
My expectations aren't exactly high, but I'm just so excited. I know I won't be disappointed.
There are also some things I plan on doing that I haven't written about because I don't want to jinx them.
I'll write about everything soon enough.
I'll be writing from THERE soon enough. :)