Oct 16th: Getting luggage at the airport!

I wrote on the way there to pass the time as we drove from Ramallah to the airport in Tel Aviv for my luggage that Aerosvit "misplaced". AND apparently, the stuff was there Oct 6th, but the number they gave out was wrong AND no one called me because they knew I was in the West Bank. Stupid Bastards. They are getting a crazy shunful letter from me when I get home!

Anyway, here it goes:

We;ve been driving for 30 mins now. In a mini van taxi. With Aymann and Mohammad. Who are taking me to the airport to get my luggage. Tomorrow will be my 2nd week here. I got here 13 days ago. A few days without my stuff is one thing, but 13 days makes me want to knock someone out.
I couldn't call again!
I'm not the kind of person that can sit and wait and wait AND WAIT when I can do something to fix the problem. Why wait for these assholes to decide to answer the phone. My patience is even shorter because I am sick. Runny nose. Sore throat. Head ache. Body ache. Just yucky sick.
And I coulodn't sit around another day calling.

Aymann's laugh is short and high like starting a car. Eh eh eh eh eh eh eh......

A laugh that makes you not believe it. But it's his laugh.

"Why don't you speak Arabic?" He asked.

I laugh. It's the millionth time I've heard this question.

"My father didn't really teach me. He spoke to me in Arabic and let me answer in English." I paused as I looked in Aymann's blue green eyes, to think of what else to say. "I know a lot of words though."

"Oh, like what?" He asks.

"Like, Shu and Leish and Magnoon and all the greetings. Phrases like Shu Hatha and a bunch of others like that. And some vocabulary words. I say 'Shu' all the time to my cousins and they laugh. And I know the alphabet and can read words and write them. But I don't always know what I'm reading." He nods and laughs. "Yeah, it doesn't do me much good at this point. But I'm getting there." He nods and laughs again.

We pass the check point and it looks so different on the Israeli side. The roads, the trees, even the bus stops. All nicer. All cleaner. All different. Reminds me of what they do in NY between the people of color communities and the white communities. Global gentrification. But this is different. Colonized, kicked out, invaded. Then made to be put in prision.

How would you like it if someone told you you could only go from West 4th to 59th street and could visit 125 every other friday when they felt like it? Thats the West banker life.....



Thats as much as I got written at the time. After a while, we were all talking more. Then got to the check point at the airport, where we were all taken out of the car, searched, questioned, searched again, questioned again and let go into the airport. I suppose I have to go through this again when I leave. Aymann says to give them one word answers to get under their skin. After all, they ask one word questions. Why not? I don't want to start a problem. I follow his advice though because it's the advice of everyone. Short and to the point. Don't run your mouth. Never run your mouth. They take it as "guilty" actions. Stupid.