When It's Done, We'll Walk Where the Road Meets the Sun

I can now say I have left something of value in Israel. The girls now know the Macarena, from start to finish. They pronounce it more 'macaroni', but they have got the moves down, apparent through the repeated performances throughout the day. Mission accomplished.

Israel Update (for some context):

Israel isn't a fan of Hilary Clinton, and is going to continue building settlements in the West Bank. Woohoo diplomatic freeze.

There is a new bill in the Knesset in Israel by right wing policy makers to 'outlaw' the denial of the Jewish state of Israel- or better put, "call to negate Israel's existence as a Jewish and democratic state, where the content of such publication would have a reasonable possibility of causing an act of hatred, disdain or disloyalty." It is mostly aimed at Israeli-Arabs, and would mean that public displays of 'Nakba', or the catastrophe (name for the birth of the Israeli state) would be illegal and punishable with prison. Oh, the ever changing definition of 'democracy' and 'free speech.'

My favorite commentary of the week (it's good). My favorite song of the week, with all kinds of abstract symbolism I pulled from it AND it has the violin. Love it. ( for those of you looking for a mood description). And to keep going on this strand of thought, movie of the week. Mostly because I'm using parts of Mulan to teach the girls English (they love walking around repeating Let's Get Down to Business...) I might have some feminist motivations, as well...

The Jewish holiday Shavout is this weekend, where hundreds of thousands of Israelis are expected to take part in the traditional nighttime Torah studies for tonight's tikkun leil Shavuot. (I stole that from Haartez). From what I've gathered, the secular Jews flock to the coast and holiday destinations, and the religious ones flock to the Old City (in this case, the Western Wall). Therefore, I'm looking forward to a Pope repeat of fun and transportation limitations due to my convenient location. I'm kind of excited though, its my first Jewish holiday!

This week at the center has been an interesting one- not to get all self-evaluating here or anything, but I accept the fact it takes a while for me to warm up to people (unapproachable, it has been called). This week, I think, was the first week that I felt completely at home and in turn, they felt at home with me. Amoun has started to confide in me, and has shared her tears and frustrations (and there are legitimately a lot). We make fun of each other, and she has no problem openly criticizing me (most often my clothing choice and cleaning skills...although in my defense, these people clean hardcore, sweeping, mopping, scrubbing, three times a day). While the open arms of welcome were always there, as individuals and personalities, we are clicking. Honestly, most of it had to do with me allowing Amoun to fuss over me. It has now become her mission to 'fix my skin/scars,' and play matchmaker (oi). Today, I got a Gypsy remedy for scars, which included raw eggs, carrots, and honey smathered on my face for a half hour, and a 'special' oil. She evaluated the progress all day, chattering in Arabic with the other women about it (not to make me self conscious, or anything). The girls have found a morbid fascination with it as well, with (Anti jamilla jidan, lakin hadda mish jamil....(point and tsk, tsk, tsk). I now have diet demands, including carrots for breakfast and khalas with the hummus and falafel (I cheat). She is also flabbergasted I'm not seeing anyone (tsk, a girl like you?-although the quality versus quantity argument gained me some points back). She is determined to connect me with a former volunteer, who is now galavanting around China, informing she sent an email to him that she had found him 'the beautiful, smart one' he is looking for. Oh fantastic. I'm just grateful she is aiming for someone I'll never meet, rather than a family member or something.
Oh, and she cut my hair today. Maybe a better way to put it is chopped it off- apparently I need a new look, as well?

Exams are almost over, which I am excited about, because that means we can actually start on English lessons they will actually use. The program used by the Palestinian Authority of the State of Palestine (legit, its on their textbooks) is abysmal. Amoun learned fluent English by peddling postcards on the street, and not a lick of it from actually going to school. Some students from BYU are starting to volunteer next week, and I'm going to be working with them to develop a two month program based on real-world application (rather than learning the names of farm animals that don't even live in the Middle East). I'm really excited about it.

SO much more to talk about, but my battery is dying and I left my transformer at the center. Tomorrow, I head to Jericho with Amoun to deliver some humanitarian aid to some of the Gypsy families there.

Kudos to everyone who just made it through this post.