Yes. As of two days ago I have declared war on all cockroaches. Whose population, despite the one I saw on the hospital grounds today (wow, I never realized how disgusting that sounds), was entirely concentrated in my apartment. Urgent Communique: Amass armies at 11pm, at the sink entrance to the kitchen. After the Massacre of the Fridge last Saturday, we’re to wage a full on attack. Sneaking by the spray laid on the floor, we plan to overwhelm the attacker when she is too tired from the day’s activities. -Head Roach I can’t say to any effect WHO won the war. Actually , I think that’s a lie. I won the battle, but they certainly won the war. I’ve never though myself as a squeamish, jump-on-the-chair screaming kind of gal, but when I saw a ... read more

I sit here, silently rubbing my temples, trying to coax the sheer volume of stuff I've learned, seen, and done over the past couple of days. This is what I love about traveling. One day seems like a week, one week seems like a month.... I'll get back to you on what a month feels like once I've completed it. Yes, so I've been in Nablus exactly a week. Even if I posted three entries a couple days ago, there is still such an overwhelming amount of news... maybe I should space it out, so as to tide you all over when (if) my life gets more boring. As the White Stripes wrote (I know, deep), split it up into manageable acorns... SO. Last Thursday, as I apparently logged in my journal, was a ridiculously Awesome ... read more

Chapter 2. I had previously decided that Chapters made the whole thing seem much more dramatic. However, they kind of lose their potency when you only have two. But no matter. I proceed to wander around Tel Aviv. I find, while traveling, that there are no excuses for not exploring. In India, I was walking around for a week with infected lymphnodes. In Argentina, I was traveling for a month with pneumonia. So, after chatting with Jacko, the manager (obviously not his name, but I realized, shocked, that the only word I knew in Hebrew was "Shalom" and that it was NOT a language I could easily pick up), I wandered to the beach to see the sunset, and again, was unworried by the fact that I didn't pay a single bit of attention as to ... read more

It. is. COLD. This month has been a bit ridiculous. Funny, because originally I dreaded coming back to Montreal a little bit, because class just never seemed to be enough to fill up the hours. That, I will most adamantly admit, was dead wrong. Getting the apartment set up, hosting six people, catching up with what seems to be an endless stream of old friends (I still haven't seen everyone), dealing with various dramas, arranging classes, attending classes, the what is an actual endless stream of work: readings, papers, my upcoming midterm (which, coincidentally, is two days after AUC starts school again), arranging internships... I still have to figure out my transfer credits. blarg. Since this is a travelblog, I suppose I can delve mostly into the aspects of reverse culture shock. This was the main ... read more

This past weekend was the last one left. Well 'last one'. However, if you think about it... yeah. We now have next weekend: American Thanksgiving week after: Eid break (a big holiday) week after: finals this is ridiculous! What happened to everything! Well... hospital time took up a good portion of my trip, I feel, but I'm not talking about anything medical this post because yeah: there is nothing wrong with me. I feel like I'm tempting the gods everytime I write something to that effect. But yes. Thanksgiving we get a day off, so many people are going somewhere, Eid break is a week long holiday and definitely a lot of people are leaving, and then finals weekend is not so conducive to the 'let's hang out' as much as 'let's rant and stress in ... read more