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5 AM
Northern neighborhood in Nablus seem from glass-enclosed balcony where I slept off 3 days of travel As I write this I am watching a live performance of orchestral Arabic music on television in a large, well-furnished living room on the 7th floor of a new apartment building perched on top of a hill at the northern end of Nablus in the West Bank of Palestine. The apartment is occupied by four English teachers who work at a local bilingual Arabic/English school that is about to let out for summer break. Some of the teachers are staying on to teach at the school's summer camp and the next school year and one or two will be leaving Palestine after the school year ends in June. I arrived here last night after a long trip that began on Sunday in South Korea. I went from Busan to Seoul by taxi and train, Seoul to Tel Aviv (stopping over in Istanbul) on Turkish Air, then a shared taxi van to Jerusalem where I was met and hosted for a few hours by a young man from South Sudan, then by (I think it was) 2 buses and 2 taxis via the Arab bus station in Jerusalem through the checkpoints into the West Bank to Ramallah and then, finally, Nablus. This
probably seems like a sudden change of scenary since I wrote last week about Korean cherry blossoms and neon puppies in Gyeongju but it's been a while in the making- about a month. Dissatisfied with the teaching position I was in at the English academy in Busan, I started looking for work in the Mediterranean shortly after arriving there and found a summer position at a very cool school in Palestine. After deliberating for awhile and then, against my fiscally/financially oriented mind (I never remember the difference between the two), I followed my urge to come work in the Middle East. A large part of it was and is simple curiosity. I have been worrying that I am going alienate my Israeli friends, offend people and confirm how irresponsible I am... among other things, but after arriving I have no lingering doubts about whether or not this was a good decision. I am delighted to be here and the school administrators and teachers seem to feel the same about having me here. Word on the street is that because one of the school's donors is well-connected, it is the only school in the West Bank that can secure year-long Israeli
visas to its foreign teachers. So far, I am signed up to teach for 7 weeks this summer and am considering signing on for the upcoming school year. The summer job is essentially volunteer since I had to buy my own plane ticket. But the monthly pay covers the basic costs of living in Nablus with a little extra (a trip into Israel now and then?) and the housing provided is incomparably better than my grimy plastic apartment in Korea, not to mention the social and cultural resources here are much more accessible than anything in Korea. In fact, arriving in Israel itself I felt myself relax into the space all around, the sun and the recognizable gestures and expressions around me. There are many towns and settlements dotting the dry landscape but the land is barely populated in comparison to Korea (which, I think, ranks something like number 2 in density globally). The teachers' apartment is enormous and, actually, luxurious by my standards with wireless internet, cable TV, a western bathtub, gorgeous tile floors and height-appropriate granite counters...should I go on? High ceilings and windows with views of the surrounding hills, a 6 burner gas range, huge American style refrigerator, oh, and this is genius- the toilets here have hoses with spray nozzles (like in Thailand) so you can clean off after.
I visited the school this morning despite having stayed up half the night with travelers' diarrhea after the 4am call to prayer woke me up. The students are really cute and energetic. I sat in on a couple classes to observe and was impressed with the way they engage and jump in to converse with each other and the teacher. They are not shy! I am looking forward to getting to know the students who stay for "camp" over the summer. Now I have a few weeks to take advantage of my passport by traveling a little in Israel
and Palestine (which is something neither Israelis or Palestinians can do) and spend some time scoping out Nablus in preparation for settling into summer here. Tomorrow I head back to Tel Aviv with a small backpack to meet up with some Israeli couchsurfers at an outdoor concert at the university and to staff a Level I Shambhala Training. It's too early to say if I will stay beyond July but there is something very appealing about things here. Maybe it has something to do with the technicolor dreamcoat?
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Aunt Kristin
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Inshallah
You're there! Looks beautiful. I think you were right about this adventure. It feels exotic and mysterious but somehow comforting. Let me know how you progress!!! I Love You. Aunt K.