Arriving to Nablus

The twelve hour stop over in Frankfurt was long but after a roam of the city I made it back to the airport exhausted, not ready to take the daunting trip to Tel Aviv. I expected mulitple questions and hassle from IDF security because I didn't have either my ticket out of Israel booked or the certificate of acceptance to the University in Jerusalem for July. As I passed the separate security entrance specially set up for Tel Aviv, my heart skipped a beat expecting the sensors to pick up the multiple USB chips I was carrying for the Project Hope centre. As I stood with beeds of sweat and a suspicious look on my face, something to the effect of a constipated child I had a vision of the security hauling me into some back room. Nothing, no sensor, no search and no questions but I just knew there would be securty with holding rooms on the other side. I arrived in Tel Aviv at 3:20am, groggy after travelling for almost 48 hours straight but luckily enough again there were no questions as to where my travel documents were either. They just asked the reason for the visit and with the reply of "travel" nothing more was said and my passport was stamped. As I didn't want to run the risk of being questioned, I didn't ask for a separate piece of paper to be stamped, grabbed my passport and high tailed it to the other side to grab my luggage. Ofcourse things are not that easy, there was a final sensor where guards randomly check your baggage but this too was a breeze, I sailed forward eyes straight eagerly looking for my driver. Before leaving Canada, I asked a couple of friends from Palestine if they knew of someone that could pick me up at such a late time and take me to Ramallah and even possibly know anyone who could also take me to the other side of the checkpoint to Nablus. They said not to worry and set me up with a funny Palestinian from Ramallah, able to pick me up in the wee hours of the morning and set up the other driver from Rammallah to Nablus. The picture I had in my head of the West Bank at this time was that a checkpoint was the sole destination of entry between the Israeli and Palestinian communities. As a tipicaly unaware Westerner I was shocked to find that not only are there about six checkpoints between TelAviv to Nablus but that they exist right the way through Palestinian territory. Early morning being an optimal time, both drivers rolled through every single checkpoint with only a glance towards our cars. Either it was dark and and my head was slightly covered because of the cold and they assumed I was Palestinian, sitting in the front next to the driver OR they were all too tired to give a shit. Probably the second but I was just glad to roll my way into Palestine. As my newly formed friend Amy from California would say "That's how we roll!!". While stopped in Ramallah, my first driver took me into a small falafel place close to his house to wait for the other driver. The guy setting up asked where I was from and with the anwer of Canada he quickly made some Arabic coffee for us, sat down and ranted about the differences between Canada and the US. I could tell that after he had lived in the US for 10 years, he was not too impressed. He said that if he were ever to leave his home for some reason, it would be to Canada, despite the cold. Almost an hour later, the other driver skreetched up to the front and I knew it was time for the next half of the 2 hour journey. By now the bright orange sun was creeping up over the hills, sun light hitting the sides of the beautiful white stone houses in the valleys. I was suprized to find Israeli flags tagged everywhere; looking up to the sun, there they were attached high to posts staggered along the roads winding in and out of the West Bank. How rude! Amongst a four thousand year old community already forced to participate in this random checking of personal space and invasion of privacy, they have to be reminded constantly of the dominance of an already overbearing foeign government. Pulling up to old city centre, I was lucky enough to cathc it with not a sole and vibrant sunlight filling the streets. I arrived to Al Yasmeen hotel awaiting Project Hope; a three hour event with more coffee and many cups of tea. The three guys working at the hotel all hade lots of wonderful things to say about Project Hope and the many internationals they encounter while staying at the hotel. As I hopped out of my chair to take photographs, I couldn't help but notice the bullet holes cracked through the beautiful stained glass. This was soo symbolic for my first few hours in Nablus, such beauty framented by holes from the barrel of a gun.

Landed in Frankfurt - 12 hour layover

Just landed in Frankfurt at 10:30 this morning from Philidelphia, decided to take the train into the city and find food and internet. After finally figuring out how to buy my train ticket, I made it to a little centre in the middle of the city. Frankfurt is a multi-cultural European city. I actually feel like I am in Wales right now, it's that similar. From the roundabouts to the streets and architecture, this part of town is just like home (Wales). There are pastry shops on every corner but surprizingly people are not fat at all. Exhausted from not sleeping on the 8 hr overnight flight, I'm relaxing and having a look around before heading back to the airport for my Luftanza flight to Tel Aviv. Wish me luck!

Last Weekend in New York

Thursday to Sunday was a blast. Went to Centarl Park and had a relaxing walk with a coffee, took some great pics with Maria. Maria took me to a couple of great thai restaurants in Williamsburg and Hell's Kitchen. I was able to see Nomi's new apartment as she just became a first time home owner. It was fabulously situated in a serene part of Queens, perfect size and location. Friday night was spent roaming around Manhatten to various places and finishing off the night with Mamoun's famous shawarma. Saturday was the ultimate event starting the night with dinner at a Brazilian restaurant with Maria and Jon, yummy caprihnia's, then off to a Burlesque party. This was a 5 story old building used to celebrate what use to be one of the most famous burlesque houses in New York. After finally making it to the rooftop to see the flame throwers do their tricks, the party was shut down by the fire department. So we head off to a loft party in Brookyn to listen to some Drum and Base, Maria's fav!!! Thanks so much to Maria for all her hospitality, what an amazing week.

New York First Couple Days

Staying in Brooklyn until Sunday May 1oth, the last couple of days have been the perfect beginning to my trip. New Yorkers are the different America that any foreigner must experience before ever passing the "I don't like the US " judgment that I too had done once upon a time. That is, until I met some real New Yorkers. On average, with all the different breeds, from the Manhattan elite to the Brooklyn Hipsters, they are the chatty, friendly mixture of cultures that anyone would expect to find. The first night my good friend Maria, from Staten Island living in a Brooklyn Loft - a particularly artsy and individualistic area, took me to listen to some Drum & Base while meeting more locals. Of course, I would find the only other group of non-New Yorkers from California on a business trip, the night was filled with drinks, good music and good people. The next day, walking down Mulberry street to see the Little Italy everyone talks about and making our way back to Union Square, I was pleasantly surprised by the street side cafes, parks, and concrete jungle with all its pockets of personality. hhmmmm, Grad school in New York maybe? Toronto is great, but there's nothing like NYC.

Flight Booked - Itinerary

My favorite travel agent, David at the Flight Centre, has booked me into a round trip ticket starting from New York. Visiting my home-gurls Nomi and Maria...such wonderful open-hearted native New-Yorker's that always look on the bright side of life. After 5 days of living it up in NYC and checking out Nomi's new digs, I'll head off to Tel-Aviv via a connector flight from Philadelphia and Frankfurt (1 day stopover). Upon 'safe' arrival in Tel-Aviv, Israel and subsequent kissing the ground at 3:20am (May 12th), I'll stick around until sunlight and make my way to Jerusalem (45 min) from there go through the military checkpoint on the way to Nablus in the West Bank. I will be in Nablus for seven weeks with Project Hope until June 29th, and hope to spend valuable time with my dear friend Najat, who will be celebrating graduation and the turning point into her Masters of Journalism. If I am lucky, I will do a weekend trip to Jericho, Jordan. Upon departing from Nablus at the end of June, with my precious memories of the talented art students I am sure to encounter, I will make my way to Jerusalem for a one month summer course at Hebrew University. During this time, I hope to visit my dear friend Meron in Haifa and her parents for Shabat dinner (Friday) in Tel-Aviv....beautiful, open minded people. I hope to visit the Dead Sea and the historical place of Masada during my stay in Jerusalem. Once the course is completed, I will make my way across the Egyptian/Israeli border into Sinai, then Cairo and Alexandria. From Alexandria, I will find a boat service to Greece and make my way to Rome for home. The month of August is not work or school related and hopefully will be a joyous adventure...

(Flights: Toronto-Phili-NYC-Phili-Tel Aviv...bus... Rome-Toronto)

Hey everybody, so it's the beginning of April and my departure is 5 weeks away. Excited to meet the children of Nablus and get to know all about thier lives, I have built a fundraising site to for the program "Graphic Novels of Nablus" where you can read all about the details and donate. Go to http://nablusnovels.givemeaning.com . The program is held through the grass-roots organization Project Hope (www.projecthope.ps) which employs mostly Palestinian staff and hosts a variety of projects. Living under occupation can be duanting and having little access to the outside world can make anybody feel isolated and forgotten. My project will only try to build bridges and help develop needed skills but I expect a long-lasting effect.