My Adventures

Palm Sunday

2009-04-09T04:10:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I participated in the procession for Palm Sunday. It was such a wonderful experience!! The sun was shinning, there were thousands of people, palm branches and singing. The procession started in East Jerusalem, walking down the Mount of Olives, past the Garden of Gathsemane and ended by going through the lion's gate and entering St. Ann's church. The walk was long, but definitely worth every minute.

The following are a few pictures of the procession. I wish I could upload my entire album!! At least something is better than nothing!

Vanunu Mordechai

2009-03-26T04:19:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

I had the pleasure of meeting with wonderful gentlemen named Vanunu Mordechai. It was strange, we've chatted a few times at my weekly Wednesday cafe night, but I never knew who he was or what his story is. Last night I learned that Vanunu Mordechai is a legend here and I thought it was something I should share with you all.

Who is he? He is an Israeli former nuclear technician who revealed details of Israel's nuclear weapons program to the British press in 1986. He was lured to Italy and kidnapped by Israeli agents and convicted of treason. He spent 18 years in prison, including more than 11 years in solitary confinement. His trial in 1988 is kept a secret. He was released in 2004 under restrictions on his movement and speech, but he continues to be arrested and released. Vanunu Mordechai converted from Judaism to Christianity in 1985 and suffers from persecution on a daily basis and is labeled a traitor here by the Israelis.

That is all I will say about him, but if you would like more information about his story he has a websit: www.vanunu.com or just google search his name.

It is an interesting story and one I thought I should share.

Carlee

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1072040.html

2009-03-19T02:00:00.000-07:00

I appears the link didn't show up... here is my second attempt.

I can only respond to this article with one word: Wow.

Please read and let me know what you think. I know that being from the US we hear only one side of these stories, but I honestly feel it is important to know what is going on from both sides.

Pray for them. Pray for peace, softening of hearts and the end of this occupation. Pray that they may find a solution to this territorial battle so that they may live in peace with one another.

one word: WOW.

2009-03-19T01:56:00.000-07:00

Update

2009-03-13T04:05:00.000-07:00

Wow, I didn't realize how long it had been since I last posted something... I guess time is flying by!

I will first start with work. Work is going pretty well. I drove inside Ramallah by myself for the first time! Yikes. The problem is once you get into the West Bank, there are few rules and it's like one big free for all. I was so happy though; no accidents, I didn't get lost and I made it through the checkpoint in five minutes (which is unheard of). Other than the security company of the car thinking someone stole it and was in Ramallah, everything went fine. :)

I went to my first OCHA (UN office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) briefing today. It was very informative. They really focused on the recent war in Gaza and the problems that the Palestinian people face, but they also talked about the wall, security checkpoints, settlements, and all the other barriers people in the West Bank face. I hope to share some of that with you. I'm not sure what you are all interested in learning, so let me know! I'll be happy to share...

As far as sightseeing goes, I have no new places to share. :( I've been to Tel Aviv a few times, but the weekends lately have been rainy. Once spring is here next week I will hopefully have the opportunity to get to a few more places. I went to a Shabbat last friday night, which is the Jewish religions Sunday. They observe from Friday at sunset to Saturday at sunset. They get together with family, friends or anyone else that wants to join and have food and hear preaching from the Rabbi. It was a great cultural experience. I did something quite foolish though, I bumped into the light and accidently turned it off... that might not sound like a big deal, but they [observers of Shabbat] are not allowed to use electricity so they keep it on 24 hours during Shabbat. Oh yeah, thats right 200 people turned around and looked at me because I bumped into the light switch and turned off the porch light. Oops......

I am meeting lots of great people and having an awesome time! Thank you all for your prayers and support.

Carlee

I'm sorry I don't have more photos! The internet connection is so slow that they won't load...

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1068989.html

2009-03-10T11:21:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

Sorry, but that link didn't work! Try the one in the title...

More to come...

Something to Read

2009-03-10T11:16:00.000-07:00

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1068989.html

2009-02-22T02:22:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

I am going to put up lots of pictures this time...

Here are some photo's of the meal we had at Uri Buri last weekend....

Below: our second course, this was a curry, coconut milk based soup with all sorts of seafood in it. It was so great!

Across: Tuna shawarma

Above: is a photo of a delicious shrimp and avocado dish and I can't remember what the other one is called. Something with seafood :)

Left: our deserts! I really liked the ice cream and berry meringue.

We also went to the beach and laid around for a while. It was a really nice day. There were a few people surfing and swimming, but I thought it was too cold for that. Then we went to the city of Acre to watch the sunset.

That is all for now.... more pictures to come.

Uri Buri

2009-02-16T10:56:00.001-08:00

I am really bad at this whole blog thing. I will try and do a better job. So where to begin?

Work: Work's busy. I'm actually doing a few training sessions with the athletes, which is great, but also frustrating because their work ethic is different than ours. I don't know if work ethic is the right word, maybe they have never been pushed the way I am trying to push them. Persons with disabilities are pitied here so its a learned dependence that I have to deal with. I hope that sport will encourage them to live independently and change their outlook on life.

Just something I want to share. This picture is a checkpoint that I have to go through every time I leave Jerusalem, for example, last week I went into Ramallah four times. Today, they closed one of the checkpoints so it took an extra 45 minutes to get back to Jerusalem. Crazy.

I am also learning a lot about NGO's and i have to say I am getting hooked. It's wonderful. I love the people involved, I love the work they do... I think I might have found my niche...

Non-work: I am having a great time. I am meeting a few people from the guesthouse and also from other NGO's. I met a really nice Lutheran theology student. We watch The Office, which is hilarious for those of you who have never seen it. I mostly hang out with people from my work. This weekend we went to this wonderful fish restaurant up in Acre called Uri Buri. It was amazing. What they do is bring out smaller portions to split and you keep eating until you tell the chef to stop. After you finish one course, you wait about 15 minutes for the next....ahhh I plan on going there again! I have pictures of all the food, except the first course (I forgot, sorry!) So sometime you can see it!

I am really starting to get familiar with the area around me. I actually drove back from Acre, which is about 2 1/2 hours north. I was a bit nervous.... it was my first international driving experience, but we survived!! :)

I hope everyone is doing great back home! Thanks for all the prayers and support! I am putting more pictures on this thing... I just have to figure out how. :)

My Favorite Part: The Sunset

2009-02-07T04:01:00.000-08:00

I live on top of the Mt. Olives with a great view of Jerusalem. My favorite time of day is when I leave the office to go back to my guesthouse. I walk along this dirt path with olive trees all around me. In the background is the city with the sun setting in the distance. Yesterday, I just stopped and watch the sun go down while the sky turned beautiful shades of orange, pink, and purple. Unfortunately I did not have my camera. But do not worry, I learned my lesson and will have that with me everywhere I go.

The people that work at Mercy Corps are great. They are very friendly and very helpful. Last night a co-worker of mine invited me to her friends house where I had my first home cooked meal since I have been here. Just to fill you all in, all I've been eating since I got here is Cheerios, Yogurt, and toast. I had one night where I went out and had some sushi. Needless to say, it was delicious and I ate way too much food!

Works been fine too. I am still trying to figure out everything that I am supposed to be doing, but I went to a very interesting meeting in Ramallah the other day. The meeting was for all the disability NGO's in the West Bank & Gaza. The big discussion this week was the number of individuals who acquired a disability due to the bombings in Gaza. They are trying to get data on all the different types of disabilities and help facilitate rehabilitation. This is the area I am the most interested in, but the man I was with did not see how this was relevant to our Sports For Life program. I am hoping that I can ask my supervisor if I can go to these meetings without him. It is a really great place for me to network and get an idea about what role all the NGO's have with this Gaza crisis. I also want to learn about these different organizations and what programs they have. I set up a meeting with a woman that works at Handicap International. We are meeting next week. Life is all about networking. :)

Today I am going to Tel Aviv to do a bit of touristy things. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to share soon! It should be a lot of fun... even though most of them just want to shop. I'll have to go up there another time and stay the weekend.

So far everything is going well. I think I might be liking it too much. :) I miss you all!

Safe Arrival

2009-02-04T07:16:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

I am new to this whole blogging business, but I hope that while I am away everyone that wants to follow what I am doing can! I arrived safely to Tel Aviv on Monday afternoon. The flight and entering customs went just fine.

I am staying at a Lutheran Guest House located on the Mount of Olives. I have my own bedroom & bathroom, but share the common area. It is perfect for my three month stay. LGH is right across the street from Mercy Corps, which is a beautiful walk in 65 degree weather. :) From my office I can see the Old City, which is a wonderful view. I will attach a picture one of these days.

I started working on Wednesday morning. It was a quick turnaround after my flight and felt exhausted the next day. I sat through a three hour meeting, which was in Arabic... as many of you know I know close to zero Arabic. They are starting a new club team in Hebron. This is very exciting because that makes four active sports teams in the west bank. They are having a hard time getting the program off the ground, so hopefully by the end of my stay here that will be running. Today was office day! I worked on the wheelchair production, hopefully everything will be set in the next couple weeks and they can begin producing the sport wheelchair.

All in all, everything is great! The weather is wonderful! (sorry for everyone in snow! :)) They tell me that this is too nice for february and they worry about a drought this summer, but right now I am not complaining. haha

I hope to continue this blog every couple days and add pictures and such. Hope to keep you all informed on everything.

Carlee