Live from Ben Gurion Airport
Posted by Aaron - 28/12/05 at 12:12:00 amHow nice, a wireless signal in the airport. It is going to make this wait for my flight so enjoyable. Yup, I am leaving, bound for the States in so many hours. I guess now I should sum up my experiences, share what I learned and close with some sappy remarks or something. Eh…no. I’m not too good at that, especially while sitting on the floor at an airport. Instead, how about pictures of my family from Christmas. They don’t know I am doing this, so it will be fun. (this is not a hyperlink to anywhere)
Ah, the Aupperlee family Christmas tree
Maggie freakin’ loves Christmas!
She gets the same present every year and never complains.
Andy, Betsy, Emily and Maggie.
You better have saved some for me!
Both Emily and Maggie get confused which gifts are theirs. It’s tragic, we all know.
Well, this has been fun. And so was Israel and Palestine. I hope you all have enjoyed it as much as I have.
Merry Christmas
Posted by Aaron - 25/12/05 at 11:12:00 amMerry Christmas everyone, live from Bethlehem.
Yesterday will be a Christmas Eve I will never forget. I rode in the procession of the Patriarch of Jerusalem with a man on the Bethlehem City Council named Zoughbi Zoughbi. The streets were lined with people waving, singing and having a good time despite the cold.(50 degrees in Jerusalem yesterday)
At night, I went to Manger Sq to check out the festivities but because of the cold and rain, no one was singing. All the preparations for Christmas and very few people. I went to the shop of a man named Abram. The back of his shop is like a cave. There were a few others there, gathered around a fire. I sat for a long time with them, talking, drinking coffee and tea. Abram would run out into Manger Sq and find more people to bring back to his shop. A man there was telling all of us stories from the Koran.
I stayed until about 10:30 then made my way to the Church of the Nativity for midnight mass. Saleem had gotten me a ticket, one of the hottest tickets in town. Abu Mazin (Abbas) was there as well as many of the top Palestinian leaders. The mass was beautiful and the message, from what I could tell, was about peace in the Holy Land.
After I left mass, the rain was coming down in buckets. I made it as far as Abram’s shop. There, at about 1:30, I stopped to find many of the same people. I warmed myself by the fire for a bit longer. The rain had stopped and I went on my way back to the hotel.
Christmas Eve should be spent with family and friends. I spent mine with the friends who also came to the warmth of Abram and his fire.
Today is Christmas and it snowed, kind of. Children were out playing in the hail that was falling. They were having hail-ball fights and I bet those hail-balls hurt. Outside the church, a group of people gathered, formed a circle and started singing. A band of guitars played in the middle. Despite the rain, cold and wind, everyone was happy. And so was I. We danced, sang, held hands and in the spirit of Christmas, had a merry ol’ time.
Al Jazeera
Posted by Aaron - 21/12/05 at 08:12:00 pmNot much to report today. I slept in for the first time. I actually stayed in bed until 10 o’clock. Sharat and I both agree that the days are too long when you wake up early and have nothing to do. Today being one of those days with nothing to do, I decided to stay in bed. Plus, it was warm in bed and who knows what the weather would be like outside. Like Abu Ali said, “Cold today, hot tomorrow, cold the next day.” Abu Ali has a strange habit of wanting to shake your hand after every statement he makes. In a single conversation, you could shake his hand 5 or 6 times. It is really hard to maintain the integrity of a hearty handshake.
Jericho & the Dead Sea pictures
Posted by Aaron - 20/12/05 at 07:12:00 pmthese pictures go in reverse order of my day. sorry. honestly. i am.
THE END.
two views from the Seven Arches Hotel. Above is the Church of All Nations in the Garden of Gethsemane and the Russia Church of Mary Magdalene (the one with shiny things on top)
Below, the Dome of the Rock and the Old City
I assure you those are genuine sheep grazing on a genuine Judean hillside.
The Dead Sea. It’s a big body of water that is over 400 meters below sea level.
That’s me. Don’t I look nice?
Jordan in the distance
These are wild camels. They are not in a zoo. They are not wearing a funny hat and you can’t ride them. They still look stupid.
The great mosque in Jericho
The ruins of Hisham’s Palace. 4 years after it was finished, an earthquake destroyed it. This is the mosque.
Some stones at the Palace. It’s pretty much completely destroyed.
The mosaic floor to the guest house. What is not shown is the part of a mosaic where a lion is eating a gazelle underneath the tree of life. cool
This is the entry way to Hisham’s Palace. The six pointed star in the middle is of note because my guide book says it is of note. I don’t know why and neither did the guy at the Palace.
These are the pillars of the Great Hall in Hisham’s Palace. Underneath, the French government buried the largest mosaic in the Middle East to protect it. They are going to dig it out next year.
The Greek monastery on the Mount of Temptation. Three monks live there.
The Monastery was closed, just like this gate.
From the Mount of Temptation. You can see the Dead Sea in the distance.
This is Jericho from atop the Mount of Temptation. Ramon kept telling me how small Jericho is and from up here, everything does look small.
Up on the hill is the Greek Monastery. It was built in 1895 and even though it is on the side of a mountain, it is still 50 meters below sea level.
This is Arafat’s palace in Jericho. It was really lame. Modern day palaces are therefore lame.
Jericho & the Dead Sea
Posted by Aaron - 20/12/05 at 06:12:00 pmLast night, while Chuck and I were having tea and chatting, I mentioned I wanted to go see Jericho and the Dead Sea while I was still in Jerusalem. As per the norm, Chuck came through. He said he had a friend who owned a taxi company and he would set me up with a driver/guide for the day. He ran out of the hotel and came back with Samir (I think that was his name). Samir owns Pilgrim Taxi Service. I really like when things are called pilgrim. In Ibillin, I stayed in the Pilgrim guest house, now I was going to ride in a Pilgrim taxi. It makes me feel like, well, a pilgrim, someone making a holy journey or something. Jericho and the Dead Sea was really just for pleasure and tourism, but still, the thought is nice.
Samir and I agreed on a price and itinerary for the next day. I was to meet him at 8 AM in front of the hotel. Chuck and I chatted some more about our families and he told me about being a vacuum sales man in Ohio. He basically traveled all over Ohio, selling vacuums. He liked it but said it was hard and lonely work. The man who owns a fruit and vegetable stand down the street, I always buy from him because he is a friend of Chuck’s and has delicious tomatoes, stopped by and gave Chuck and me bananas. Chuck said I should stick around, first tea, then a trip to Jericho and the Dead Sea, then bananas, who knows who else would come through the door.
Chuck left around 7:30 and I went downstairs to watch the TV Abu Ali (the fix-it guy in the hotel, he also makes really good tea with mint) had just fixed a few days ago. I watched CNN for awhile, but quickly lost interest. Then, I switched to MBC 2, an Arabic channel that shows American movies “non-stop” in English with Arabic subtitles. I watched the end of some corny flick about a guy who marries a terminally ill woman. She dies like 6 months after they marry but his life is forever changed. Lots of sappy music and shots of sunsets. Liar, Liar came on next. I watched a bit but I never really liked that movie. Jim Carry annoys me in it. I was surprised, well not really surprised, to see that the TV channel cut to commercial at the slightest hint of a sex scene, even a PG-13 scene. That’s censorship.
Enough of that. My day in Jericho and the Dead Sea was a lot of fun. Once again, I was the only tourist in many of the places. On the drive to Jericho, I finally saw Israel the way I had always pictured it in my head. Only about 15 minutes outside of Jerusalem, it was all desert, just rolling hills of desert. It is an impressive sight. I saw shepherds and their flocks on the hillsides, not too sure what the sheep were eating. We passed, by the way, my driver’s name was Ramon, little Bedouin communities. They live in tents in the desert. I saw my first camel. He was tied up beside a Bedouin tent.
Finally, we arrived to Jericho. Jericho is both the world’s oldest (settled almost 10,000 years ago) and lowest (250 meter below sea level) city. It was also the first city to fly Palestinian flags and be completely governed by the Palestinian Authority. People often call Jericho a success story for Palestine and their control. No one I spoke to in Jericho seemed to agree with this statement because like most West Bank cities, Jericho has almost no tourists.
The first thing Ramon showed me was the large Intercontinental Hotel and Casino that is just inside the checkpoints. Both seem out of place among the ruins of the outskirts of Jericho, where Ramon said the poor people live. And both are closed and have been since the first Intifada. Ramon drove me further into Jericho. We stopped at Arafat’s palace there. Modern day palaces are lame I decided. Then he drove me as close to Jordon as he could. It was quite a ways off, but he tried. After showing me bus stations and police stations and banks, our first big stop was the Mount of Temptation and the Greek Monastery located on top of it. This is the site where the devil tempted Jesus and Jesus was like, “Um, no!” to the devil. Pretty cool story. The Greeks liked it so much that in 1895 they built a monastery up there. Pretty cool monastery. I took a gondola to get to the top of the mountain. Even at the top of the mountain, I was still 50 or so meters below sea level. Crazy. I hiked up to the monastery but it was closed. Apparently, three monks live there and I could hear their radio no one responded to the doorbell when I rang it. From the mountain you could see the Dead Sea simmering in the sunlight.
We also stopped at Hisham’s palace. This place was built a long time ago, 724-743 CE and then destroyed four years later by a gigantic earthquake. It was built for a Caliph, Muslim leader, in Damascus as a winter retreat but there is not evidence he ever stayed there. It is pretty much destroyed. According to the guy there, there is a beautiful mosaic buried beneath 15 cm of sand. Next year, they are going to dig it out. It is the largest mosaic in the Middle East. Right now, it’s not the largest sandbox in the Middle East. (I was trying to be funny there!)
After that, Ramon said, “There is nothing more in Jericho.” We left.
Only after a short drive, and me seeing my first pack of wild camels ever, we were at the Dead Sea. It was dead; there was no one else there. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth, 412 meters below sea-level. Funny thing is, the Dead Sea is also 412 meters deep. Hummm. Anyway, the Dead Sea really isn’t dead. Scientists have discovered bacteria in the water. Thanks science, thanks for ruining that one. What’s next, Santa Claus. Graham, I blame you, you and your marine biology award. Arg!
I didn’t go swimming, partly because it was cold, windy, not sunny and slightly raining, and partly because all the beaches were closed and no one would let me go swimming. Ramon and I did walk along the shore. The Dead Sea has a salt concentration 8 times that of the ocean. I put my hand in it to see if I could just grab a handful of salt from the water. Apparently, that is not how it works. Though the sea does leave your hand with this strange film and if you lick your fingers, and I had to try it, they taste like the saltiest thing ever. Did you ever lick the deer salt blocks as a kid, I did, and this was saltier. Not being able to swim, I did what any kid would do when on a rocky beach with a body of water in front of me. I skipped rocks. I’ve really lost my touch. Ramon joined in and possibly, he never had any touch. It was fun. Then we left. Not much going on at the Dead Sea, then again, it’s dead! Ha!
On the way back, it rained. Rain is really a bummer because you are in the desert and it is not supposed to rain in the desert. Again, I blame science. Before Ramon dropped me off, he took me to a “special spot.” It is the Seven Arches Hotel on the Mount of Olives. Beautiful vistas await those who know this special spot of the Old City. Despite the clouds, it was still impressive.
Ramon dropped me off and Chuck was there. He said I looked like I needed a hot shower and I did. It was the first hot shower I’ve had at the Metropol Hotel but it came at a perfect time.
blog proper, Ibillin and rain
Posted by Aaron - 17/12/05 at 07:12:00 pmI traded Siobahn my Let’s Go: Israel guide book for her computer. A pretty good deal.
Siobahn lives in the room next to mine here in Ibillin. She is Canadian though she doesn’t talk funny. I am disappointed. Anyway, she is working on her master’s thesis out here. Something to do with peace studies or community development, she isn’t quite sure yet.
It has rained the past two days and there isn’t much to do in Ibillin when you can’t walk around. Stewart, an Englishman staying here, suggested we go play darts down at the local pub today except he didn’t bring his darts from home (they probably would have been taken at the airport anyway) and these is no local pub. So instead we, Stewart, his son Tom who is 20, and I sat around drinking all sorts of coffee and tea and such, passing time.
Earlier today, I attended a concert at Abuna Chacour’s church. It was Handel’s Messiah in its totality. A beautiful piece of music but long. Siobahn said it was written back when people didn’t have anything else to do on a Saturday afternoon but listen to 3 hours of classical music. To be honest, we didn’t have anything else to do either. The highlight of the Messiah is without a doubt the Hallelujah chorus. It is so bold and jubilant and I can’t help but always remember Andy, my brother, shouting out Hallelujah during the epic grand pause. The audience was figity throughout the whole thing. The Arab community really doesn’t have a classical music culture. They like music and produce some beautiful music but music by long dead Europeans doesn’t seem to be their thing. Many left during the piece and at the intermission, about 50 or so grabbed a cup of coffee and took off. I don’t hold it against them. I think it would be hard to sit through three hours of classical Arab music, sung in a language I didn’t understand. Beautiful concert anyway.
Ibillin has been very relaxing, as I hoped. Tomorrow, I hope to spend some time with Abuna (father, like priest) Chacour. Enjoy the pictures. I am going to check out for the evening.
more PICTURES! again, for the last time
Posted by Aaron - 17/12/05 at 07:12:00 pm
This is Arafat’s grave. He wanted to be buried in Jerusalem, where he claims to have been born (he was not born in Jerusalem; he was born in Cairo but try telling that to the leader of the PLO) but Israel said no way. So, they buried him here temporarily in hopes of moving his body to Jerusalem when it becomes the capitol of a Palestinian state. He is buried in the Muqata. This was his compound for the last many years of his life. He rarely left the Muqata and Israeli forces often laid siege to it, destroying it but sparring Arafat’s life. He most likely would have rather died a martyr during one of these sieges than die a frail old man in a French hospital. His grave maybe the only tourist attraction in Ramallah these days and even then, I could not but help feeling really really really uneasy the whole time I was in the Muqata. Soldiers were everywhere and other people were no where.
more PICTURES!
Posted by Aaron - 17/12/05 at 06:12:00 pm
A Palestinian flag flying inside the Muqata.
Still inside the Mugata. Inside the arch, the Palestinian military trained. The guards go nervous when I would get any closer. Finally, the asked me to leave. Well, they didn’t so much ask me to leave as the pointed with their guns toward the exit. I got the hint.
The Occupation…
The security fence between the West Bank and Israel at the Qalandiya checkpoint.
The entrance to the Qalandiya checkpoint, going from the West Bank to Israel. This is main checkpoint to enter Ramallah. The entrance is a mob of people, packed. I had to wait over an hour to get through.
This kid has the right idea.
To pass the time, I helped the kids with their English homework. They were learning the words to describe waking up in the morning…alarm clock, shower, breakfast.
I think the kids were the only happy people at the whole checkpoint.
PICTURES!
Posted by Aaron - 17/12/05 at 06:12:00 pmFrom the Garden Tomb, an alternate site of Christ’s crucifixation and burial outside the Old City and the traditional sites within the Church of the Holy Sheplecure.
This is Skull Hill, another possible site of the crucifixiation of Christ. In the center of the frame, a collection of indentations make the shape of a skull.
This is the garden tomb, believed by some to be the tomb of Jesus.
The garden was believed to be own by Joseph of Arimatheia. He allow Jesus to be burried in his tomb, linking Jesus to this garden.
This is a very old and large wine press. Only weathly people could afford such a press, further linking the garden to Joseph of Arimatheia and Jesus.
Sunset from the roof of my hotel. This is overlooking a mixed cemetary of Muslims, Christians and others. As Chuck said, ”Over here (East Jerusalem), we don’t much care what you are.”
Sasha told me that the Israeli Army has a saying. Even in the midst of battle, if there is a beautiful sunset, both sides will stop to watch it.
The Dome of the Rock. This is the third holiest sight in Islam and is contained on top of the Temple Mount (one if the holiest sights in Judaism). From here, Muhammod ascended into heaven. Inside is the rock upon which Muhammod stood.
The smaller dome seen in front is the Dome of the Chain. It is believed that chain ran from this dome to heaven and only those worthy could climb it.
This is the Outer Mosque and honestly, I don’t know much about it. It is on the same grounds as the Dome of the Rock.
Leaving Jerusalem
Posted by Aaron - 16/12/05 at 05:12:00 amI leave Jerusalem today, but only for a few days. It is a travel day of sorts, first a cab ride to the Egged Central Bus Station. Egged is the main bus company in Israel and no, you can all share in my disappointment, their buses to do not look like eggs. What a shame! Then I have a two hour bus ride to Haifa. Haifa is a beautiful city on the Mediterranean Sea; full of resorts and beautiful people I am told. I will probably only see the bus station because then I take the 166 bus to Ibilin. Dr. Rev. Chacour lives in Ibilin where he is minister at a church and runs the Mar Elias Educational Institutes. He spoke at Kalamazoo during first week and invited me to a concert tomorrow night.
Thus far I have conducted 6 interviews for my SIP and each one has been unique and successful. Last night’s interview was by far the toughest I have done yet. I interviewed Yitzhak (probably my favorite Jewish first name) Frankenthal (there’s a good ol’ German last name), director of the Arik Institute for Peace, Reconciliation and Tolerance. For the first time, my interview subject really intimidated me. Yitzhak was a business man for many years until his son, Ariel, was murdered by Hamas militants. Yitzhak realized his son was murdered because there was not peace between the two sides, the Israelis and the Palestinians. He quit his business and started the Arik Institute in memory of his son.
The institute educates both sides of the conflict, teaching them to live side by side, to reconcile their differences. Through his work, he became very close with many influential leaders of the peace process. He sat with Rabin many times and was with him only two hours before he was shot. He told Barak that if he could not give the Palestinians sovereignty over the Temple Mount, where the Dome of the Rock is, then he should not both going to Camp David because there would be no peace. Barak went, refused to grant sovereignty and the second Intifada started.
Yitzhak was also very close with Yassir Arafat and spoke very highly of him. He believed Yassir Arafat could bring peace to the region; he just lacked an Israeli partner. Quite the opposite from what you hear in the media, that the Israelis lacked a partner in peace with Arafat. He interviewed Arafat two months before he died in the Muqata in Ramallah. Yitzhak decided to video record the interview and gave me a copy. There the two men are, sitting side by side, with Arafat promising to establish a peace stronger than Benelux in Europe. Two months later, Arafat died and according to Yitzhak, left the Palestinians without a leader capable of bringing peace.
This all came out in the first few minutes; then I had to interview this man, asking feeble questions about Palestinian leadership. I was nervous, trying not to sound like a dumb kid from the United States. He was direct in his answers and provided me with some good information—and some free stuff. He gave me a hat and t-shirt which say, “I am a Palestinian in favor of a two state solution.” They are adorned with both the Israeli and Palestinian flag. They are for a huge demonstration he is planning in Jenin, considered a town of terror, with tens of thousands of Palestinians, all wearing the shirts and hats, in the streets.
This small trip to Ibilin is much needed. I went to the Mount of Olives yesterday. (I think I missed most of it, it is really confusing and dump for all practical purposes.) The Church of the Ascension, where Christ ascended into heaven (actually there are two supposed Churches of the Ascension, I went to the one ran by the Germans because they are probably right, the Germans.), sits in a beautiful park of olive trees. Walking around there I realized I was tired. My last two days in Ramallah really drained me of energy and tested my nerves. Things were increasingly getting tense in Jerusalem and the surrounding cities. I am ready to head to the peace of the Galilee to reflect on all that has happened. Rebecca tells me the Galilee is beautiful and quite different than the chaos of Jerusalem. I am ready for that. Chuck is holding my room for me and will be waiting for me to return in a few days.
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