last day for lasting memories

june 26, 2009 was my last full day in jerusalem, last day in israel period. it was a whirlwind of last minute errands, museum visiting, last shuk run, finishing packing, last shabbat service and dinner with friends. i can't believe that the day just snuck up on me. i was expecting so much more time and i didn't have any. it was shocking and depressing. i also had a total of 100 shekels to use the entire day, not counting the 50 shekels i was saving for my sherut ride later in the night.

i ran some errands in the morning to get a skirt fixed so i could have something decent to wear to shul. the tailor was really nice and helpful, understanding my broken hebrew as i tried to explain that i needed a zipper fixed. after that, jonathan and i rushed off to the museum on the seam where we spent a couple of hours walking around, taking in the art, and the breathtaking view on the rooftop. the receptionist was super, just having graduated from hebrew university's art history program. lovely. afterwards, jo and i got a falafel from moshiko's. ahh, my last moshiko's. it's so sad. at moshiko's there is this one guy who is constantly smiling and is the one offering free falafel balls to the people coming in. i think he recognizes me as i have frequented this shop many times before. i was explaining to him that it was my last moshiko's sandwich and he exclaimed "what a shame!" and said i need to make aliyah and visit him. haha. i told him i would be back soon and enjoyed this great falafel sandwich of jerusalem.

jonathan and i finally made it to the shuk and found it more bustling than ever. i honestly don't remember it being so busy in all the times i've been there on fridays or any other days of the week. i had planned a shabbat dinner with friends later in the evening so i wanted to make my rainbow salad and a carrot cake, the two dishes my friends associate me with. as we were hurriedly walking to and fro from each stand, comparing prices and goods, jo slipped away from me several times as he went off in search of something. after loading up with 20 pitas, 2 sweet challahs, ingredients for a HUGE salad, and carrots for the carrot cake, jo took me to a dry goods shop on jaffa, saying he needed to buy something. little did i know, he was ordering ground turkish coffee with cardamom and za'atar! the things i wanted to get before leaving israel. i was so touched but indignant that he was doing this for me. what a sweetheart. we decided to chill and i bought jo a demitasse of espresso while we sat and watched the passerbys.

we made our way back to lisa's place, where the dinner was going to take place. i got together the ingredients for the salad, chopped and assembled. i am truly a master of salads. anyways, after putting the cake into the oven, it was rounding up to 6 pm and service was starting in almost an hour. i was sweaty and gross and still unpacked. so i ran off to my place to take my last shower and get ready for shul. shul itself was very nice. it didn't have the small, homey feeling as the last one i attended on har hatzofim but it was good. the chazzan was quite amazing. there was also a jewish choir? didn't know those existed. interesting to sit in on an orthodox service albeit a little ruined by tourists with overwhelming perfume and obvious lack of respect for the service. but alas.

lisa, jo and i were starving by the end so i rushed over to my place to clean and pack and cart my luggage over to lisa's. it was slow to get started and suddenly a lot of people showed up, including itamar, dekel and matan, my favorite israeli boys. i was just so happy that all my friends were to there to spend my last evening with me. it made me feel so at home and made me want to stay in israel more than ever. i had also consumed an entire bottle of muscato wine by this point so i was a bit tipsy. i crashed in to walls and fell several times. heh. the time for the sherut was closing in so fast. around 1:30 am, my friends all carried my bags down to the street level and waited for me. this huge group of people waiting with me on jaffa st, hugging and crying. finally the sherut came, and i had to leave. my friends all gathered around me and hugged me and sent me off with a chorus of the song "so long, farewell."

that was the longest ride i ever had to take.

israel museum & museum on the seam

last tuesday, i had no more obligations at bezalel so i decided to go and visit the israel museum. israel museum is situated in an interesting place. it is in givat ram, which is known as the political seat of israel/jerusalem. the knesset is situated there as well as hebrew university's science and math campus. israel museum is the national museum and even though it is an art museum, it didn't strike me as one but more of a historical/archaeological one, which isn't something bad. there wasn't much to see because of the renovations taking place. they seriously hampered the viewing experiences as there were two permanent collections available and several temporary ones. the permanent collections were the miniature replica of jerusalem from the 2nd temple period and the dead sea scrolls. i thought that the miniature was quite fascinating to see and compare to the walls of the old city as we know it today. many consider the dead sea scrolls to be the highlight of the visit but it wasn't too overwhelming or grand. perhaps at this point, i have become accustomed to the weighty history of the place. the scrolls were nicely curated and well preserved. it was interesting to see that the hall they were housed in were also art pieces to tell of the history between the sons of light and the sons of dark. the temporary exhibits were pretty mediocre and the sculpture garden was nice.

on friday, my last day, i visited museum on the seam with jonathan. museum on the seam has a fascinating history. it advertises itself as a socio-political museum that brings into light contemporary issues that ranges from environmental to tolerance of any kind. the museum itself was a lookout point for israeli army, situated on the 1948 armistice border with jordan. now, it sits on the edge of east jerusalem, known for its arabic population, and on the edge of west jerusalem which gives you, mea shearim, the ultra orthodox jewish neighborhood. the current exhibit, titled naturenation, "examines the complex relationship between land and state and between people and nature from a socio-political stance." it was a well put together show and i wish i had enough time to fully incorporate the exhibit. the photos in the show were outstanding, besides the edward burtynsky's work, which i'm not a fan of. i found it fascinating that the museum still kept the original modeling of the lookout in certain parts of the museum, making a powerful statement about war and art and people and space. the rooftop also featured a small sculpture garden with a tremendous 360 view of jerusalem.

overall, i think the museum on the seam had a better space and used it well. i know i can't make a judgement on what i saw at israel museum but i think that for one that enhances people's experience of israel and/or jerusalem, museum on the seam is more on the beat than israel museum. however, if history and archaeological and nice art collections are up your alley, the israel museum is a nice place to visit. don't know if it's worth the money, though.

ben gurion: sitting and waiting

my computer is about to run out of power. but the free wifi in the airport is nice. i don't know why all the airports don't adopt this as well. boo.

i will be updating with my final thoughts about my stay and about the insane airport security that i had to endure for TWO HOURS including the departure with a visa.

i miss jerusalem. i want to stay. things were just starting to get amazing. damn time.

homosexuality and jerusalem

today is the gay pride parade in jerusalem. i think one occured one or two weeks ago in tel-aviv. people are not kidding when they say that tel-aviv and jerusalem are worlds apart even though they are just an hour away from each other by car. while tel-aviv tries hard to exude this european mediterranean city atmosphere, jerusalem really hasn't changed much in a long time, holding on to its roots with an iron grip. so while tel-aviv is more of the accepting variety, jerusalem is not so much. i am a part of the fan page of jerusalem on facebook. and in lieu of today's event, the maintainer posted that the gay pride parade was occurring today. this seemed to be a cause for outrage among the other fans of the page. people were writing how gays are going to hell; they don't want their kids to be exposed to this kind of behavior; the torah said it is abominable; how rude it was to defile the holiest city; how they should be focusing on gilad who has been missing for three years today; etc. i don't understand how people can think that homosexuality is a behavior that can be taught. total misconception and one that is ruling in california at the moment. i also think that using religion as a tool for spreading hate and uncompromising with the changing times, not that this is really a change... religion should serve as a guideline for life. it shouldn't be treated as something strict and unbending. i think it is a great thing that there is such an event occurring in the 'holiest of holy cities'. it is a shame that people still have a need to hide who they are. it is fascinating to me to see a place where men are more open with each other than women are, homophobia runs rampant. but i guess that is part of the idea of this area. people in jerusalem need to get their act together and stop discriminating and being so filled with hate and trying to form scapegoats for the problems of israel.

jericho, you busted.

yesterday, lisa, jan and i decided to venture out to jericho, a city in the west bank. we must have been a little crazy because the hamsin winds were on full blast making the day around 93 degrees. maybe it was because it was hot and we were all tired, but jericho was less than stellar and it was rather disappointing. bah. jericho is known as the longest continually inhabited city in the world. fascinating but not really. there was no one out due to the heat. the cable car to the mount of temptation where jesus was tempted three times by the devil was closed. we could have hiked but who the hell hikes in that kind of weather?! so lisa and i rode a camel instead. it was the weirdest feeling and i was so excited that the guy leading the camel made fun of me. i had no idea camels were so tall! i think jan got some funny pictures out of the experience. there was an austrian casino that was closed due to the conflict. and that was also the first gambling place i laid eyes on in israel. after riding the camel, we walked around for a little bit, doing little photo shoots in abandoned, decimated houses along the way. there are also banana farms in jericho; how random. is desert climate good for growing bananas?

we finally arrived in the city area and crawled in the nearest restaurant. one of the things i'm going to miss about israel is paying so little for such a grand spread that we shared between the three of us. big plates of hummus, various salads and other dips, fresh hummus and a plate of succulent lamb. oh, plus a hookah and sweet turkish coffee. our server, named mr. smiley, was incredibly nice and helpful and even offered to let us nap. haha. we kindly declined the offer because we really should really be on our way and left, full of delicious food and hazy apple smoke. we caught a cab back to abu dis and experienced one of the most lax checkpoints back into israel. the heat can take a lot of a person so lisa and i dragged ourselves slowly down jaffa st to our houses under the intense sun.

סוף סוף!!

ahh! i am finally finally done with classes for the semester. i think i had pretty successful reviews on the work that i've been doing for the past couple of months. i found out that it is really easy to get caught up on certain ideas of what a place should look like and feel like in the place and there is too much subjective tastes to be found. i was told that i was successful in capturing a contested place as a respectful viewer of the life and culture there! that's so nice to hear! i was also made aware that some of my photos have failed to transcend this notion of touristy image. i think it's rather hard to do so in a place that is completely new and foreign. i'm sure that an jewish israeli or an arab israeli would have done my project completely differently but i'd like to think that i can see things in a new way that puts things in a different light. i also developed my first!! cross-processed film! it looks pretty damn amazing. now i know why lisa does it all the time. i'm ready to relax for the next couple of days before i return to the states.

masada and rotten eggs

i found myself still in israel after making plans to go to jordan. c'est la vie, i suppose. however, i did something that i haven't done yet so i'm pretty excited about that. after shabbat dinner at petra & jan's, i was hanging out with lisa and jonathan. petra invited me to come to masada to see the sunrise. this was 2:45 am. twenty minutes later, i had my backpack packed with a litre of water and cameras. everyone recommends the dawn hike up the snake trail up to masada to see the sun rise over the jordanian mountains and the dead sea. oh masada, how you test me. i must be pretty out of shape at the moment because the hike that was supposed to last 45 minutes seem to drag on forever, over countless steps up steep inclines and rocks ready to give out. that wasn't all. there were about 90 almost vertical steps into the actual site. damn you, masada. however, it was all worth it. we got to the hike just in time to see the sun beginning to rise about three quarters of the way, the sky changing from midnight blue to cerulean blue tinted with orange and pink as the sun peeked out of the mountains. as it rose, it illuminated the amazing, wonderful desert scene around us, highlighting the white canyon walls below and the orange red walls around the place. we all celebrated this beautiful event with sips from the wine bottle and quiet contemplation.

masada is an important cultural heritage site for israelis. it is where the jewish people died rather than having to surrender to roman rule. geologically, it is at a great advantage as it is situated on top of the plateau with steep, challenging cliffs on all sides. approaching enemies could be detected. the site is in pretty great condition with many things to see besides the amazing 360 desert views. the most impressive part was the souther water cistern. it is a huge cavern with plastered walls with several holes at the top to draw water. it is amazing to see the extent of the place and see how it aided the jewish rebels in evading capture for so long. it is known that the israeli defense force is initiated on masada with the declaration: masada shall not fall again. fascinating.

afterwards, we descended from masada to board the car to take a short trip to metzoke dragot, a region on the dead sea that is less populated by tourists had has irregular intervals of fresh water. we hiked a fair way up the coast to find a remote enclosure of water. the hike was interesting as the air was permeated with the smell of rotten eggs, salt from the dead sea, and quicksand areas on the ground. never again. since i don't swim, i just waded a little before leaving. petra managed to bottle up some of the mud that is so popular near the dead sea area. now, i just need to figure out how to smuggle that back to the states.

moved!

so, it turns out that my hebrew understanding and speaking skills have increased unbeknownst to me. yay for me. but for the next two weeks i will practicing more korean than hebrew. i will be living with two korean girls and they are super nice. the area is a welcoming scene than the one at the student dorms. a nice send off.

obama and israel

there seems to be a lot of hate for obama coming from israelis/zionists: ha'aretz op-ed

i don't know whether to take this as a joke or not.

edit: my taxi driver today (14/06) called obama an arab and kept emphasizing his middle of 'hussein.' he also drove by some posters near the city centre that show obama with the traditional muslim head gear, calling him an anti-semite. interesting, israel, interesting.

first steps inside a korean church in 8 years

went to a korean church.

was sung to by the congregation as a welcome.

had hamburgers for lunch.

engaged in conversation reminiscent of korean tv comedies.

watched defiance together.

talked some more.

will be moving in with them tomorrow.

living out of suitcases for next two weeks.

rent is free.

the west bank experience (part 4)

last wednesday, my friend, jan, and i went on a trip to ramallah and then to nablus.

ramallah is a mere 16 km outside jerusalem and is considered very liberal in comparison to the other west bank cities. the ride there was very interesting as the bus drove through givat shaul, a jewish settlement. although i knew the existence of several settlements, i had no idea that some were quite close to jerusalem and that there are more than just several. there are many! furthermore, due to many government headquarters, ramallah serves as the de facto capital of palestine. it is also where yassar arafat established his headquarters (and is buried?) and lots of diplomatic missionaries and NGOs work out of ramallah. it is also home to one of the most stingiest checkpoint (qalandia) in the west bank.

our stay in ramallah was quite short as we were just there to meet tim, our mutual friend who lives in al-bireh, who was going to be our designated tour guide for the day. after a short coffee break, we headed toward the central station to catch a taxi to nablus. nablus is the northernmost city of interest in the west bank. as ramallah is the center of government, nablus is the center of commerce and culture, known for its knafeh, a sweet goat cheese pastry, and olive oil soap. nablus is also home to one of the most stringent resistance to israeli occupation and has seen much rough action as a consequence. my well-worn lonely planet tells me that that the northern west bank is referred to by old testament purists as samaria* and there is quite a thriving samaritan community in nablus.

nablus was bustling by the time tim, jan, and i arrived. many were lounging about drinking turkish cafe or a refreshing yogurt with fruit. tim led us around the centre and then we dove right into the old city, walking around the myriad of stores and alleyways that date back to roman times in the 7th century. the people in nablus were very frank and openly gawked and twittered about our presence. i have come into terms that it wasn't tim or jan's presence but mine that garnered a lot attention. what can i say? asian looking people are a rarity in these parts. the children followed us, demanding that we take their pictures and yelling 'welcome!' every few minutes. it was also very odd feeling because while visiting other west bank cities, i was able to get a definite feel but nablus laid dormant.

because of nablus' history with resisting the occupation, there were many posters of boys and men carrying guns with the background of a palestinian flag or dome of the rock plastered all over the walls. tim said these posters are a commemoration to those who fought the occupation and died. these were completely idealized images of the people and while they were strongly political, there was something strangely pop cultural about them. the macho poses coupled with the heavy artillery were quite ridiculous.

it was insanely hot. so much so that the three of us were sweating copious amounts. so gross. to take a break, we ducked into a knafeh shop and sat down to enjoy some of the best that i have ever had. i am going to miss this pastry so much come two weeks. i had some good ones in nazareth and in hebron but the ones in nablus blow others out of the water. after a much deserved snack, we walked back toward the centre and explore an olive oil soap factory. because it is more expensive to use their own olive oil, oil from from spain and italy are imported. while the soap is mixed by machines that are quite old, cutting and drying are done by hand. upstairs, a great majority of the floor is covered with the wet soap for it to harden. afterwards, the soap is hand cut and towers of soap are constructed to further dry it out. the conical towers of asymmetrical soap provided a beautiful contrast in the room of grey stone.

six bars of soap later, we boarded a taxi to balata, one of the largest UNRWA refugee camps. over 15,000 people occupy a ridiculously small space of 1 kilometre square. it was supposed be a temporary residence for those thrust out of jaffa and nearby areas. but over the years, the tents gave way to concrete buildings with many as 40 people living on one floor/apartment. there is a program, yafa cultural centre, that try to ease the problems that arise from living in close quarters but it can only do so much. just as nablus resisted/is resisting the occupation, balata residents were also heavily involved in the palestinian intifadas. the living conditions in balata are miserable. the alleyways between the buildings are so tiny that large people cannot use them. there is no privacy. the economy is pretty much shot through the roof. the people still live with hope that they will be able to return to their homes. i can understand now, what heshem said about the palestinian support of hamas. in a situation like this, one can only hope for change.

sometimes, i think israel really, really sucks.

*there is so much history in this area and so many different conquest, i can hardly keep up with the changes. i have a newfound respect for those who study the complicated history of the middle east. sometimes facts are myths and myths are facts. if that makes any sense...

some thoughts on work

bezalel has been an interesting experience thus far. i'm really glad that i came here and i feel fortunate to study art in a place that is truly unique. i have never done so much work. although it seems like i haven't as i've missed classes more often than attending (!) but the amount work i have done is quite a lot. thus far, i have shot 11 rolls of 120 film, giving me around 132 frames to choose from. (for comparison, when i take classes at smfa, i am only able to take 3 or 4 maybe 5.) but i'm not even done. i have 7 or 8 more rolls to develop with one or two more trips to hebron in attempts to finish my work. in a vain attempt, i also tried taking other art classes but failed at grasping the medium or maybe i didn't care enough. screenprinting is nice but i just didn't know what to print. i have an idea that i should finish before leaving but that is about it. collage was a major fail.

the teachers are a bit eccentric and old-fashioned. there are worlds upon worlds of differences between the teachers in smfa and the teachers here at bezalel. while it was refreshing to get a different perspective on my work, it wasn't all that pleasant to hear that my work is not "serious" or that it looks to "snapshot-y." i've also been thinking about why i'm doing art and it seems i can't answer that question legitimately anymore. i used to love photography and now i have almost fallen out of favor with it. i don't know how to hold myself artist, defending my work and talking about my work.

henri cartier-bresson's idea of the decisive moment was something i was striving for.

"The simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as the precise organization of forms which gives that event its proper expression... . In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little human detail can become a leitmotif."

i tried by using toy cameras because it didn't take "work" to find the correct aperture and shutter. you just depress the shutter button. any cameras besides toy cameras or point-and-shoot cameras were too entrenched in what people seemed to think photography is and i wanted to get away from it. but somewhere along the way i forgot everything, especially the reason why i was photographing.

it was nice to have free reign over what i wanted to do with great support and TIME to do it. time is of the essence in art work. if there is not enough, the work will suck and it will show. i want to believe that i took advantage of my semester of doing nothing but art and hopefully it will show. i'm ready to go back to what i'm good at: reading and talking abstractly. i am afraid i forgot how to study but i'm sure it will come to me again soon.

two week countdown

two weeks ago, i created a list of things i wanted to do. some of them realistic, some of them not. so i will revise and see what is possible now that i have two more weeks left.

1. egypt must happen. even if it means taking a week off classes. (what was i thinking? not possible.)

2. go to jordan. weekend trip, anyone? (next weekend.)

3. west bank city hop: jericho, ramallah, nablus, and bethlehem.

4. bauhaus architecture walk around tel-aviv. (maybe this weekend) (not really all that important!)

5. haifa for bahai garden hike and akko for the beautiful port and the best hummus joint in israel. (quite possibly this coming wednesday!)

6. antique and junk shopping in jaffa. (don't need more crap to carry back!)

7. shabbat service at the great synagogue. (this i will do the friday before i leave with a last shabbat dinner with friends.)

9. church tour in mount of olives. (last thursday)

10. museum visiting: rockefeller museum, israel museum, museum on the seam, chagall windows. (if i have time)

the west bank experience (part 3 cont.)

the daughter of the person i was going to meet, met me at one of the checkpoints. she was waiting with her little brother, looking rather uninterested. we went through the checkpoint and they took me up a hill, through rubble and garbage. the passageways were not determined by anything but rocks and the direction upward. i can't believe that they climb up and down to get into town. the house was hidden from view by growth of trees. there, heshem greeted me and welcomed me into his house. the rooms were clean and well-maintained. he showed me to his sitting room and told me his story.

heshem is in an difficult predicament as he lives right below one of the most religious fanatic jewish settlers in the area. he is involved with the organization called b'tselem, an israeli human rights organization of the occupied territories. the program distributes camera and video equipment to the palestinians who live near military outposts, settlers, checkpoints, etc. they record their daily life, living precariously on the edge of potential violence. it goes without saying that heshem has had a difficult life. the settlers above continuously throw down garbage, old machinery and rocks, trying to maim him and his family. heshem believes that two state solution is not the way to go. he thinks that it will only cause more problems and violence between israel and palestine. he is determined that one state is the answer; everybody living together in peace as one. the separation, for heshem, has gone on too long. he also gave me his opinion of hamas, saying that the hamas party was the one at the moment that appeared to want and bring about change to palestine.

after much talk, he showed me around his house. the trees on his property were cut by jewish settlers and one is barely flowering. the windows of his house were broken so heshem installed metal grills. now the settlers use long sticks to get through the grill. heshem said that there were many graffiti on the walls and doors but he painted over them. he showed me one door where there is still the star of david as he wasn't allowed to paint over that by the IDF, who told him that if he did, they will arrest him. all the natural walkways into his house are blocked. on the roof, his water tank was shot and couldn't be repaired.

heshem had several videos he wanted to show me so we went back down to his house. the first video he put on showed heshem trying to pick up the olives from his olive trees. the IDF only allowed heshem to do it. while he was gathering olives, the settlers saw him and came down, screaming. they were calling him a stealer, a murderer, and a nazi. a woman started wailing in the middle, creating a commotion. she kept saying things about how the jewish people have no land and no way of life, that everything they have is being stolen, etc. the next video showed a gathering of jewish school girls chanting "die arabs" "murder the arabs", etc. the third video, by a swede, showed a group of palestinian girls on their way to school. they were bombarded by jewish girls and boys who kept pushing and hitting the girls, including the teacher. the IDF stood around doing nothing while the teacher pleaded with them to do something. the boys threw rocks at the girls from below. the last video i saw was frightening in all levels. heshem told me that several years ago, there was a curfew installed so that the palestinians were not allowed to leave their houses for several hours. during these hours, the jewish settlers would come into their villages and terrorize the people, who were not able to do anything. the video showed the settlers coming with long metal poles and guns, destroying property and breaking windows to grab the people inside. again, the IDF did nothing to stop this from happening. imagine living like that, in constant terror, living in fear that these people, will one day no doubt commit murder because of their hatred. heshem also told me that the jewish women would come and kick his wife around, telling him that they will come back another time with men so they can rape her. someone must be at home at all times so that the settlers do not come and destroy their home. his children cannot go to sleep at night unless the light is on and their parents are there to console them.

it was getting late so i had to leave. i thanked heshem for his story and for showing me great hospitality. i made my way back to the old city to wait for egged. while waiting for the bus, i ran into a soldier who recognized me from before. he seemed very happy to see me and greeted me. i also saw a great celebration near the synagogue. i believe it was a wedding ceremony. it's funny to see such happiness when those people are the ones creating fear in those who live not 50 metres away.

happiness is...

baking carrot cake with a good friend while catching up.

a wine and cheese tasting get together with french wine and french cheese.

making plans with people who are amazing.

not happiness but excitement is making plans to go to ramallah and nablus.

oh, and prayer calls at 3:30 am means insomnia.

indeed.

the west bank experience (part 3)

today is the last day for "official" field work for documentary workshop class. so i hightailed it to hebron again, with the notion in mind that it will be my last time. boy, does it make me feel nostalgic. i decided to take egged this time for one reason or another. waiting for the bus was a different experience than the first because there were actually a lot of people milling around, mostly IDF. #160 was completely full. i was aware that there would be a difference in taking an israeli bus and an arab bus but i didn't realize that it would be so drastic. the first blatant difference are the vehicles. the egged bus resemble charter buses, air-conditioned, albeit without bathrooms in the back. the arab buses are old vans, with windows that open sometimes. next are the people. of course, only israelis ride the egged, which isn't to say that israelis do not ride arab buses but they don't make it a habit. the atmosphere was completely different. on the arab buses, the people are an amalgamation of the population. they bustle. they bump. they gossip. they are alive. on the egged, orthodox jews and IDF proliferate. the air is calm and silent. and the lady next to me kept scooting over as if i was diseased. the ride was pleasant, however, because i knocked out, waking up in kiryat arba.

upon my arrival in the old city, i walked around, taking pictures of the people (it's illegal for me but whatever) and the graffiti that occupy the landscape. it was much more livelier than the last i've been. little jewish kids riding bikes and running around. there wasn't much to see since most were out of sight inside so i made my way toward the city. i never had a problem with my passport but they were much more adamant to see it this time, asking questions such as "are you christian?" (no i am not but i said yes.) and finalizing with "you from america?" (yes. [what a freaking dumb question.]) the market area was bustling this time! i was excited to see. i walked toward the women's coop shop and got some shopping done for people back home. while picking out wares, one of the women engaged me in a conversation. i found myself explaining my purpose in hebron and showed her my photos, telling her that i need to start focusing on people, instead of the landscape. she got really excited and said that there was a person i needed to meet and talk to. so she calls him up and tells me that he will meet in 10 minutes and his daughter will pick me up at the checkpoint. wait, there is another checkpoint? (i found out there are 6? 7? checkpoints in hebron. ridiculous!) so the guy i met previously in my group excursion leads me around, showing me places i haven't seen yet. when he delivered me to the daughter, he shamelessly started asking for money, ending with phrases like "as you like" and "please". this guy is really annoying. i don't mean to be callous. what he does is really rude and i don't like being harassed.

i'm sorry but this will have to be continued later. i'm pretty exhausted. ta.

my first security (bomb?) drill

the national security administration or something issued an announcement that yesterday at 11 am, there was going to be a security drill. okay, so i guess the tension between israel and iran are heating up. being from california, i had my share of drills: earthquake, fire, crazy guy in the hall, etc. this was different. i was at school in the library reading and the librarian came over to me to say that at 11, i had to evacuate the area to the auditorium. so at 11, the siren rang and everyone was making their way to the auditorium. this was unlike any other drill because everything was calm and orderly. the auditorium was not big enough to hold all the students in the school so many were standing just outside the doors. and a lot of people were using this time as a photo op and took many pictures. interesting. i heard that while people inside buildings headed toward the nearest shelter, those on the streets just went about as usual. many didn't even realize that it was a security drill. this drill, named turning point 3 (was i not aware of turning points 1 & 2?), is based on a presumption of a missile and rocket attack from all sides, with large-scale terror attacks from within the country itself. this scenario is not fictional, according to deputy defense minister matan vilan'i. somewhat related but not, israel was ranked 141 on the global peace index. i'm beginning to feel sorry for israel as it is surrounded by countries who want to annihilate it.

the rest of the day was rather uneventful. had my first photo crit in documentary photo. was told my photos were very snapshot like and that i needed to hire a tour guide to take me around places so i can get direction.

that is all.