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.