Sharing a waterpipe and check point experiences

(Photo: Waiting in line at a check point)

I spent most of my first day in Ramallah resting, grocery shopping and trying to get settled. In the evening, I went out to a cafe with Dennis, who is also staying here for a short while. We met his friends in the cosy back yard of a cafe in downtown Ramallah. To the familiar bubbling sound of waterpipes and with the tobacco's sweet smell in my nose, I listened to their conversation, silently trying to truly understand that I am now here.
One of the girls told us that she has recently been stopped in a check point where her car was pulled apart into pieces and examinated. When she left the check point two hours later, the car was leaking oil.

Just before midnight we were all ready to ge home. I hadn't had a proper sleep for more than 24 hours and I couldn't wait to find my bed. When we came home, we realized that a wedding was being held in the lower part of our building. The festive music was playing, party lights were on and children were playing in the street. It was great – and it didn't stop me from sleeping heavily. However, today I went to the local drug store to get ear plugs – just in case of more wedding party or other unforeseen, noisy, wonderful events.

Arabic welcome in Ramallah

While I was waiting for my bus in Jerusalem the sun came up. By the time I had reached Ramallah, it was full day light, yet still pleasantly cool. Ramallah is located on a hill top, about 800 metres high, and I welcomed the slight breeze of the wind when I walked around trying to find DHIP (Danish House in Palestine).

It was around 7 am, and the town was still quiet, but a few people were out in the street. Whenever I stopped to ask for directions, I was met with friendliness and the wish to help. However, DHIP is not yet well known in Ramallah, and the map I had was not of much use spotting the exact location. As the office at DHIP does not open until 8, I sat down for a rest.

After a few minutes, a young guy came out from the building across me and offered me inside for a cup of Arabic coffee while I was waiting. The Danish part of my mentality was telling me not to intrude, but I decided to leave this part aside and embrace the Arabic hospitality.
So we had coffee. As black as the night, as sweet as love and as strong as death. I once heard a saying about Arabic coffee, and even if I have not remembered it correctly, this description will do just as well. Arabic coffee is heavy stuff.

After sipping the coffee and talking about all sorts of daily life stuff, my new friend showed me around Ramallah, constantly borrowing me his phone and making sure I had enough to drink as the heat of the day began to kick in. After quite a few tours around in the main streets of the city, we finally found DHIP.

(Photo: The bazaar in the old city, East Jerusalem)

Getting a black card

The flights from Copenhagen-Zürich and Zürich-Tel Aviv went smoothly. In Ben Gurion Airport, though, there was a bit of a hazzle. I was sent through the passport check fairly quickly and thought that it would all there was to explaining what my purpose for coming to Israel and Palestine was. When they send you further on they give you a card - I discovered at least two colours; some had been given a red one, but the print om my card was black. When I handed it to the lady in the next checking post, she told me that they had to ask me some questions - so in less than in about half a minute, I was introduced to no less than three different women and finally having to answer the same questions I had been asked by the first one: Why have I come here, have I been here before, do I know anybody here, how long will my stay last, am I absolutely sure that I don't know anybody here, where will I be going first - where will I be staying, can I show them my hostel booking confirmation....

The lady pointed our to me that I seemed a bit shaky; it was not until then I realized that my hands were shaking like and old lady's. No wonder. I was beginning to worry that I had not prepared myself well enough in case she would begin a real interrogation. But finally, I passed through.

The whole situation probably didn't last any longer than five minutes, but it felt like forever. Even though I had planned to stay an hour or two in the airport so I would not have to wait so long for my bus once in Jerusalem, I couldn't get out of the airport fast enough.
Driving from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem I glanced out the window, once again overwhelmed by the beauty of the night: twinkling stars – thousands of them in sight, but their light is over powered by the immense darkness that make sky and ground almost melt together. Tiny, white lights are spread out on the enourmous hill tops in the horizon, revealing the curvy formations of this incredible landscape. Despite unpleasant questions in the airport, it felt good being back.

(The photo is from The Western Wall.)

Getting in the mood

Sit down. Feel the sun burning in your face. Close your eyes and imagine the smell of strong, sweet arabic coffee mixed with all sorts of fresh spices.

And let this music take you away:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BArymog9wTU&feature=PlayList&p=F4898A052239FEF3&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=33

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKvrD3oWE0k&feature=PlayList&p=F4898A052239FEF3&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=5

On my first trip to Palestine I watched a concert with this band in The International Center of Betlehem. They play songs from many different countries in The Middle East, and the music always gets me in a good mood.

A list of films I can highly recommend:

Lemon Tree (Danish title: Citronlunden)

Waltz with Bashir

Ma Salama Jamil (Danish title: Gå med fred, Jamil)

Fra Haifa til Nørrebro

Buzz of butterflies

Busy, narrow streets, dazzling heat, the sounds of traffic mixing with church bells and calls for prayer from the minarets. Oh yes. I have butterflies in my stomach. Tomorrow, I am going to Palestine and Israel and I constantly find myself breathless with excitement. It will be my second time there. My first trip to the area was arranged by Logumkloster Folk Highschool and I went with a group of other young Danes.This time, I will be on my own.

So far, my plans are to work for a Palestinian Youth Association called PYALARA: Palestinian Youth Association for Leadership and Rights Activation. In this organisation they introduce young Palestinians to different media in order to give them journalistic skills and a channel for expressing themselves. At this point, I am not quite sure what my jobs or projects will be like, so more about this later.

I will be staying in Ramallah. Ramallah is one of the biggest cities in The West Bank and is located about 15 km north of Jerusalem. I have been in Ramallah before but on a one day trip only, and I can't wait to come back and make this hectic, chaotic – and most likely amazing – city my new, temporary home.