2nd Day - 24th September 2013

Yasser Arafat Square in the centre of Ramallah

Our first full day in Ramallah started with an introduction from our team leaders and in-country manager, on what we can and can't do and safety procedures as well as some history about Palestine.
Three things I learnt't:

1. We are going to have a 'personal evacuation plan', I found a bomb shelter today in a coffee shop so I'll be sure to include that in mine!
2. The Israeli military often tries to de-politicise their actions by using religion as a tool when the conflict has little basis in religion.
3. There are three different statuses for Palestinians living in Palestine. Those living in Gaza are restricted to the Gaza strip and cannot leave, the majority of Palestinians living in the West Bank are forbidden from travelling in Jerusalem and the rest of Israel, and only those Israeli's that can prove that Jerusalem is their centre of life are allowed to enter.

We finished at 2 giving us plenty of time to explore where we would be living for the next three months. The fruit market was a highlight, crammed with people and lots of men laughing and smiling at us - most probably at our expense. Everyone seems really friendly, and welcoming and... (dont want to jinx it but...) we all generally felt less harassed than we had imagined.

One of the really striking things was the lack of international outlets (no MacDonalds, though there is a star and bucks coffee house). There are however lots of shops selling American candy, they do Reece's, and Oreo's... so I've got more choice here than Switzerland!

We ended the day in a shisha bar just round the corner from where we are all living - it's a little pricey, and very westernised (they were playing Top 40 hits and had the Chelsea game on) but we had some shisha and got to practice our Arabic.

Masa al-kayhr! (Good night!)

 

View of Ramallah

 

 

 

View of Ramallah at sunset

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Day!

First day in Israel and Palestine! 23rd September, 2013.

Left Luton this morning feeling excited and wanting to get to Israel after six months of preparing and waiting! The five hour EasyJet flight was fine, though not the most comfortable and after a crew member fell ill when we finally arrived we all just wanted to get off the plane. Immigration was much easier than I had expected - for most of us - two members of our group were interrogated in back rooms for about 2 hours about their parents and what they were doing in Israel. None of us were aloud to say we were coming to Palestine - I'm not sure what would've happened, but it would most likely have caused problems.

We drove straight to Ramallah from Tel Aviv so didnt see very much - and I'm writing this from the Sharek Youth Forum, which is where I'll be working and sleeping - no morning commute for me! There is a poster on the wall of women playing football, and the symbol of the Swiss Development Organization, which seemed to fit quite perfectly.

The drive was much shorter than I had imagined and we didn't seem to pass any checkpoints - though there was a sign that warned Israeli citizens from entering the area as it could be dangerous for them. There was also a fence separating Israel from Palestine, we haven't seen the wall yet. The few people we have met seem lovely, and when we arrived we were promptly given falafel in pitta bread.  Were heading off to Jerusalem tomorrow so hopefully there should be some good photos I can post!