Entries this day: Dreams Forgot_breakfast Qalandia_checkpoint To_Nablus Walking_in_the_old_city White_privilege back_in_Jerusalem funniest_nicole loud_bangs_tonight out_for_drinks

Dreams

6:28am IST Wednesday 12 October 2005

Early AM dream:

Sally made a surprise visit to see me! I was really excited to talk to her and share stories. She said she wanted to sleep with me and I found myself feeling really sad to turn her down, but she understood and didn't worry about it.

We were in her friend's previous apartment, and I had just moved in. I wanted to go take a shower, and the bathroom was more like a hot spring auditorium, with cascading hot springs set on the sloping stage with hundreds of seats watching the bathing, and a large glass wall for the curtain, and fog to decide if the curtain was closed or not.

The restroom part of the bath auditorium was down on the lower left for men, and lower right for women, but the gender separation was not really a big deal, as not so many people used it, and those who did, didn't care. The ample water from the springs above flushed any waste in a trice.

AM Dream

In a dark train station, with some confusion as to what platform I should be on for what train; they didn't seem to have a consistent pattern; trains on different routes just showed up at random points on the platform, according to an apparently secret schedule or no schedule at all, and the engineers themselves didn't know where they had been nor where the trains were to go next. All the switching was done by computers who were trying to teach humans there were no wrong turns; we should all live by the grace of the universe to take us where we needed to go and release the outcome of the train journey; and just go where it took us.

Forgot breakfast

6:51am IST Wednesday 12 October 2005

I forgot to buy food for my breakfast; I hope there is some good stuff available now.

7:40am

Oh yeah; no worries; the store with my favorite pizza-type things is open 24 hours! But they don't always have pizza available.

Qalandia checkpoint

10:37am IST Wednesday 12 October 2005

On a bus to Nablus now. Well, on a bus to Qalandia which, if I am beginning to get a tiny grasp on anything I have experienced, is a checkpoint at which we will be requried to jump off the bus and walk through, then find a new form of transportation the rest of the way to Nablus.

I'm sitting next to Max, and Anna, who read "Qalandia" in Arabic on the bus, is in a nearby seat on this 19 seat bus.

10:57am

Wow. We just arrived at Qalandia, I just saw a painted silouhette of a young girl floating upward over the wall, lofted by balloons. It's a fine image in its on right, but even cooler that I've seen it online; apparently it was one of a series of paintings by a famous European graffiti artist Banksy.

In the article was a reference to a hidden word under rock or something; I'm interested to see if I can find that word now.

Except for the fact we are in a taxi to our next destination.

To Nablus

11:10am IST Wednesday 12 October 2005

The terrain from Qalandia to Nablus remins me a lot of West Texas.. rolling hills of arid rockiness, with consistently sparse vegetation. Trees like brave shrubs grow in clumps where water visits; the hills have an almost terraced appearance, as if they have been cut into architecture student models of mountains, made from stacks of cardboard.

Like an impressionist painting, little speckles of vegetation give a 50% coverage over these hills.

Our two lane asphalt highway cuts through like a long scribbled scar across this desert plain, that features occasional warts of buildings on its face.

Just saw a grove of young olive trees, each protected by a painted oil drum barrel that will each have to be cut off when the trees are old enough to fend for themselves.

Max, Anna and I are arranged right to left in the taxi's back seat; three guys in the mid seat and one in the passengers seat, plus the driver.

11:23

Make that 2 guys in the mid seat; we just stopped to let one off.

11:28

Make that three guys in the mid seat; we just picked up a long beard tan guy with a small dark turban hat.

11:30

He just got out.

Walking in the old city

13:48pm IST Wednesday 12 October 2005

We're in Nablus, back in the PalVision office after having a tour of the old city. It seemed a lot like the old city of Jerusalem, but smaller and no Israeli soldiers. Still plenty plenty of shops selling food, brushes, clothes, electronics, phones, fans, foul, and everything else.

Using Hitomi's camera, I got a picture of Francois communing with some baby ducks in a cage. Masada warned that he might get a bit dirty, but I assured her Francois would be okay. I got a lot of attention, though I didn't specifically request it; one guy was like, "is that for the ducks or your friend?"

I was like, "he's been all around the world with me, and now he's been with some ducks in Nablus." I was glad to remember the name of the city in time to say it.

"He went scuba diving with me in Acapulco," I said to no one in particular as a way of explaining my rabbit photographing behavior.

Also got some pics of Francois in a church type area that the 49th P/B team might enjoy renting out for a party. No alcohol, but plenty of hookas and loungy seats and cushions.

Here's Francois climbing out through the missing window in a dome on the roof of the church.

White privilege

15:01 IST Nablus checkpoint Wednesday 12 October 2005

How to get out of Nablus through the Hawwara checkpoint (whites only)

Hop out of the taxi before the checkpoint

See all the people coming into the checkpoint

Take a picture of the Hummer

Notice how many cars are backed up, trying to get out

Don't gawk too long at the people you're about to pass

We just used white privilege to get through the checkpoint at Nablus. Palestinians trapped like fuckin' animals behind the barrier, and we just walk out through the in gate, briefly showed our passports to the soldiers and got through.

It's fucked up that all those guys will likely not get through today; the border will close in a couple hours for Yom Kippur, and stay closed for 24 hours. Maybe 36. That shit is fucked right the hell up.

What action is appropriate? Refuse to go through unless they let everyone else through? Just wait in queue? Simply ask why they can't go through???

back in Jerusalem

pm IST Wednesday 12 October 2005

Here are pics from the Qalandia checkpoint, near the balloon girl, who I've not photographed yet.

And there was one more checkpoint that we have to go through from Qalandia into Jerusalem proper.

funniest nicole

5:01pm IST Wednesday 12 October 2005

In Nicole's email to us, she wrote the *funniest* lines *ever*.

> my new school is cool. its not floating and there no buffet BUT i have
> students named Bong and Fanny so...
>
> it was 39 celcius here last weekend and ITS NOT SUMMER YET
> crikey

loud bangs tonight

7:34pm IST Wednesday 12 October 2005

We've been hearing some really loud booms tonight; we think it's just fireworks because people outside aren't going too crazy, but they are really fucking loud.

out for drinks

1:02am IST Thursday 13 October 2005

Went out for drinks with Joe, Andy, Mariah, Jason, and ______, whose name I've forgotten. The bar we visited had *no one* inside (save two employees) so we could be as loud and silly as we wanted. Which wasn't too loud, but was a bit silly. Many stories centered on arriving at the Faisal for the first time, or after curfew. Joe told a story titled, "you people are destroying a nation" which featured a couple of ISMers doing karaoke and using the stage as a soapbox against the occupation.

During the stories, Mercury Rising was on in the background.

On the way out we discovered a couple more customers: two Israeli soldiers talking to the employees, maybe. They left their jeep outside and one guy was in it waiting / watching it.