Odds and Ends

I must end this blog and re-enter my life here. Last night I was eating some of Jim's spicy spaghetti,yearning for a glass of the Turks' Ayran to quench the flames on my tongue. I'll track down some decent Eastern yoghurt and make it.

The name of that bakery on the Jerusalem-Hebron Road in Bethlehem is Fawanees. See my prior post for directions, and savor the delectably difficult challenge of choosing honey-drenched sweets from huge pans that continually emerge from the kitchen. Patrons buy by the box-full.

I feel like I am peering through a haze at US culture, trying to mesh lingering travel impressions with life on the ground here. I have teased and scoffed my Middle Eastern friends many times at their zealous conspiracy theories, and now I find myself wondering where the truth (?) does lie.

Gershon Baskin of IPCRI, http://www.ipcri.org/ talked about his hopes for peace in Israel and how the ingredients of a two-state solution are known, (like 22% of the land to Palestine, water agreements, right of return agreements, a shared Jerusalem, etc.). But also how the cake must be baked by some third party (the US) because neither side trusts standing in the kitchen with the other. I left thinking…US-backed Israel holds the power. What if they symbolized peace with generosity and gave the Palestinians 30% of the land?! There is plenty of land: they would never miss it. What if they defined and normalized the borders, and invited all of that vibrant Palestinian human capital to partake in a flourishing economy? What if they bent over backwards with munificence? I believe, after some hiccups, as protectors of the status quo fought back, both sides would self-eradicate violence. I can see how it could happen, or how it most easily might not.

To anyone planning a trip to Israel, do not miss Bethlehem or other towns in the West Bank. The Israeli government isn’t keen on foreigners seeing the other half of the situation, so they will inconvenience and intimidate. While Bethlehem has been given the “reputation” of being “dangerous”, we did not even slightly experience it that way. It is a beautiful, calm town, a lovely respite after crowded, chaotic, and stimulating Jerusalem. The people have easy smiles and big hearts, there is culture, a lot to do -- just check out This Week in Palestine, http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/ -- and the food is exquisite.

Dr. Maria Khoury of the Palestinian village Taybeh – where her husband founded the Taybeh micro brewery http://www.taybehbeer.com/, was instrumental in setting up the International Academy of Art, Palestine in Ramallah, in cooperation with the Norwegian Government and Oslo National Academy of the Arts. http://www.artacademy.ps/english/index.html It will graduate its first class in 2011. Addresses in Ramallah look like this: Aref Al-Aref Building, behind Arab Bank Al-Bireh, before the boys’ school. We drove in circles for an hour to find the place, but our guide Mahmoud wasn’t willing to give up because the directions were so specific. It was a Sunday, and it looked closed --- but banging on the doors yielded entry into artist’s studios and a tour of the whole place. One of the artists proudly posed in front of her painting of her own nude torso. She was wearing jeans, a long sleeved shirt and hijab, so I commented on the incongruity (mainly that she divulged the identity of the torso’s model) – of her real appearance and the disrobed subject of her painting. She laughed without irony. She gave me an empty sketch book with the school’s name on the cover. When Jim was leaving Ben Gurion airport, they sifted through his plastic shopping bag of travel guides, maps, receipts, and all the pocket trash I keep after a trip to remember where I’ve been. It was obvious that there was no threat in that bag when it went through the security x-ray, but they pulled the blank perfect-bound (adhesive binding, no metal) sketch book out and demanded to know why Jim had it. Intimidation. At least they didn’t confiscate it.

After a luscious lunch in Ramallah, Jim and I paused on the street, waiting for others in our group. I was casually holding my camera and two women approached, indicating they didn’t want their picture taken. They stopped and we chatted, animatedly, like long lost friends – and then Jim took my picture with them. The delightful level of engagement lingers...

Nike is in Ramallah, but are no Starbucks in the West Bank. (I read six stores closed elsewhere in Israel because they weren’t popular.) Ramallah and Bethlehem, though, have Stars and Bucks Cafés. I brought home a mug and a T-shirt– with their amusing logo and pun-ronic name.

Every morning I still wake up recalling snippets of the sensual delights of my trip. If I were a nargile smoker I could head over to Waterfront Pizza (and Mediterranean Restaurant)in Foster City for a falafel and puff.

My task now is to build the infrastructure to support making art in pursuit of cultural dialogue between the East and the West. I have some ideas; they will probably form a new blog, and will lead to more travels, insha’Allah.

Thanks for joining me on this ride.