My good friend Nayef and his sweet little girl, Susu
Nayef invited us to a traditional Muslim wedding at his village. Lots of dancing! Of course, men were separated from women so.... lots of dancing with men! :)
Robbie!
The local village debka troop lights up the stage.
A few folks asked to see a photo of my room on Al Ras street - here ya go! Also - pictures of my new family, the Salsas and the house we live in.
Shorouq, Ayman and Bishara Salsa.
And Eliana at the computer. :)
The view from the porch
Ha! My bathroom. Didn't really mean to put this up here.
The Salsa house. If you look closely, you can see Ayman watching me from the upstairs porch.
Sebastia!
The tomb of St. John the Baptist.
Settler graffiti at the site of the tomb of St. John.
The cemetery in Nablus - visiting the graves of college students killed by IDF soldiers in raids.
The tomb of a family of eight - killed when IDF bulldozers destroyed their home in the old city of Nablus while they were still asleep inside.
Following are pictures of Nablus. So beautiful!
This shopkeeper showed me the above photo of his boy who was killed by an Israeli sniper while playing in the streets during curfew.
During curfew (house arrest) the IDF shuts down all the area clinics and hospitals. EMT heroes mark walls to show locals the way to the makeshift and mobile emergency clinics.
The site of the home that was destroyed - the names of the family members killed by IDF bulldozers.
The old city needs a better playground. :D
Nablus.
Omar! My EMT friend at the Red Crescent.
Me and Jamal. Jamal is my crew chief - he's an awesome friend from Al'Khader.
Also someone else asked for some photos of the farm I've been staying at. I have a few - here are my lavish quarters at Bustan Quraaqa (might soon be moving into a spacious cave, though.)
View from the stairs.
Clammy! The bustan dog. She's great.
Ah... the lovely composting toilet. Reduces household water usage by 60%.
Steve and his beautiful boy, Owen.
Iron monkey!
Alice and her kitty.
A picture of the wadi where the farm is situated. Right now is the dry season so things look kind of.... dry.
Settler graffiti at Osh Grab.
Apparently the Kach is present at the settler raids. The Kach is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S., Canada and Israel: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kach_movement
The ruins on top of the Herodion
The view from the Herodian.
This is Nayef. You can see Nayef's olive orchard in the lower right of the picture. However, Nayef hasn't been able to farm his trees since 1992 (because they're now part of a settlement) so he drives a taxi.
Nayef! Best taxi driver in the opt.
Banksy wall art
Near Aida refugee camp.
Ruins of a 3rd cent. byzantine church at the Roman Catholic shepherd's field in Beit Sahour
Third century mosaic floor
Gecko!
Donkey!
One of the chapels at Shephard's field
Passing the Peace at the Osh Ghorab worship service
Rev. Sunny and I, opening the service as the settlers begin setting up their own “lecture” event.
We started with only a handful of people, others were held up by soldiers but everyone eventually made it.
Eucharist
Internationals and Palestinians hold hands and sing during a peaceful action against the invasion of Oush grab by the settlers in Oush Grab. More than 100 settlers invaded the old military base of Oush grab in Beit Sahour on 06/08/2008 and held an event with prayers and speeches. Internationals and Palestinians gathered and maintained a presence on the spot by singing and making peaceful speeches. At one pojnt some settlers annoyed by the singing provoked the internationals by pushing and insulting them, whichh provoked a huge commotion. The soldiers then pushed the internationals and Palestinians further and restricted their movements. Photo by: Anne Paq/Activestills.org
Settlers attack Internationals and Palestinians in Oush Grab. More than 100 settlers invaded the old military base of Oush grab in Beit Sahour on 06/08/2008 and held an event with prayers and speeches. Internationals and Palestinians gathered and maintained a presence on the spot by singing and making peaceful speeches. At one pojnt some settlers annoyed by the singing provoked the internationals by pushing and insulting them, whichh provoked a huge commotion. The soldiers then pushed the internationals and Palestinians further and restricted their movements. Photo by: Anne Paq/Activestills.org
Planning our route for the great Judean Desert adventure
At the beginning of the trek
Day one dinner (Daniella and Tom)
Daniella and Tom
Trenches dug by various armies in the Judean Desert.
Spot the camel...
First sight of the Dead Sea in the distance
Day one camp. The sparklies in the air are dust particles
Day two morning - Robbie and Tom scouting our path down the mountain to the Dead Sea.
We found a way down
View of the settlements and farms from the clifftop before we descend
Descending
Daniella
Later in the afternoon, when we reached the bottom, this guy offered to drive us up the hill to Ein Gedi so we jumped in. He had two huge dogs. And he was completely hilarious.
The limestone desert near Masada where we made camp on day 2.
Limestone desert + eating a lime = limey lime.
mmmm limes
Sunrise from Masada on day 3.
Masada ruins
Masada grackles.
Roman ramp up the hill
On the way home to Bethlehem we stopped off in the Old City
M'hammad!
