Movement

“How is your first week?” Elias asked me.

“Nuss nuss, ya’ani,” I had to say. (“Half and half, you know…”)

What’s good?

I have had an absolutely fantastic time hanging out with the two guys present when this interaction took place—Elias and Said.

I’ve known Elias since my first summer in Palestine—he was one of the great Holy Land Trust staff who organized PSE. Last summer, I became coworkers with Elias and spent nearly every day of the summer with him in some capacity—in the office in the mornings and on trips around the West Bank and Israel on the weekends. Through my interactions with him, I have gained so much respect for him—probably as much as I have for any person I have ever met. (For one example, click here, and go to 1:30.) I just barely met Said once during my first summer, but then got to know him last year. Said is a close friend of Elias, and he is a great performer. Basically everyone in Bethlehem knows him, whether he will admit it or not. (Walking around with him, everyone is always saying hello, like’s he’s a celebrity!) This is a result of the great deal of performing he does—theater, dance, and singing—all over the West Bank and internationally. Said was our Debkah (traditional Palestinian folk-dance) trainer last year, so I had the privilege of becoming his friend as I studied under him. (For a taste of that, go here.)

So far this summer, it’s been just me—the participants don’t arrive for another three days—so this whole week has been an opportunity to hang out, reconnect, and deepen friendships with Elias and Said…and try to get over jet lag. (Said’s making fun of me every day for always being tired.) This has been a real treat, and even though this summer was probably the hardest time I’ve had leaving the States (this time from a place I love rather than a place I couldn’t wait to get away from), it has been much easier than I expected because of the fun time I have gotten to spend with them. I’m really looking forward to the next couple of months.

What’s bad?

Well, maybe “challenging” would be a better descriptor than “bad.” I got here and I was excited to see my old host family again, but things started out kind of rough. After a few days, I had to reconsider my decision to live with a family, and I started looking for apartments in Bethlehem. Living with a host family can be an amazing experience, and I have definitely learned a ton and grown much through my past two summers as a result of living with families, but, this summer, something had changed. It started out as just a slight annoyance, but then it grew and I realized that I really needed to have some S   P   A   C   E   .

This past year of living in intentional community through MVS was definitely a growing experience for me as I learned how to live with (what seemed most of the time like) close to no personal space. I’m an introvert, and I neeeeeed silence and solitude to recharge after interacting with people. Turns out these two things are a rare commodity when you live with other people. After a few days here, trying to work on writing and catching up on communication, I realized I really couldn’t do it for the rest of the summer. I needed to get a place where I could have the space I needed just to be alone. I know what it’s going to be like when the summer starts—16 hour days with constant people-time…I’m going to NEEEEED space.

My direct supervisor, Rafat, was out all last week when I made the decision and started making the plans to move from my host family to a new apartment. Today, when he came in, I started talking about moving today with my other coworkers in the office, and he chimed in: “I don’t think the coordinators should live with host families—they’ve done it before, and they need the extra space because of all the work they have to do….” Amen.

Result

So here I am, writing my second blog from my own apartment. This new situation comes with a variety of plusses and minuses, but I think it was certainly the right decision. I’ll really miss pestering my host brother, Khader, and I know that I’m not going to even come remotely close to cooking for myself the way Hanan cooked for me. But, I’m going to be getting more sleep (my new place is more secluded so I won’t have to deal with light and traffic noise at 6 a.m.); I have an awesome new bed; I have access to SPACE/PRIVACY/SILENCE/& SOLITUDE, which cannot be overstated; I’ll be controlling my own meal schedule (and not overeating anymore, I hope); and, bonus! I’m living next door to Said! Sweet! Another perk is that I’ve always wanted to practice hospitality, but I’ve never been “king of my own castle.” Now I am, and though I have limited means, I look forward to the opportunity to host friends and “family,” showing them the same amazing Arabic hospitality I have received for the past two years. Oh, and this is a win-win: my (former) host family will be having two people stay with them—a married couple who are doing PSE—so they will actually receive twice the aid that they would had I continued to stay with them. I think this is best for everyone.

Finally, ahlan w sahlan! Come along with me for a quick tour of my new digs by clicking here. Geez, I’m going to feel like I was super spoiled this summer when I get back to SF and pay 2.5 times as much as I’m paying for this place for a single room with shared walls…