A Better Use for Cable Ties

This post  might make you sad or angry. I'll keep it short, because while I think it is important to share about, I don't like feeling sad and you probably don't either.Two weeks ago,  on June 12, Thomas and I  went to a lecture by Gerard Horton, a lawyer for Defense of Children International. The lecture was about Palestinian children held in military detention. It was the first time here that I'd actually been faced with this much information related to the ongoing conflict happening here. A note about Gerard. He was a British man, and his presentation was straightforward and dispassionate, which I think is the best way to be when speaking about such a political issue. He gave us the facts. The Q&A came afterward, and then we heard the passion, anger, and frustration in the crowd.

He and the organization he works with, DCI-Palestine, http://www.dci-palestine.org/  completed a four year long study of the way Palestinian children are treated when they are detained by the Israeli military. [Background info: Since 1967, Palestinians in the West Bank have been prosecuted  in Israeli military courts.]

Although the report is 142 pages to hold  the data collected from collecting the testimonies of 311 children, Gerard distilled the information down the most important point, which is that the evidence shows a pattern of inhuman treatment of minors as defined in the UN Convention against Torture.

The number one detail that strikes me when reading the report is the brutal use of cable ties to hold the children's wrists together behind their backs. It was the number one complaint of detained children, present in 95% of cases.

One child said "Soldiers tied my hands behind my back with one plastic cord and tightened it so hard that I still feel pain in my right thumb which sometimes goes numb."

A better use for cable ties might be to hold cables in place, as illustrated in this picture I took in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem:

There are many other issues of concern. Just a few of them:

• Child is blindfolded (90% of cases)
• Physical violence (75% of cases)
• Arrested between midnight and 5 am (60% of cases)

Often the children are woken up from sleep by soldiers in their rooms pointing guns at them.

Gerard gave us a copy of the report. There's a lot of information in there, but the positive part that would improve the situation are four major recommendations DCI lawyers make that would "provide a series of simple and practical protective measures."

• An end to night time arrests.
• Children have access to a lawyer prior to questioning.
• All interogations be audio-visually recorded.
• Every child to be accompanied by a parent.

After the lecture and a short video, a man stood to ask the first question. He spoke in Arabic for about ten minutes. I was so bewildered that I almost left. I can't imagine a moderator at a U.S. lecture letting a question become a speech. Finally someone handed me a headset so I could hear the translation into English, which was happening simultaneously. It turns out that he'd been detained in the same prisons shown in the presentation and he was telling his story.

Others, both English and Arabic speaking, spoke with similar passion. "Why isn't the International community doing anything about the occupation? Why isn't United States doing anything?"

Rubbery Ice Cream

This evening before attending a lecture, we went for our first taste of Rukab's ice cream. In this photo I'm trying to demonstrate the rubbery nature of the delicious Mint Chocolate Chip. Wikipedia explains it best: "One hallmark of Ramallah is Rukab's Ice Cream, which is based on the resin of chewing gum and thus has a distinctive taste."

I found the taste to be generally more or less a normal ice cream taste, but the texture was ever so slightly chewier. Interesting. Prince Charming says that it looks like snot in this photo. Don't worry, it tasted much better than that.

More from Wikipedia so you know a little about the scene in Ramallah:

" Ramallah is generally considered the most affluent and cultural, as well as the most liberal, of all Palestinian cities,[50][51] and is home to a number of popular Palestinian activists, poets, artists, and musicians. It boasts a lively nightlife, with many restaurants including the Stars and Bucks Cafe, a branch of the Tche Tche Cafe and the Orjuwan Lounge, described in 2010 as two among the 'dozens of fancy restaurants, bars and discotheques that have cropped up in Ramallah in the last three years.'[36]"

So far I haven't been to any discotheques (ever in my life?!) but I can say the folks here in Ramallah can rightfully boast about the food. It's exceeded my wildest expectations. Huge portions and everything is fresh. They season with a lot of lemon juice and parsley, two of my favorite flavors.

Bug Bites and Black Belts: The Little Things Are Big Things

Yesterday was a tough day of little challenges. I couldn't sleep, and in the morning, I was complaining to my prince about the extreme itchiness and discomfort I was experiencing from the bites from whatever tiny creatures inhabit our mattress. Or, I theorized, were the bites from mosquitos? Could he ask the people at the office if they had any advice? He was sipping the morning coffee that I made him in front of an open window, and looking doubtful that among all the saving children, he was going to have time to ask about the possibility of bugs in our mattress. I looked at the open window and got up to slide the screen shut, giving him a "the least you could do is shut the screen to keep the bugs out" look. Then we argued about the insect life in Rammallah, Palestine, vs. Lumberton, NC. He went to work. I cried my eyes out for an hour, loudly, relishing the fact that no one I knew was going to hear me and ask any questions.  I rallied, called him, and resolved our stupid little argument. I found the pain-relieving spray (see photo) that Prince Charming had, of course, thought to pack, covered my skin with it, and slept blissfully for four hours.

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Later, doing the dishes, I was scrubbing a hardened flake of oatmeal off a cup. My hand slipped, shunting the sharp shard of oatmeal under my fingernail. A small cut, a small annoyance. But damn it, couldn't something just go right today?When Prince got back from work, I told him that if something big and horrific happened to us, like something like the people back home are afraid will happen to us (crime, terrorism, etc.) we'd get through it. Our "I'm a tough survivor" instinct would kick in. Adrenaline would flow, and we'd roll with the challenges like it was our job. And people would think we were so tough, so heroic.We laughed and laughed about how it's really the little things that are the big things. He reminded my about how he'd stubbed his toe hard a week back, and even though it was just a stubbed toe, damn it, it was sore for days, and he had a lot of walking to do. So long to impressing his new staff with his powerful gait.I was reminded of when I was at a Tae Kwon Do Tournament as a teenager. I had just sparred with a huge, Amazonian warrior black belt with legs twice as long as mine, and a deadly, "I'm from the Bronx and I've killed girls just like you," look in her eyes. (It's my story, I'll embelish a little. Okay?) I was tough. I was brutal. I fought hard. I got kicked in the stomach and the face. I didn't cry. I probably won the match, but the point is that my instructors, my teammates, everyone was telling me I was One Tough Cookie. And let's be honest, I was. There weren't a lot of girls like me in my peer group.But what happened later was that I had to stay  for hours supporting my teammates. I wandered around the tournament, getting increasingly hungry, thirsty, and tired. This was right at the beginning of puberty, and I was just beginning to learn that I had a blood sugar issue and I would feel wonky if I didn't eat every three hours.

I didn't feel hungry, but I felt lost. I began to cry. I wanted to lie down. I remember that my instructor came over to me and said "What's wrong?" I shook my head, saying something like "I don't know, ahhh! I don't know….no snack yet, I lie down here?"

He gave me the most bewildered look, and said something like "You just beat Bronx girl, and now you are crying?"

It was a Little Things are Big Things moment. It's not the big fight that'll get you. It's missing your snack two hours later.

Goats Staring Me Down

Around Ramallah

Early this morning I went for a very short jog on Al-Teera, the main road in Ramallah that is acceptable for women to run on alone from what I understand.  I paused to take this photo of pink flowers and a minaret in the background: 

Later, I noticed our neighbors were grazing their goats in the front yard:

And finally, here is the amazing view from where we are staying right now. It's a good general view of a lot of the city, as well as a lovely grove of olive trees in the valley below:

Seventeen Hours, Breast Size, and Marriage

After 17 hours sitting next to my seat mates, I got pretty chummy with Ala and Albert. Chummy enough for Ala to reach over and turn my magazine pages faster than I was turning them so she could see "Who Wore it Best" in Hollywood. Chummy enough for her to comment on the wonderfully perfect size of my breasts, as compared to the fake ones on the model in the magazine. 17 hours will do that to you. After the flight,  a person named Toby with Delta emailed an apology for the problems with the flight.  Toby wrote:

"I can only imagine how disappointed you must have been when our aircraft had to return to the gate multiple times for maintenance reasons. Additionally, we are genuinely apologetic that you arrived at your destination much later than scheduled."

He backed up his sorrow with $100 credit and 7,500 bonus miles. It's cool, Toby, that was just four more hours I got to spend with Ala and Albert. About the age of my own parents, Ala and Albert were an adorable Russian-American (Ohio) couple who'd been married for 32 years. He got less sleep than her because he let her sleep cuddled up on his shoulder or lap for the whole night. He even got up for about an hour so she could sleep on both of their seats. Her knees were hurting her.I asked her what their secret was. She said she picked a good one - a man who is just as wonderful now as  he was the day she married him.

"Even though he's getting a little belly," she said as she patted his tummy affectionately. Albert grinned a tad sheepishly. Ala continued: "It doesn't feel like it's been 32 years. Not at all."

Why I'm So Happy

I leave tomorrow for Tel Aviv.

Rarely have I been so happy as now, because I am now at rest, with my family in North Carolina, and in complete vacation mode. But that is not all; a lot of my happiness is from the excitement of planning future adventures, of knowing they will come.

It's the Alternating Theory of Happiness. My happiness is greater because I know going to a new place involves a lot of discomfort, risk, and learning.  Without those challenges, I becoming irritating and gain weight.

But now I revel in my current comfort, not bored with it, knowing that I'll be challenged soon enough. Alternate experiences always show up.

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I'm really looking forward to seeing my prince charming again. It's been a long three weeks away from him.

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For those of you who feel things deeply and like to experience far out places, my prince's micro-blog Last Stoppers is worth bookmarking. He updates it with photos and words about Last Stops. What is a Last Stop? Click over to his blog to find out.

The Real Packing List

To: The Middle EastTrip Duration: Two Years

The packing situation for this trip was exceptional because we plan to be abroad for at least two years. Our home apartment in the West Bank will be our home base from which we will travel to Turkey, Greece, Egypt, and more.Since Prince Charming's company paid for the cost of shipping, we had three boxes sent our ahead of time. Well, those boxes are still sitting in customs. No matter, we'll get them sometime. Nothing in there was vital, mostly books and a few things to make our home more comfortable for us. The important point is that we didn't have to have those boxes sent. We sold and gave away most of our stuff before we left California, and we probably would've gotten rid of everything if the organization hadn't paid for us to bring a few boxes over.

So this list, which leaves out those non-essential in the boxes, is what I brought with me on the plane, the Real Packing List. (Not what I affectionately refer to as the Travel the World Indefinitely Packing List, which is even more minimal and is aspirational for me at this point).

First, a photo of almost everything (except for what I mention below) that went into two checked bags:

 

The Real List

• One long, multicolored skirt.
• Black skirt, knee length, classic
• Black skirt, calf length, vintage silk lace
• Reversible quick-drying work-out & yoga pants
• Multi-colored dress, knee length
• Black jacket, heavy cotton blend, double breasted style
• Pink and grey workout jacket, quick drying, sporty
• Grey cardigan, long, basic
• Tan sweater, cropped
• Black cardigan, short sleeved, flowy
• Blue silk scarf, Mozart print
• Pink umbrella, travel size
• Ivory tee, v-neck
• Black tank
• Tan tank
• Black tee, scoop neck
• White hat, wide brimmed
• Black hat, ball cap
• Regular bra
• Strapless bra
• Lingerie
• 12 pairs knickers
• Two bikinis, interchangable colors, bikini bottoms double as knickers
• 5-7 pairs socks
• Black belt, skinny, woven
• Tan and black belt, wide
• Sunglasses
• Gold flip flops
• Silver heels
• Red hand bag
• Two neck stashes (one I'm bringing to my prince)
• Two blank journals
• Clothes drying cords, Rick Steves brand
• Assorted kitchen-ware for my prince
• Tape
• Scissors
• Pens
• Pencils
• Checkbooks
• Small flashlight
• Camera lens cover (bringing for my prince)
• Assorted CD's (mostly for learning Arabic)
• Camera
• Video camera
• Assorted cables for: phone, Kindle, camera
• Batteries
• Plug adaptors
• Assorted jewelry
• Assorted hair accessories
• Pantiliners
• Lunette (way better than pads or tampons in so many ways, ladies)
• Small microfiber towel
• Two nighties
• Blue robe, vintage silk
• Assorted toiletries: makeup, wet wipes, skincare, sexessories, etc.

And this is what I kept out until the last minute (plane outfit, workout clothes and shoes) and the things that went in my carry-on:

 

After my last workout before getting on the plane, I put these items into my checked bags:

• Running/hiking shoes
• sports bra (doubles as bikini top)
• Black & white tank top, halter, quick-drying fabric
• Black shorts, quick drying fabric
• Mesh bag for dirty laundry
• Laptop and charger
• Mousepad
• Mouse
• Phone & Charger
• Razor
• Yellow pad of paper

Then there's what I wore on the plane:

• Red tank with shelf bra
• Red and white striped t-shirt, flowy scoop neck
• turquoise necklace
• Dark rinse jeans, wide-leg high-waist trouser style
• Black and tan ballet flats

All that's left to list is what I carried on with me:

• Travel documents (passport, forms, etc)
• Wallet with cash, CA drivers license, debit cards, coins
• Black Moleskine journal
• Kindle
• Cell phone
• Cell phone charger
• toothbrush
• small makeup kit
• toothpaste
• hand moisterizer
• comb
• one pair of socks
• extra pair of knickers
• My prince's old sweater-shirt for warmth and snuggling

And that concludes the real list!

Things I'm Leaving Out Until the Last Minute

Things I am leaving out of the bags I'm packing for the Middle East move until the very last minute:

• Phone and charger
• Journal
• Kindle
• Computer, mouse, etc.
• Wear-on-plane outfit
• toothbrush

It's a very basic list, but writing this list down helped me decide what to pack first. I was feeling overwhelmed and not sure where to start, so I sat down and created this short list before I could move on to the big list. The point here is that packing to go abroad for two years is a big job; to make it a little less daunting, divide it up into small parts and promise yourself a break after completing just one of those small parts.