Hello all! A lot has been going on over the past several days, so it's been too crazy to blog.
First, let me tell a few random stories that will connect later.
I have had an interesting week or so with communication. I help the kindergarteners with painting a lot, which is hard, since I don't know what the Arabic words for any colors or shapes are. I could tell the one little boy wanted one of the dishes of paint, so I asked him which one he wanted. He immediately looked down at his painting smock and pointed to the color he wanted. He was so easy for him to think on his feet like that! It was really cool to immediately understand what he wanted too. I still felt bad that I don't know what the colors are in Arabic, but he communicated well with me.
I was also invited to a presentation last night, hosted by an NGO in Beit Jala. I randomly met a woman who volunteers with them, through young people visiting here from New Zealand. The woman invited me to hear the speaker, because I'm looking to get involved with another organization while I'm here. I'd like to find something in addition to the school, to create more relationships and get a different picture of what's going on here. This woman was extremely nice excited to see my interest. The presentation was about a block from our flat, so I walked up to listen. I walked in and saw the small crowd forming. I asked the man at the door if it was the right place for the presentation. He said yes, and then skeptically asked me if I understood Arabic. Apparently, the presentation was in Arabic. Oops. It was interesting to me that the woman neglected to ask me if I understood Arabic and that I neglected to ask if the presentation was in English. I stayed for a bit, because she was kindly translating for me. It was difficult to really get the message of what was being said though, so I left. She was still very excited to see me and welcomed me to visit her, where she'd take me to a variety of NGOs to see what I was interested in becoming a part of.
I was having a rough time with my school placement, because I was feeling like I wasn't really wanted there. Let me explain. I think people wanted me there in the sense of "doing" stuff, but I've spent the last six months or so, preparing to be doing a ministry of presence, and not "doing." I found myself typing worksheets, laminating, stringing packing peanuts, etc, etc. It's a lot of "doing," but not this profound feeling of accomplishing great feats. I was even getting frustrated with swim lessons, because I wasn't communicating well with the kids. We literally have less than ten words that we can communicate with, due to my Arabic and their English. It was just becoming harder and harder to brush it off as okay. I was talking to one of the other internationals here about it though, and he said, "Your role might not be to make swimmers out of the kids. It might be just to teach them how not to drown." I just sort of took that as advice and moved on. I really didn't think about it much. Of course I want to make swimmers out of the kids! They don't drown by being swimmers! It seemed to just be a Hallmark-esque answer to this conundrum of feeling completely useless to this community, other than for cutting paper.
I started thinking about this more yesterday though. I was with kindergarten and the teacher has unofficially dubbed me the painting supervisor. This means that pretty much the majority of my time with her class is spent coralling the children from painting each other, the floor, the sink, or me. I picture myself herding cats while I do it. Let me interrupt my more important story to tell you that kindergarteners are adorable, but insane. The teacher fills the soap dispensers in their bathrooms almost daily, and I caught a child dumping his water bottle into the soap dispenser, creating a large collection of bubbly goodness. He just looked at me with that innocent child face that says, "I don't understand why you're looking at me. I didn't do anything wrong. Are you going to keep standing there?" It was insane. Back to the painting though. I was suppose to have the kids paint these shapes with specific colors and print their paper with a red circle, blue square, orange rectangle, and yellow triangle. I did my best to avoid chaos. I demonstrated what the teacher wanted by showing them how to paint the shape, then printing it on a page. The first group understood and did it exactly as I expected it was to be done. The second group did not do quite the same. One little boy, the one who used to just run out of the room and is continually disobeying everyone, kept sticking the "wrong" brushes in the other paints. He had this chaotic brownish greenish paper disaster that wasn't anything like I expected. He wasn't the only one though. The kids were painting these shapes all different colors and just painting the paper. When you combine my desire to follow the rules (as in, what the teacher said she wanted done), my slight obsession with keeping colors neat and separate, and not being able to explain in Arabic what the expectations were, I was a little upset.
I started to look at the kids though, and I realized that they were kids. They weren't supposed to color or paint or do anything "perfectly" to our expectation. It was perfect that they were being creative! The boy's brownish greenish chaotic paper disaster was seriously beautiful. I would have framed it as an abstract piece of art. It wasn't printing with blocks, but it was kindergarten creativity. This also clicked for me the idea of "teaching them not to drown." I won't ever be able to save Palestine. I won't be able to take down the Wall, reunite families, create respect from the Israelis, or any other huge, progressive change. I can't and I won't. It's not my job to do that. It is my job, however, to keep them from "drowning." I can, as one person, help children be creative. I can help them laugh and run around and just be happy. I can talk to different people and listen to their concerns for the future. I can sit and have tea with Majdi, this amazing shopkeeper, and let him introduce me to every American, assuming that I know them already (because we're both from America). I can't change the world, but I can maybe stop them from drowning.
Some random stories...
I'm really loving this one kindergartener who runs and leaps into my arms everytime she sees me. I'm also really loving that while I have expected to be warmly greeted by the Christian community here, I have been received by a lot of Muslim parents more than Christians. I didn't feel very welcome at church (meaning, nobody really talked to me, even though I work with a lot of them), but I walked outside and was stopped on the street by one of the Muslim mothers from the school. Her daughter is in the kindergarten class I volunteer and swim with. She is actually from Brooklyn, New York, and is Spanish, so she has this interesting New Yorker/Spanish accent when she speaks English, wearing her hijab. It's really cool though. She made a point to tell me how much she appreciates me working with her daughter, even though she's "crazy." It was a really nice comparison to feel that unwelcomed at one point, but immediately welcomed by someone else.
The sixth grade English class wrote their favorite "sentences" for an assignment the other night. When they presented, I heard a variety of well-known quotes. This was like, "If speech is silver, then silence is golden," and so forth. My favorite quotes were both by boys, in sixth grade remember. They were, "I want to love you, but you already know" and "Every night, in my dreams, I see you, I feel you..." If you remember, I had a seventh grade boy sing that song a few weeks ago. He did it to be funny, obviously. This boy was serious about his quote and nobody in the class laughed at him. I think there must be some sort of underground Titanic following here.
Another interesting concept here is the shame-based society. I know I've talked about this before, but it's the idea that people are more ashamed if other people know they did something wrong, rather than the guilt-based society Americans live in. The shame thing is especially interesting in the school setting. Three students were talking during morning devotions and one teacher made a point to basically call them out in front of everyone. He talked about how they did something wrong and so forth (I'm guessing...this was in Arabic). I was thinking though, that if a teacher did that in the States, he would make on the 6 o'clock news. It's how life is here. It's a social norm.
Well, I think that's about all that has been going on recently. I might be going to help with the olive harvest on the Mount of Olives tomorrow. Olives are a huge crop here, as most of you know from the infamous olive oil. The Lutheran World Federation has something like, 800 trees on the Mount of Olives. The olives picked are compressed into oil and sold all over the world to fund the Augusta Victoria Hospital. This is your opportunity to help people from your seat at home. This hospital is one I've already talked about. The olive oil then provides a lot of funding for the hospital. I'm asking that you consider purchasing a bottle of oil (or a few) to support this cause. It will benefit so, so many people. There are children that receive kidney dialysis here and travel to and from their homes every other day...every week. It hosts some of the only treatment facilities for Palestinians. Literally, it has the only radiation bed for Palestinians. When we toured the hospital, I learned that the Israeli treatment of cancer means 80% of people get curative treatments and 20% get symptom treatment (basically, for pain, but not for eliminating cancer). Palestinians are the reverse. 80% get pain treatment, and only 20% get curative. That means, that very few Palestinians with cancer hope to even see a day of their lives without cancer. This is extremely upsetting. "AVH provides many specialized services that are not easily accessible or that are unavailable in other hospitals in the occupied Palestinian Territories. These specialties include ear, nose and throat surgery; adult and pediatric nephrology; radiation oncology; allergy and immunology; pediatric neurology; and certain gastrointestinal procedures. The Cancer Center at AVH will be the first facility in the occupied Palestinian Territories to offer Radiation Oncology, and the only Radiation Oncology facility for East Jerusalem and the West Bank. No other medical facility in the occupied Palestinian Territories offers pediatric dialysis." This information, and more, can be found on their website.
I'm asking that you consider purchasing some olive oil. You'll provide medical care to Palestinians. This also funds the LWF buses that travel daily to pick people up from all over the West Bank and Gaza (I think). Plus, I'll be actually picking the olives to be pressed into the oil and you'll get to have a bottle of olive oil to brag to your friends about. Not that you really needed these other reasons, but I'm really trying to sell this. Think about. Here is the website with the email address for ordering. It would make an awesome church-wide project or an individual purchase for Christmas presents. Also, the olive oil is put into bottles made in Hebron, which is a considered a high-risk city in the West Bank known for it's AMAZING glassworks. You really can't lose!!!!
Alright, I'm done with my soapbox. Check it out though, if you're interested.
I've added a photo album on the top of my blog, so check for pictures there. I'll probably still post pictures in specific blogs, but this will be the bulk of random scenery shots many of you are looking for.
I haven't prayed through this blog for awhile, and I'm sorry for that. I've had a hard time seeing that "easy" faith in God while I'm here, despite the fact that it's the Holy Land. It's just tough. I do want to pray with you now though.
Heavenly Father,
Thank you again for bringing me to this place. Thank you for blessing me richly with friends and family, both at home and here, who love and support me. Thank you for creating me as a wealthy American who went somewhere and wants to help. Please be with Hilde, Cinnamon, Lois, and many others who are in pain and need you to be with them. Please also be with those struggling with their faith and facing defeat in every corner of life. Please be with me to understand how to keep others from drowning, rather than teaching them how to swim. Please remind us to love each other. It's the only way we'll survive this world. All this I praise and ask for in your Son's most precious and holy name, Amen.
That's all for now. Keep asking me questions! Much love! :)
-Meredith
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