Now, that I have a little more time to blog, I’ll give you a quick rundown of my first few days in Nablus. We arrived in Nablus on Saturday around 1 or 2pm. We managed to make it through Huwwara checkpoint without any trouble and we arrived at our destination about 20 minutes later. Many of the local volunteers were awaiting our arrival. I was very excited to see a few familiar faces from when I came in 2005. It was really great to see them after so long. The place we are staying is a palace. Literally, a palace. It’s an old palace that was purchased by An-Najah University and they decided to let us use it this year. We have a huge open air courtyard and three floors with multiple bedrooms and a great view of the city. It’s actually a few kilometers outside of Nablus in a village called Beit Wazan.
We sat around for a few hours waiting for the rest of the international volunteers. After everyone arrived, we listened to a few presentations on what to expect and what not to do while we are in Palestine. I was also notified that I would be assistant camp leader since I had been here before. After the presentations, we took some time getting to know everyone’s name. There are 33 international volunteers from all over the world, in addition to about 20-30 local volunteers. After dinner, we all went to bed to rest for our first day at the refugee camp.
I was eager to get to bed after such a long day until I was awoken at 1am by the sound of a rooster right outside our window. Ugh! For a moment, I even thought to myself, “It can’t be morning already”. It wasn’t. This rooster would crow every hour for about 10 minutes. Then it would be quiet just long enough to fall back asleep. Grrr… I’m not sure this rooster is going to live the next two weeks.
Sunday
We awoke around 7am to head to the camp for another orientation. We arrived to see all the kids awaiting our arrival. I recognized a few of the refugee camp volunteers and a few of the kids, as well. Last time I was here, the kids gave me the nickname “Rambo”. Well, as it turns out, they didn’t forget that either. Rambo returns. 
For our first day at the camp, the kids marched in a parade through the refugee camp to go lay wreaths at the graves of a few children that have have been killed in the last few years. It was an incredible emotional experience.
After the parade, we returned to the palace for lunch and a nap. After we woke up, we listened to a brief presentation on the Right to Education campaign whose mission is to document cases of harassment of Palestinian students by Israeli soldiers. Unfortunately, many students have to travel through Israeli checkpoints in order to get to school. Unfortunately, many are either arbitrarily harassed or detained by the soldiers or even assaulted by Israeli settlers.
After the presentation, we walked to the new campus of An-Najah University to see a concert by a French pop/rock band. They were actually pretty good! The concert atmosphere was very much like you’d have at any US concert, albeit a bit more subdued.
After the concert, we went to an outdoor park where we had tea, coffee, and coke and smoked a little arguila (hookah/shisha). It was a relaxing and fun end to a very long day.
Monday
On Monday, we arrived at the camp eager for our first full day working with the kids. I signed up for “Sports” so I was outside much of the day. I brought a football from the States since I wanted to teach them a little American football. We didn’t quite get that far. We did manage to play a little “Duck, Duck, Goose” with the younger kids and we played a little soccer with the older kids. It was extremely hot, though. I got more than just a little sunburnt.
After the camp, we again returned to the palace for lunch and a nap. After the nap, we listened to a brief presentation on the Palestinian Nakba in 1948. Nakba (or catastrophe) is what Palestinians call the creation of the State of Israel when many Palestinians were forced from their homes. This year, 2008, is the 60th anniversary. After the presentation, we traveled to Balata refugee camp where we listened to a gentleman who was an eyewitness to the Nakba and lost his home in, what is now, Tel Aviv. A few of the locals and even a few of the internationals became quite emotional listening to him. We had a translator but you really didn’t need a translator to understand this man’s pain from being expelled from his homeland.
After the discussion, we took a brief tour of Balata. The walking tour was… intense. We walked through extremely narrow alleys surrounded by kids eager to have their picture taken while screaming “Allahu Akbar!” at the top of their lungs. At the same time, the call to prayer was echoing from all the mosques in the city. It was a very surreal experience.
After the tour of the camp, we went to the al Yasmeen Hotel in the Old City of Nablus. I remember this hotel from the last time I was here. We sat around and talked, smoked a little arguila, and drank some tea. After an hour or two, we returned to the palace, exhausted.
Tuesday
This morning at the camp, I chose “Sports” again because I was determined to teach some of the kids how to play football. I was much more successful today. After a few minutes of broken English/Arabic explanation, I had the kids snapping the ball to me and running receiving routes. I think they really enjoyed it. Then I spent some time showing them how to grip the football when they throw it. There were a few kids that seemed like naturals. After a few practice throws, they were throwing nice, tight spirals!
After the camp, lunch, and nap, we headed back to the university where we attended another concert. This one was more traditional Palestinian music. It was quite good! I might have to pick up a CD or two before I leave.
Anyway, we’re back at the palace now and everyone is scrambling to get online and check email… I leave you with a few photos from today and yesterday:
Tags:
askar,
balata,
My Photos,
palestine,
refugee-camp,
travel,
west-bank 
