Nakedness without a Hijab

I went to Polytechnic university with Daniel. And I saw hundred girls in hijab getting out of classes towards me. This must be the stupidest thing I had done - come to a university without a head covering. And then all the girls walked pass me and left the gate.

I was left alone as nobody - with or without hijab.  That is the naked truth of my existence to them.

Coercing the holiest blessings

In the holiest places for Christians in Jerusalem - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, I managed to sneeze.

"Bless you".

Innocent Greetings.

I walk home on my way back from Excellence Center and it does become dark. Two days in the row, there are few kids who  yell at me "Helllllooo".  Two days in the row, scared and irritated, I ran to the entrance gate of my host family, rang the bell multiple times and sighed with relief when I got to my room. Something will have to change. I can't do this everyday. I talked to Mai and she walked back with me to the streets to resolve the matter. Kids were her nephews who wanted to know why I am entering their aunt's house. Just that. Why did I need Mai? Why couldn't I turn around and talk to the kids? I am so embarrassed.

Anyways, the same kids carry my groceries and my bags to my home. They are the ones who greet me everyday with their "Helllooo".

Apple vs Palestinian girls

I went to a school to talk STEM for girls. These 10th grade girls are the most creative and engaged girls that I have met. I had gone around the table to find out how they will use technology to make the world a better place. One of the girls wants to wipe out the stereotype images in all societies using technology. Yeah right..

They lamented that while Apple decided not to have a store in Palestine; they still decided to love Apple. It doesn't have to be tit-for-tat for every relation.

Separation with Israel -- Bethelehem

Visited Bethelehem with Alaa(my Arabic teacher), Alexa and Paulina. 

The Israeli West Bank barrier or wall is a separation barrier in the West Bank or along the Green Line. Israel considers it a security barrier against terrorism, while Palestinians call it a racial segregation or apartheid wall.   It is decorated with heart-piercing graffiti by artists from all-over. Not enough. Need more doodling from more artists. In front of the walls stood the refugee camps and Israeli settlements with Israeli soldiers keeping an eye from towers. For their entertainment, Palestinian young boys turned on loud music and danced on the streets.

Went to see the Jesus Christ birth place after that in Church of nativity.
Land of Osamas and Mohumed cradles the stable where Mary gave birth to baby Jesus.

Glamour & Gowns

Intead of taking taxi, I had started walking to and from Mai's house to the Excellence Center. There were multiple shops on the way showcasing westernized glamorous gowns. In a place where women are covered from head to toe, I couldn't figure out who these backless gowns were for.

Mai invited me to a wedding in her relatives. She used one of my shawls for a make-shift hijab for me. As I entered the wedding hall, I saw the bride dancing in a white gorgeous gown! That was the aha moment for me. In the hall full of around 250 people, there was only 1 guy-- the groom surrounded by hundreds of women in traditional clothing. Then he left -- and there came dancing many more gorgeous women in glamorous gowns on the stage. With my little knowledge of the culture, only men who will ever see a woman without hijab are her husband, her real brothers, her father and her sons.

Imagine dressing up just for women and these selected few. 

Dead Sea and Daring Women

Excellence center organized a trip to Dead sea for the international volunteers. It was 4 of us: Coco, 20 year old German girl studying to be a mid-wife. She has already witnessed 300 childbirths. Ola, a middle-eastern study major and Paulina, a blond nurse from Finland. Before coming to Palestine Paulina spent 3 months working with Syrian Refugees. All 3 of them are in their early twenties. There were 3 other local Palestinian guys who come to Excellence Center for learning English. Just in an hour we were at Dead Sea Beach - the lowest point on the planet. Ola couldn't arrange for a swimsuit for the trip. While I had not seen a woman in public without hijab in Palestine -- it took Ola 3 minutes to take off all her clothes and jump into the water with just her undergarments on :). I wanted to cover Palestinian guys' eyes, but they could care less. It will take me 100 lives to be that daring.

All 3 white girls have literally no money but are so rich in courage and experiences. I so want to live it all again!

Mai's home is my home now

Now, I am in Mai's home. She has opened all doors and drawers for me. She is 32 and has lovely 5 kids. She has taught me how to greet a guest -- with kisses first on right cheek and then left. Her speaker plays Quran verses -- all the time. I have learned to wake up with Quran verses from speakers of mosque near by and sleep with Quran's verses as the last voice for the day. Mia showed me the videos of Mecca and Madina. Those places are absolutely massive! Mai is very smart and is learning English. Her English is enough for both of us to talk for hours. It is not the society, it is the women gossip that binds your planet together.

Gods: What's in the numbers?

From the Excellence center, I took another Taxi to go to my host family. This time, the driver spoke flawless English and kept me in his rear-view mirror through out the ride. After exactly 2 minutes, he asked me why do we have so many gods in Hindu religion? Why is it so hard for Indians to understand that there is no god, but one god. I would have explained him the intense teamwork of Hindu gods that keeps it all going in the universe. Then, I thought of skipping Hinduism and jumping straight to Jainism where every Jain has potential to be the God -- that is roughly 4,451,753 gods in making.

This was little too soon to discuss religion or politics. How wrong I was.

Taxi & Mohammed

I got into the taxi from Tel-aviv to Hebron around 2:00 AM. I took out my Arabic vocabulary sheet and practiced all of it on Wael, the taxi-driver. This kept Wael awake though mildly irritated. Since my host family was not expecting me at 4:00 AM, Wael offered his home till the morning. His son Mohammed (~14 years old) gave me company and food for next 4 hours.

Mohammed is my first facebook friend from Palestine.

Tel-aviv airport - let me in

"Have you ever volunteered before?"
"First time".
"Why Palestine?"
"It is hot in Kenya."
"Why Excellence Center?"
"I found a blog on it on the internet"
..
Passport clearance officer asked pointed questions on "Why Palestine?". I got the blue stamp in less than 20 minutes. Later, I found out that the majority of the volunteers waited for 4-5 hours and went through lot more grilling. Some claimed that Israeli officers knew details of their gmail and had access to their medical conditions (come on!)

I started with the short end of the stick. I have one less story to tell :-|.