Baba Ronit

This past week I got the news that one of my former guards became a dad for the first time! Sarah wrote about how we helped him get married (Hongera Mr. Sakwa) and his wedding (Anticipation of a Wedding, Experience of a Wedding) in her blog.

I used to call him Mista Sakwa, now I will be calling him Baba Ronit. He named his daughter after me!

Baba Ronit was the first guard that I hired for my house in Tanzania and he was with me to the end. He is a wonderful man of God and was a very faithful guard. I was sad not to be there for his wedding but I am honored to be a part of his family through this new Ronit in the world.

I also got an additional East African gift this week when I got to meet a Kenyan and chat with her in Swahili. We spoke fondly about chips mayai and chapatti and I addmited that I'm not a huge fan of Ugali. I'm so grateful for the continued connections with my life and home in Tanzania!

Intro to the Conflict

I moved to Tel Aviv last week for my masters program. Finally! I've been here 8 months and I'm just now starting. Phewph!

During orientation week my MA cohort (conflict resolution and mediation) were taken on a two day trip. We visited several places but the ones that stand out to me are the borders. We visited Mt. Bental where there is a UN outpost looking into Syria.

Along that border line is an opening between the two countries at which UN officials (and brides) can pass through.

We also visited the border with Lebanon which is harder to pick out in this picture.

We had two tour guides at one point; an Israeli and a Palestinian. Throughout the day we got to hear both of their viewpoints and narratives on life in Israel and the modern history of this land.

It was a great way to introduce us to some of the material that we will be covering in greater depth in the coming months. My first class starts tomorrow!

Freewheeling and Farewelling

Sarah left on Saturday to continue her adventuring and traveling. I am sad to see her go but excited to hear about her onward travels!

She did not, however, leave without one last adventure for us here. As we waited for her taxi I decided to pull out my guitar and see what would happen if I left the case open. I was honestly surprised that I made 21 shekels and a handful of pretzels! It's not much but when I'm hard up for cash during my master's program I guess I can try it again!

I did experience a few conflicting emotions whilst busking.
1 - guilt for receiving money from a random passerby.
2 - pride that someone enjoyed the music well enough to not simply walk on by.
3 - A large group of tourists stopped to take pictures with Sarah and me. If they think I'm a musician does that make me one? Or am I just a poser?

I'll let you know how those feelings progress if I get around to trying this again!

Sea to Sea

Finally!!! I've wanted to do the Sea to Sea hike for 12 years. With Sarah as my trusty hiking companion I finally achieved this goal! It was beautiful and empowering.

We walked, over the course of 4 days, from the Mediterranean Sea...

to the Sea of Galilee.

I put my Hebrew and map loving skills to work navigating the way.

Sarah used her resources to put together a very delicious hiking menu for us. We didn't get tired of eating couscous every night, it was so yummy! We just poured cool water over it and 30 minutes later, dinner. No fire needed!

Refilling water bottles every evening was an important part of our routine. Our last night we got to fill them from a 'mikvah'. A 'mikvah' is a ritual bathing area in Judaism, the source of the water must be "living". This means that the water is fresh and running from a natural source. It just so happened that when we first walked up to fill our bottles, there were over a dozen men standing around who had very recently completed a bathing session. We averted our eyes and came back a couple of hours later.

Then of course, all the beauty that we passed through:

It is a tradition to carry a bit of Mediterranean water to the Sea of Galilee. The delivering of the water marked the end of my first real multi-day backpacking trip.

Hiking and Technical Difficulties

I'm out hiking from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sea of Galilee. Wish me luck!

Additionally, due to technical difficulties (my computer is dead and won't charge anymore... Eek!) I can't do a proper blog post with pictures. When I get back from the hike I'll look into what I have to do to get that fixed.

Have a great week!