Bieta in Palestine

TYO mini-cameo

2011-09-10T14:49:00.000-07:00

Students of the World does some great videos for TYO, and they interviewed me for one. It's a teeny-tiny cameo, that I did after leaving TYO to work for Souktel. Souktel provides SMS services for the local university volunteers, so my participation was as alum-cum-partner, but I guess that video didn't get made. In any case, these videos are extremely well done and all by students who have little to no familiarity with documentary production. It's really impressive and gives TYO some great PR material.

In other news, I've left Palestine and have started law school. I miss it every day. Haven't figured out what to do with this blog yet, especially as I'm nobody reads it anymore, if they ever did. Now that I'm no longer in Palestine, I feel a little freer to make this blog a bit more political, but there are so many people out there that do that better, I'm not sure what I'd add to the canon, but we'll see.

Ode to White Girls

2011-06-28T06:50:00.000-07:00

I've always been hard to peg, appearance-wise. My middle-toned skin, my curls, the shape of my nose and lips... all of it seems to just confuse people, and especially so when I was little. A strange need to categorize me as a child prompted the abrupt question "what are you?" I don't know if my circles have changed as I've gotten older, or if people's preoccupation with race has subsided, or if it is just not as easy to question an adult about herself as it is a child, but I rarely get this question anymore.

Naturally, as a child, I think I would have preferred to be less ambiguous, but as I get older I've grown much more comfortable with the way that I look. And, as it turns out, the way I look is also extremely useful for someone who likes to travel a lot. Suddenly, everyone looking at me quizzically because I was different turned into everyone ignoring me because I looked the same. This has been true in almost every country I've visited outside of East Asia. Peru - check. Brazil - check. Portugal - check. Palestine - check!

And even if I don't quite look like the natives of whatever country I happen to be in, I have another trick up my sleeve-- I am brown. And in the colonial legacies left in so many countries, I am just not interesting. My color hasn't been fetishized. Nobody is buying skin cream to look like me. While I certainly haven't gone completely unnoticed, and I have had uncomfortable (sometimes disgusting) moments of sexual harassment, I am for the most part let be.

Of course it's hard to notice the absence of something. I didn't become aware of the privilege of my anonymity, my undesirability, until I ventured out with my fairer friends. The catcalls got worse. The staring became unbearable. The turning heads. The honking cars. It made me cringe.

So this is my ode to the white girls of Ramallah. I don't know if I could endure what you do on a daily basis. I know you don your sunglasses and your earphones and look steely eyed ahead of you. And you stick it out cuz you're tough. Tougher than I am, hiding behind my nondescript looks. :)

A Strange Sense of Honor

2011-06-23T06:25:00.000-07:00

I went to a "musical protest" today at Qalandia, the massive checkpoint that separates Jerusalem from Ramallah. Students from a musical school gave an impromptu concert just before the metal-barred walkways that bring you to passport control. (Spotted -- Sandy Tolan, author of The Lemon Tree, a book I did not care for, sorry Sandy!) While there, a young boy, maybe 8 or 9, whom I've seen before, tried to sell me a bottle of water for 5 NIS. I declined, but he persisted, and when I was about to give in, another young boy informed me that the water should only be 2 NIS, not 5, which I assumed anyways.

So I handed the boy 2NIS and told him I didn't want any water. "Bideesh," I said, as he profferred up the bottle, "I don't want it." So what does he do? He sticks my two shekl back in my front pocket and walks away. He'd rather overcharge me by 3 than accept 2 outright. I'm having trouble explaining the logic of his morality, does anyone have an idea?

Blah blah blah blah blog

2011-06-20T06:42:00.000-07:00

If you've managed to find your way to this site without being my FB friend or on my gchat, then you haven't found out that I wrote a blog post for techchange.org. It's my biggest publication to date (haha so pathetic!) so I'm proud of it. Ch-ch-ch-check it out!

Dead Sea

2011-06-20T06:39:00.001-07:00

At a lovely bbq on the Dead Sea last weekend. The sun sets to the East (obviously) and from Palestine you're facing the Dead Sea to the West, so no pretty picturesque sunsets like from the Jordanian side. But the water still was a perfect reflection of an orange sky. So lovely.

Again!

2011-06-20T06:37:00.000-07:00

I was walking down the street when I felt a little face at my hand. She followed me down the street again until I got to a busy part, where she fell back.

She Came Back!

2011-06-17T09:28:00.001-07:00

I know I said I'd keep her if she found me again, and she must be a reader of my blog, because when I walked out of my house last night I was startled by a little face popping up outside of the gate. My dog was waiting for me! I wish she'd appeared 6 months ago, I would have had to keep her then, and then she'd move with me to New York.

Shabab Lite

2011-06-16T09:21:00.001-07:00

Three boys dressed in perfectly matching outfits: shiny silver jeans, striped shirts, white sneakers, gelled hair. Between the ages of 11 and 12.5. Pretty amusing!

Dabkeh

2011-06-16T02:30:00.000-07:00

Two things my one-time dabkeh lesson taught me:

1) Dabkeh is on a 6 count, which is why it was so freaking hard for me to figure it out when I first got here. (Most Western dance is done on the 8 count.)

2) Those beautiful embroidered dresses that the women wear on special occasions (older generation and rural women wear them more regularly) are unbelievably hot! I was absolutely sweltering in it and had to pull it off mid-class.

Saudade, Schadenfreude, Vacilando

2011-06-14T12:43:00.000-07:00

There are some words in other languages that have a very specific meaning, often related to a particular feeling in a particular situation. I find that English, despite its magnificent breadth and willingness to borrow from other tongues, lacks this. I need a word to describe something: when you wake up in a new country and everything--every sight, sound, scent and sensation-- feels unfamiliar in such a wonderful way. Being removed from your familiar elements makes you hypersensitive, and just savoring everything around you is the most thrilling thing in the world.

I feel like the Germans must have a word for this, but that it sounds better in Portuguese.

Expats: The best of the best

2011-06-13T03:03:00.000-07:00

I secretly discovered today that one of the friends I've made in Palestine is not only sweet, humble, and unbelievably laid-back, she is also phenomenally, awe-inspiringly intelligent. I've met phenomenally smart people before, I've met humble and laid back people before, but it's a rare gem that is both.

I got nothing

2011-06-12T12:29:00.001-07:00

Some days, you can't find something to like.

Grapevine

2011-06-12T01:49:00.000-07:00

I threaded the grapevine through the lattice over the entrance to our house this weekend. I have visions of coming home and walking through the cool air and dappled light. My grapevine will need to grow fairly rapidly over the next few weeks to arch over the walkway...

Summa Summa Summa Time!

2011-06-10T15:25:00.000-07:00

The coming of summer seems to be most directly marked by the advent of BBQ season: one last weekend, two this weekend, and one already booked for next weekend. Bikinis, bacon and beer, oh my.

Led A Stray

2011-06-09T12:11:00.000-07:00

Walking home this evening, a dog I'd befriended the other day found me again on the street. She followed me all the way home, jumping and nipping and happy to see me. It hurt my heart to leave her out of the yard; if she finds me a third time I'm keeping her.

Love letter to Palestine

2011-06-08T07:23:00.000-07:00

I am in denial about the fact that I am leaving Ramallah. (Although the fact that I am aware of my denial kind of negates the denial altogether, right?) It’s like a tender wound that I circle but never directly prod—I just don’t let my mind go there. For a little while I tortured myself by counting the weeks and days until I leave, but that made for a bad mental state. I’ve found it’s best to keep my focus off of it, and if my thoughts tend to wander that way, I quickly redirect them.

I’ll allow myself this though: in honor of my deep love for Palestine and the life I have here, I’m going to post one thing each day, a snapshot of my lovely life here. It will be my long goodbye, my how-do-I-love-you-let-me-count-the-ways to Palestine. I began with the one below (“Blackberries”) and I’ll continue until I leave.

Blackberries

2011-06-07T23:50:00.000-07:00

I walked through a shower of blackberries today as truant boys shook them out of the trees.

Been awhile...

2010-10-26T05:30:00.001-07:00

Hi all—

Not that anybody reads this blog anymore. Hell, I don’t even look at it. But I have been wanting to write down a few things that’s happened over the last few months, and in the back of my head is always the nagging thought that I should update this thing, or write anything at all.

A lot has passed since I last posted (jeez, in March, really?). I got into law school, enrolled in law school, deferred law school for another year, left my internship in Nablus and picked up a full-time job at another NGO along with a year-long, multi-exit B1 visa, aka the Holy Grail for foreigners working in the West Bank. I’ve hit up Greece, Lebanon and Eritrea, lost a couple of friends back to their homes, made a few more, and moved into the most adorable Ottoman-style house with a garden and tentative plans for a puppy named Zan.

All in all I am having a wonderful time here in Palestine. In fact, it’s become so nice and cozy that it feels a little too insulated from the real world. Ramallah is often called a bubble, and with good reason – with the heavy presence of foreigners it is easy to go a few days without speaking any Arabic; the restaurants, bars and general nightlife, though slim by international standards, are a far cry from teetotalling Nablus that shuts down with sundown. Ironically, my peaceful yuppie life in this “conflict zone” has made me reluctant to head back to the US. Seriously, guys, what is going on over there? Quran-burning? Tea parties? The Rangers nearly sweeping the Yankees (woot!)?

But return I will, for fall in New York. So try to get it together before then, ok guys?

The paint spill so lovingly swirled on my classroom floor

2010-03-29T21:14:00.001-07:00

I told you it was lovely! I wanted it to dry so I could just peel it right off and hang it on the wall or something but I think it would have stuck rather than come up and I didn't want my students trotting through it. Ah well. At least I got a picture.

GlobalGiving Challenge!

2010-03-29T11:00:00.000-07:00

From today until April 26, we are competing to earn a spot on the GlobalGiving website, and earn up to US $6,000 from GlobalGiving by being one of the top fundraisers in the Global Open Challenge.

The organization with the greatest number of individual donations will get $3,000, and a separate $3,000 prize will go to the project raising the most money. The second and third place runners up for both achievements will get $2,000 and $1,000 respectively.

This is our opportunity to try the fundraising tools and services that GlobalGiving offers to organizations like ours. In order to keep our project on GlobalGiving longer term, and use their website for ongoing fundraising, we need to raise a minimum of US $4,000 from at least 50 unique donors during the Challenge. You can keep track of our progress on the leaderboard.

You can help us succeed by spreading the word!

Pass along this email to your friends and family and ask them to tell others.
If you are planning to make a donation this year to TYO please do so by going to our project on GlobalGiving between now and December 21.

Today I am mad at Palestine

2010-03-28T09:39:00.000-07:00

Let's just keep this between you and me though ok?

I forget who but someone told me once that when you stay in a country for long enough, you will go through fluctuations in how you feel about it. Sometimes you will absolutely love it there and never, ever want to go home. Other days you will just not GET what is going on around you and why people behave the way they do and you will just want to go home where things are more familiar.

I think I hit that second one today.

Americans are particularly fond of order. In America, you wait in line, you are quiet in a movie theater, you cross the street at an appropriate interval and cars who see you in the street will keep a respectful distance. We even know which side of the escalator is for standing (the right) and which for passing (the left). I've been to a few countries where these rules either don't exist or are generally not followed.

In Palestine it's a bit different I've found. Some of what happened to me today is cultural and will involve me letting go of my American need for control and order, and some of it was just something you'd find wherever you went in the world. I guess this blog is my personal forum, though, so I'm going to vent to you, my dear reader.

It began this morning with my moms' exercise class. For no particular reason at all I am partial to having my students quiet and attentive while I huff and puff and call out the beat and spattered phrases of encouragement in English and Arabic. My ladies, however, are more content to use the time for chatting and dropping in and out of the workout as they see fit. Sometimes "guests" just enter and stand in the doorway and talk with the ladies and hold up the class. For me, as an American, this is disrespectful. For them, I could see how if someone enters a room and you know that person, it would be rude not to talk to them and engage them. This is an example where I should amend what I'm beginning to see as Type A habits to better fit with my surroundings.

In a university classroom, however, this is not the case. With just a few classes left before their second exam, I am stressing myself out trying to make sure that my students are prepared. I try to explain this to them, even drawing out the remaining days on the whiteboard vs. the amount of material we have left to cover. Still, students talk out of turn, talk to each other, complain that I give them homework, and say "khallas! khallas!" when there are five minutes left in their 50-minute class. When they stroll in 15 minutes late to the classroom and I am the middle of teaching, they knock on the door and shake hands with their friends. Someone's cell phone went off at least three times in the class. One student, who I swear I have never seen before, came up and complained about being marked absent so many times. I said, in English I know he could not understand "I don't know who you are. I don't even recognize you. You are *never* in my class." Ugh.

Then, at the end of the day, around 730pm when I'm about to set up my classroom, hang up the costumes I've purchased in the new closet I've had installed, I find a wet, sticky, rather lovely puddle of paint that some unwatched kids have swirled onto my floor. There are paint bottles in the pile of costumes, there is paint in a hat, there are crayons on the floor, there is general disarray. And I realize that unattended children in any country will wreak havoc but this was the icing on the cake today.

So I vented to my blog. Is that healthy or not? Please let's not post cultural relativist arguments on this forum saying that I am being elitist or some such. Today, today, I am mad at Palestine.

Things to do in a darkened room

2010-03-10T14:07:00.000-08:00

My black box theater has manifold purposes!

While it has yet to host a play, the BBT was specifically requested for a film screening by one of my fellow teachers, Doris. Since I really want this theater to be something that lasts beyond my stay here, I am thinking of adding a white sheet over the window that can be lowered for movie viewing. I would have to add some lining to the crushed-velvet curtain because it is porous and lets light through, but I think that it is very doable. Exciting!

A great week for the kids' class

2010-03-10T13:48:00.000-08:00

Yay! Puppets are the way to go :)

So since the puppets were so successful last semester, I decided to incorporate them again this semester, even though many of my students are veterans of my class. In fact, I'm not sure that they're even signed up for the class, they just come because they came last semester, liked it, and just show up twice a week at the same time! I don't have the heart to turn anyone away, not even the kids who come with 1 or 2 younger siblings in tow. Today I ordered 30 juices for my students (we give them boxes at every class) and had to scrounge around for 3 more! I take it as a sign that they are enjoying the class.

Last semester, as you'll remember from my beautiful photo (I promise to incorporate more photos soon!), I created a beautiful puppet theater that I was immensely proud of and that the kids enjoyed playing with... perhaps a bit too much in fact because it was nearly destroyed within days of its introduction and even after one repair attempt. For today's class I was going to built another one, but exhaustion and a bit of nausea (I've been eating just hummus and Oreos for some time because I can't be bothered to cook!) prevented me from making it in time for class. My sage friend and fellow teacher Doris offered some wonderful wisdom: why not just let the kids make the theaters?

Yes!

I managed to find about 5 or 6 boxes of suitable size and have them ready for class. Then, miracle of miracles, all FIVE of my volunteers showed up today. This was unprecedented. I was able to divide the students into five groups, each headed by a volunteer, and each with a bit of cardboard to cut, paint, sticker and glue into their very own puppet theater.

With all of my kids and volunteers engaged, I was even able to manage one student of mine who has been a bit of trouble. He is a great kid, very funny, but tends to get alienated and wander off with his yo yo. He and I built our theater together and for next class we'll put on a show with it together.

At the end of the class, most of the groups had time to tidy up their space a bit, though some will have to finish their project next week. I handed each a juice box and said "shukran! ma salaama!" and they headed home.

If one out of every ten classes goes as wonderfully as today's, I will be immensely immensely happy :)

Curtain

2010-02-23T12:20:00.000-08:00

I just put up the curtain in my classroom. Couldn't find the ladder so I placed a plastic chair on top of a wobbly table and then climbed up myself... like a cat I tell you! I was hoping the effect would be transformative, but it's not... the curtain is a bit long so I think I'm going to use the extra material to make the hanging part from the top you know what I'm talking about? Yeah that part. It is blue crushed velvet-- wanted red but the fabric store did not have it in a material I liked. It is supposed to be like a theater curtain, which I think it is... it just needs a bit more pizzazz.

I will post a picture as soon as I like the look of the room. Which hopefully will be soon.

Masochism

2010-02-16T06:47:00.001-08:00

Remember how my women's class was a bit large and crowded? Well of course I volunteered to split the class into two groups and teach two more days a week. So that's four 90 minute dance classes a week (6 hours) + two 90 minute kids classes a week (3 hours) + 6 hours of outside English teaching = 15 hours of teaching a week. I haven't even begun working on the grant project yet either, which will begin on the 28th (tentatively).

I'm sure I can manage it all but I just hope that I'm not spreading myself too thin and therefore not giving enough to each. Inshallah everything will go wonderfully. :)

Seeking Play

2010-02-14T12:15:00.000-08:00

I remarked the other day to a friend about how independent the children in Palestine are. Unlike in the US, kids here roam the streets in unsupervised packs which, in combination with the sometimes erratic and dangerous driving that goes on, is enough to make my heart catch.

When I walk through the city I sometimes watch the kids at play and am impressed with their ingenuity. As the roads of Nablus are torn up for reconstruction, I see children hop over newly carved ditches in the pavement. I have seen kids race dropped plastic bags from balconies like parachutes. Today two boys shared a pair of rollerblades between them, one left footed, the other right.

Children are remarkably resilient everywhere in the world, able to find recreation wherever they happen to land. Nonetheless, seeing this reinforces to me why organizations like TYO are so important. Simply, every kid deserves a childhood.

My first week with the kids

2010-02-10T07:41:00.000-08:00

I adore this picture. For the first day of class, I had my kids make t-shirts with their names on them in Arabic and English. I'm determined this semester to learn all of my kids' names. This little girl (Rihana!) decided to write منظمة شباب الغد : صف بياتا which means "Tomorrow's Youth Organization, Bieta's Class". It's like I have a team and she's on it! I love it. I laughed very heartily when I saw it.

In addition to making t-shirts, I also took pictures of their faces and had them draw little paper frames. I am going to put up framed pictures of them on the wall outside of my classroom with a big sign over it that says "Cast". I thought this was very clever, try not to disabuse me of it.

So the first class went well, and with the help of resident arts and crafts expert (and awesome friend!), Kelsey, the second class went well too. I had them affix their pictures to the frames (I needed time to print all of them out), we went came up with a list of rules for the class together, and then they made pop up cards. The pop up cards were 100% Kelsey's idea and they were a big hit. It can be difficult at times to fill up an entire hour and a half class, but I've managed okay so far. Definitely my volunteers have been an amazing help this time around and I pray that they stick around for the rest of the semester.

How's my New Year's Resolution coming? Sticking it out pretty well so far, eh?

Post on TYO blog

2010-02-10T07:38:00.001-08:00

I sometimes write blog posts for TYO's blog as well, and here's one, complete with a very silly picture of me from Cairo.

Plans for 2010

2010-02-10T07:08:00.000-08:00

Some people have had the audacity to nag me about how frequently I update this blog. But please interpret my lack of updates as attributed to how diligently I'm working at TYO! :)

Now that I've essentially wrapped up 2009, I think it's time to move into the new decade and tell you all about my very exciting plans for this semester! In terms of classes, I'll have the same ones-- I'll be teaching drama to the kiddies and dance to the moms. I really felt like I had learned so much about those classes in the last semester that I would be able to put towards making them better that I opted to teach the same classes again.

This past week has been my first week of classes and they went really well. My mothers' exercise class has about doubled in size (maybe good word of mouth!) and I have lost my lovely fellow intern Nachel back to the US, so it's just me and about 30 ladies looking to get in shape! So far it's been going really well. I've recycled all of the material that I used last semester, since it took a very long time to come up with and teach. As the class progresses I will phase out the old stuff and introduce new stuff. Right now I am ending each class with a few salsa steps that I hope to incorporate later. Arab dancing uses a lot of hips just like Latin dancing so the women have a serious advantage in that respect.

My drama class also began this week, though since the first few weeks are usually pretty hectic and class attendance and enrollment will fluctuate, I've been holding off delving into the real theatrical stuff. Plus, I got the go-ahead to make a black box theater out of my classroom, but painting got held up so it's not quite ready yet. The walls are black now and it makes the room look AMAZING. I hope to put up a great curtain, some decorations, add in a costume/prop area and a corner for my revitalized puppet theater (the last one got a bit destroyed from some overenthusiastic play last semester). I really believe that the ambience of the classroom will make a huge difference and really portray to the students the idea of theater.

I am also trying to reach out to local theater companies to see if they would like to collaborate with me and TYO. I hope to bring my students on a field trip to see a professional play and even to have a troupe come to TYO to do a workshop. And there is the slightest possibility that I may even help to facilitate an international theater group in coming to Nablus to perform and/or do a workshop. More on this as it develops!

In teaching the moms dance here, I have realized how much I enjoy dancing and teaching dance and I want to try and expand that to a forum where I could essentially just do that... most of the moms are looking for a workout rather than an art form. So, I have run it by the powers that be here at TYO that I would like to offer a hip hop dance class to the young ladies of Nablus who might be interested. Given scheduling conflicts and priority classes, that has yet to be arranged, but fingers crossed than within a few weeks I will be popping and locking in Palestine! (I like that... Pop and Lock Palestine... hmmm....)

In addition to the above (woo! i am a busy girl!) I have been accepted to participate in a new grant project here at TYO called the United Nations' Alliance of Civilizations. Along with the two new interns that we will receive in a couple of weeks, I will be working with Palestinian volunteers to create a multimedia guide to life and culture in Nablus. I am extremely excited about this project and you can read more about it here.

I think that that just about wraps up my plans for this semester here in Nablus. If you stuck with me this far, thanks! You are a serious trooper. :)

2009: A Recap

2010-02-07T13:10:00.000-08:00

Ah yes, remember that New Year's Resolution of mine? Well February is as good a time as any to begin it. January 1 is a rather arbitrary date anyways...

At the end of last year I completed my first semester here at TYO and I think it went off pretty well. True, the size of my drama class had dwindled over the weeks but I had a core group of girls who showed up early and left late so I couldn't have been doing too badly, don't you think? I think that the moms were pleased with the exercise class as well and (preview!) I saw some familiar faces at my first moms' class for this semester... repeat customers eh?

I was a bit reluctant to go home for Christmas when I did. Don't get me wrong, I was excited to see my loved ones, but I have really begun to look at Palestine as my home. To give you some perspective, the address on my driver's license is that of my brother's apartment in Brighton, a place that I've only visited... and he doesn't even live there anymore. Outside of being wherever whoever I love is, home is as much Nablus right now as it is Boston... probably moreso. Even in my last few weeks here I had wonderful experiences and met wonderful new people.

A quick hello to all of you that I saw when I was home, and especially to those of you that I didn't get a chance to see... a fair lot of you in fact. I miss you all terribly and you should come to freaking Nablus to visit me :)

Sad News in Nablus

2010-01-05T10:34:00.001-08:00

I am keeping this blog as apolitical as I possibly can, as I'd like to keep the focus on TYO and the good things that we are doing for our community there. Nevertheless, I don't think that it is breaking my rule to tell you all that three Nabulsis were killed in Nablus the day after Christmas by the IDF. They were suspected of the murder of an Israeli settler.

The BBC has some pretty disturbing footage from what I now consider to be my home. It can be easy to forget, up in the compound that is the TYO Masri building, that you are living under occupation. Other than the fighter jets that fly over and sometimes drop low for sonic booms, there is no immediate evidence of occupation. I don't even encounter Israelis except when we pass through checkpoints on the way to other cities. Something like this reminds me of the real situation of the conflict.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T12:46:00.001-08:00

Resolution for 2010: Update this blog better.

Among other things...

Moms' Exercise Class-- Can you handle it??

2009-12-09T07:28:00.000-08:00

So I haven't said much about our moms' exercise class, partly because I like to include pictures whenever possible, and since the ladies take off their hijabs and let loose in some spandex and t-shirts, picture-taking is strictly forbidden. And if not forbidden, then it would certainly be a violation of their privacy to post any photos of them on here.

BUT I want you all to have an idea as to how I spend two of my classes a week. Nachel (my fellow intern) and I, split our hour and a half time slot into two 45 minute periods, and I usually start off the class. Over the weeks, the moms and I have worked up to a set list that is 5 songs long, plus a one song run at the beginning and at times a cool down and stretch at the end. All of this before Nachel has them working out to Billy Blanks and his Tae Bo DVD! So far the class has been a great success and we've had a high retention rate. The mms report that they're losing weight, and I can tell that each week they become more comfortable with the routines and build up their strength. Soon I will add in a little salsa routine so that they learn a bit about Latin dance and have an opportunity to shake up our set list.

So, if you want to try a couple of the songs out, I am listing here the exercises for two of the most popular and most difficult ones. Good luck!

I'm Really Hot, Missy Elliott

This one has been particularly popular and is a workout for the quads and bum!

1. During the "hey ho!" part, just dance around a bit
2. When Missy says "I'm really, really hot. Every time my record drops, radio says I won't stop, cuz I'm killing it!" Put your hands on your hips and move them in a circular fashion.
3. For 8 counts, lunge to the right with the rear leg straight. Bob on each count.
4. For 8 counts, lunge to the left with the rear leg straight. Bob on each count.
5. For 8 counts, squat like you're about to sit in a chair. Bob on each count.
6. For 8 counts, hold the squat position.

If you've done it right, when you finish the squat position you should have made it back to the chorus, where you can pop up and dance a bit to shake off the tension in your legs from the squat. Repeat two more times to the next two rounds of the song. For the outro, hold the squat until the music ends.

Summer Workout Tape, Kanye West

This is our ab workout. It is pretty difficult so not for the faint of heart please!

1. 8 counts of side crunches to the left.
2. 8 counts of side crunches to the right.
3. 8 regular crunches.

Side Crunch

4. A slow sit up that takes 8 counts to rise to the top.
5. Slowly return the starting position of a situp, taking 8 counts to fall back.
6. Slow sit up rise for 4 counts.
7. Slow sit up descent for 4 counts.
8. With the hands under the tush for support, point the legs straight up in the air and hold for 8 counts.
9. Descend the legs midway and hold for 8 counts.
10. Descend the legs until they are about half a foot to a foot from the ground, hold for 8 counts.
11. With legs at the same height, spread them apart and hold for 8 counts.
12. Return legs to the middle at same height, hold for 8 counts.
13. Raise legs to mid level, hold for 8 counts.
14. Raise legs to starting position, hold for 8 counts.

Double Leg Raise

15. Repeat slow sit up for 8 counts, descend for 8 counts, up for 4 counts, descend for 4 counts.
16. Roll over into plank position. Hold for two counts of 8.
17. Move to side plank on your right side. Hold for two counts of 8.
18. Move to side plank on your left side. Hold for two counts of 8.

Front Plank

Side Plank

19. Roll back into crunch position. Do 8 counts of crunches with the legs extending straight out in front and resting on the floor.
20. Spread knees into butterfly position (while still laying on the floor). Do 8 counts of crunches.
21. Lift knees, do 8 counts of crunches.
22. Point feet straight up to the ceiling, try to touch your toes for 8 counts.
23. Repeat in reverse order (knees up, knees splayed, legs extended in front of you) with 8 counts for each.
24. Repeat entire set (knees splayed, knees up, feet extended towards ceiling, knees up, knees splayed, legs extended out on the ground) with 8 counts each.
25. Roll onto the stomach and stretch out the abs with "upward facing dog" position.

Upward Facing Dog

As you may be able to tell from the above two routines, this is a pretty intensive exercise class. With an additional three songs, which are focused more on cardio, we are on our way to a full body workout. Hey, maybe I'll make some DVDs and be the next Billy Blanks!

Except I'd probably end up more like this guy...

Five MILLION Dollars!

2009-12-02T14:42:00.000-08:00

TYO has entered itself in a competition to win $5,000,000 (approximately 18.5 million shekl!) and all you need to do is VOTE!

If you have facebook, just hit the button below and vote for TYO to win a chunk of that change. You have 20 votes, so give one of yours to us! It is free and totally painless.

Plus, I'll think you're pretty great.

POSTCARDS!

2009-12-02T14:27:00.001-08:00

I am, like a lot of people I know that travel, very very bad at writing and sending postcards. However, this time I have outside factors to blame... namely that there is no post in Nablus, and sending things from the West Bank in general is very difficult. I have actually bought and written postcards to several people without being able to send them. So if you receive a postcard with a timestamp from the US, just know that it was purchased and written in a foreign country, merely dropped in the mail in the US.

Nevertheless, I will definitely do my best to send them from Israel when next I get a chance to go there.

My Apologies!

2009-12-02T14:13:00.000-08:00

I have not done a very good job of updating this blog. And for the last three weeks of classes here, I will try to do better! I promise. For now, check out the blog post that I wrote for TYO.

Last weekend marked several important days here at TYO: Universal Children’s Day, our Open Day, and the passage of the midway mark for our fall internship program.

As I was surrounded by dozens of kids clamoring to have their faces painted as Spider-man, Batman, hearts, moons, stars, flowers, butterflies (a good Arabic lesson for me that day!), I found a moment to reflect on the past month and a half here in Nablus.

I have been trying to teach my students here at TYO as much as they teach me. Every day with them is a new learning experience, as a teacher, as a foreigner and as a person. I hope that I am doing my best, and that my students like me. They keep coming back, so hopefully that is a good sign.

I crafted a nine-week schedule for my drama class at the beginning of this semester, and it has absolutely flown out the window. Every lesson that I plan for them, assuming that it will take at least a week (two classes), has been consumed by them in just one class! Even when I think that my English explanation cannot be properly translated into Arabic and grasped by my students, they are always two steps ahead of me and ready to go. My goal is to challenge, entertain and inform them at least as much as they do so for me.

In the past few weeks my class has covered many of the basics of the mechanics of theater, including costumes, sets and scripts. For the sets, we painted a backdrop and made free standing trees, as well as cut out clouds, a moon and a sun to hang in the classroom. On costume day, the students used their creativity to design costumes representing characters (bee, tiger, police man, etc), and then performed in front of the class to see if their fellow students could guess their character. On script day, the students learned the basic format of scripts and turned a children’s story into a scene to perform for their classmates.

Considering how quickly my boys and girls are moving through my lesson plans, I hope that we will be able to put together everything we have learned to put on a production for the rest of TYO!

Better pictures of the puppet show

2009-11-04T03:08:00.000-08:00

Our wonderful social media person here at TYO stopped by my classroom on puppet show day to take pictures and they turned out spectacularly! Check them out here.

Check back here soon for posts on mask-making, the moms' dance class, and how my costume class goes.

Ma salaama!

Bieta

What is this? A theater for ANTS? The stage needs to be... at least... THREE TIMES that size!

2009-10-28T08:59:00.001-07:00

This is the completed version of the puppet theater that I made last night/today. I'm pretty darn proud of it. :) Today the kids really enjoyed playing with it, too. First I had them draw little backdrops to put in the windows on either side of the theater. Then in groups of two or three they thought of little stories and performed them in front of the class. Obviously they were all in Arabic so I couldn't understand them, but one story which seemed to have the rest of the class rapt was about someone who puts their baby in the trash and the garbage in the bed. Sounded pretty funny.

I was worried that making the backdrops and performing the skits wouldn't take the whole class, but before I knew it, we only have 15 minutes left and three groups of kids wanted to go again. My girls are such little hams-- a couple of them went up there just to have their puppets sing. The kids seemed to like it though and they had pretty little voices. I wanted to keep their puppets for a little while but I'd told them the last class that they could take them home and they really wanted to so off they went. I've still got a few of some of the kids that didn't turn up today... I think they had exams or something.

If you want to check out a few more pictures of my puppet theater and how it evolved, go to my public Picasa album here.

A little art therapy for myself...

2009-10-26T09:59:00.001-07:00

Since I'd spent the whole class running around putting glue on the kids' puppets and helping them cut things with the sharp scissors (I gave them the kiddie scissors-- I know what I'm doing!), I didn't really get a chance to make any puppets myself and they looked like fun! So after class I spent an hour alone in my messy classroom listening to music and making my own puppets. It was actually pretty hard, but I think the three I made above turned out pretty well.

Between law school applications and TYO, I am very busy here! I've had a little downtime tonight to post on here, but pretty soon I have to go and prepare a dance for tomorrow's women's class, submit my last few applications and hopefully start work on my puppet theater. I really do admire anyone who teaches for a living... it is definitely not a 9-5 job. I only teach kids three hours a week and it is so time-consuming! Bravo, teachers. Bravo!

Puppets!

2009-10-26T09:54:00.001-07:00

Today was the first kids' class that I thought went really well, and it's only my third class so I think that's pretty good! Note to self: crafts are the way to go. Movies... not so much.

In honor of Halloween I showed the old Disney version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I figured that it would be demonstrative enough that its being in English wouldn't matter. And I know that kids in the US love it when you show a movie, so I was banking on it being enjoyable for the first half hour of class (hey an hour and a half is a long time to teach!). The kids liked it for about 15 minutes and then I lost them. They all kept asking 'Hallas? Hallas?' ('Enough? Enough?) while I told them to hush and watch it. I wanted them to get to the part with the Headless Horseman at least, but that isn't until the very very end of the movie. With only about a minute left, I tried to stop it, but apparently one little boy was really into it and wanted to finish!

I was worried that since the kids hadn't really liked the film, they wouldn't get the idea of making the characters into puppets, and I'd spent hours the night before cutting out identical gingerbread man shaped pieces of cardboard. But the students latched on immediately and spent the last hour of class seriously engaged in creating little versions of Katrina Van Something (I forget), which explains all of the pink skirts in the photo. If you look closely you'll see a couple of Headless Horsemen and even an Ichabod Crane (the Ichabod Crane is the one with the pointy nose.

Now I have to make a little puppet theater by the next class so that we can perform The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. They all seem pretty excited by the prospect of playing with the puppets and taking them home. They cheered!

Boy did that make me feel like a good teacher :)

Dating in the Muslim world

2009-10-25T06:49:00.001-07:00

This yogurt has an expiration date on it.

06/11

What does that mean? Does it mean June 11th or June 2011? 4 months old or almost two years young?

But wait... months and days are backwards here.

So is it November of 2006? or November 6th? Three years old or two weeks young?

Moral of the story: I ate it. We'll approximate how old it is by how long it takes me to die from it.

Check it out I'm famous!

2009-10-25T06:22:00.000-07:00

http://tomorrowsyouth.wordpress.com/2009/10/25/introductions-new-interns/

View from our balcony

2009-10-25T06:18:00.001-07:00

Week One of Classes

2009-10-25T05:22:00.000-07:00

I’ve just finished up my first week of classes at TYO and I have to say that they have been much more challenging that I anticipated! However, I think I’m getting the hang of things as the second class for both my moms’ dance class and my children’s theater class ran much more smoothly than the first. The cardinal rule about traveling and teaching is to adapt, adapt, adapt! I can already see my students getting accustomed to my teaching methods as I rework them to better suit my students.

Sundays and Tuesdays I will be teaching 45-minute dance classes to help the mothers and young women in the area have a chance to get a little exercise. The ladies were a bit skeptical as to the health merits of dance, but I’m on a mission to disabuse them of this notion and I think that it is working! My goal is to have them all be very tired and very sore at the end of each class, as well as having had a great time. As the women start to really get into the aerobic portion of the workout, I hope to have time to explore different dance techniques with them—ballet, jazz, Latin, hip hop and swing are all in my planned itinerary! I really want them to see that working out doesn’t have to be boring and that you don’t have to run laps to get a great cardio routine in. Over the coming weeks I will hopefully have a chance to stress healthy eating and exercising habits so that they all really feel good about their bodies and love to exercise!

Mondays and Wednesdays you can find me teaching theater to my 9-12 year olds. We have some very strong personalities in our class and I can’t wait to channel all of that energy and confidence into performance! In my introductory week I tried to show the kids some theater games, which are great for building group dynamics and teamwork.
Some games worked better than others and by Class Two I was much more prepared for my students. Even simply adding chairs for each student to the classroom (theater classes generally use too much body movement to necessitate chairs) provided the structure that was missing in my first class and made for a better environment for the students. And environment is absolutely key, which is why I am hoping to transform my classroom into TYO’s very first black box theater! Black box theaters are simple performance areas that can be used for a variety of shows and rely on the creativity of the performers and directors (rather than fancy set and lighting) to put on a show—so they are perfect for schools, small venues, and TYO!

Disclaimer

2009-10-10T17:23:00.000-07:00

Folks, don't take me too seriously on the whole moon thing. It kind of felt like someone punched my teddy bear, you know? I'm not going to go all Save the Moon and Pluto is a Planet on everybody.

Tonight we saw a movie about two Palestinians who move to the US. It was called "Amreeka". I liked it a lot and encourage all of you to see it, but I did feel like the the portrayal of Americans was a little one-dimensional. Kind of an interesting perspective to have your own culture get caricatured. Also, I couldn't buy Alia Shawkat as an Arab, but apparently she's half Iraqi so I actually blame that on the fact that I've seen Arrested Development in its entirety three times.

Tomorrow we begin orientation. Should be a whirlwind day. I'm looking forward to it.

I'm looking forward to people coming to visit me. Please come visit me!

We Bombed the Moon Today

2009-10-10T12:13:00.000-07:00

At first I thought it was a joke, it seemed so implausible. When I found out it was real, I had a reaction that I thought everyone would share, but seems now that no one did: I was very, very hurt. To me the act seemed so full of aggression toward an object that, as best I can say it, just did not deserve it. The moon has inspired poetry, religions and children’s stories. It pulls the tides, lights the night and has guided ships. We see faces in it, we believe it’s made of cheese. Now, without warning or consensus or even clear purpose, we hurtle shuttles at it. And it doesn’t even belong to us. By “us” I mean Americans—I feel that there should have been some global forum of some sort before we could take a move like that. But, really, it doesn’t belong to the Earth or any of its inhabitants either. Then again, part of the reason why I feel so hurt by this is probably because I do feel like a part of me owns it—I doubt I would have been moved at all had the same news come out about Mars or Jupiter. I really don’t know what it is.

I thought about a lot of this at 4 in the morning, Nablusi time when I laid on my back on the patio, jet lag keeping me wide awake (even now as I write this at 435am). Today is my second day in Nablus. I arrived yesterday around 130pm in Tel Aviv. So far 4am has been my favorite time of the day, because that is when they make the predawn call to prayer. Nablus is a beautiful city at night, all lights undulating on rocky hills. I cannot tell if it is these hills that causes that eerie echo when the prayer is sung, or if it is the effect of different loudspeakers set up throughout the city, each one a bit delayed. Apart from the call and the roosters and a few lone cars, Nablus is very quiet at night.

Luckily the apartment at TYO’s building has an enormous patio with spectacular views of the city. Our living room has floor to ceiling glass looking out on that view. We six girls on the sixth floor have lovely accommodations, each with our own room and bathroom. The kitchen is well stocked, complete with refrigerator and oven. I have yet to explore the rest of this large building, but what I have seen so far is gorgeous.

Nablus itself is an interesting city. What struck me the most as we drove through the West Bank was the absence of women. While the gamut of males, from young boys to old men, wander the streets late into the night, I could only find a few women walking about, and always walking purposefully as if from point A to point B. When three of us headed down to a juice bar tonight we, being obvious foreigners,invited a few “hello how are you’s”, but otherwise were undisturbed. (Understand that if we were Palestinian or Arab, speaking to us would have been totally inappropriate.)

I’m dying to ride a bike around here to get to know the city, but bike riding may be off-limits to me unfortunately. One other staff member has been looking for a walking partner and I will be happy to join her. There are these long, brutal-looking staircases climbing up the sides of the mountains that I want to conquer. If you know me at all, you know the thrill I get from climbing atop things and usually swinging my legs over the ledge.

Tomorrow we will go to Ramallah and tomorrow night we will see a film. Sunday Nachel (the other new intern) and I begin our “power orientation” which I am very much looking forward to. Sunday also I’ll begin moving into the bigger room with its own bathroom; I hope to pick up some items soon to decorate with, seeing as this will be my home for awhile. I have my worries about such a long stay, but at 4am I absolutely love it here.

Check out this video on TYO

2009-08-14T12:45:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

Check out the video above about TYO. I think it does a great job of illustrating TYO's mission and how it uses the platform of the recreational and educational programming with children to reach out to the broader community.

For myself, I am just trying to get everything together to go. Still working on securing some health insurance to cover me while I'm there and to make sure I have everything I will need while I am there. Also working on making sure I see everyone before I go!

I have received an outpouring of support from everyone for which I am so grateful! Thank you guys for all of your kind words and especially for your donations.

Cheers,
B

Want to come with?

2009-07-30T11:51:00.000-07:00

Today as I was perusing TYO’s blog I noticed this.

It looks like TYO has begun recruiting for my companion interns for the fall! Do you have what it takes? Do you have it in you? Just do it? (Are any of these slogans copyrighted?) I would seriously advise that you apply simply for the reason that you think you will miss me just too darn much.

The application is due in a couple of weeks (August 12) which makes me wonder whether they will receive a lot of submissions in that time, especially for such a big commitment to, you know, move to Palestine for a few months. But from what I’ve heard, their Summer internship was a success so hopefully the Fall internship will be too. Anyways, I’ll be there! And how!

In a bit of news that’s much more exciting and much more pertinent to myself (humble creator of this blog) I gleaned from the application that they have set the arrival dates!!! (Hyper-punctuation absolutely necessary.)

So… to all of you who have been wondering when the heck I am actually leaving my answer is this…

Drumroll…

September 27-30!

All right so giving a range of dates rather than a specific date detracts significantly from the impact of this announcement, but I no longer have to fumble with some answer like “mid-to-late September?”

So now I have two more months in this country to do a few things:

1. Find health insurance

2. Get ready

3. Apply to law school

4. NOT PANIC

#4 is kind of key.

It is possible for me to still take the LSAT at the end of September in the US and then immediately run off to Nablus, but I doubt that would make for good mental stability. I’m pretty much set on taking it in Tel Aviv in December.

Before I go, a quick thank you to all who have donated thus far. You are amazing. I received some donations from some unexpected places that I was very touched by. You will all receive individualized thank you’s shortly and postcards from Nablus.

The Three Goals

2009-07-24T21:15:00.000-07:00

1. Take the LSAT.
2. Run a marathon.
3. Find a job abroad.

I had one year in DC and I had to use it wisely. So I came up with the three goals you see above.

In May I completed my one and only marathon. In June I took the LSAT. And in September I will move to Nablus, a city in the West Bank of Palestine. (For this to work, we will have to use the term ‘job’ somewhat loosely. If you define a job in terms of something you are paid for, then I failed at #3. If you define it as something to keep you occupied then I succeeded. And in the off chance you define it as something you love and that makes you excited to wake up every morning, then, well, I pretty much won.)

For the next year I will be an unpaid intern with Tomorrow’s Youth Organization, an apolitical, nonreligious nonprofit that provides academic and recreational programming to youth in Nablus. While it seems that everything related to that area these days is imbued with a strong political message or bias, TYO seeks to do one pure thing very simply—restore a bit of childhood to those who largely must miss out on one.

As an intern at a fledgling organization, I will be able to design and conduct my own programming with the youth and I will do so around two areas that were key aspects of my own childhood—dance and theater.

Over this past year I have managed to save the majority of the money I believe I will need on this journey. Now, with just a few weeks before I leave the country, I am looking to raise my last $2000. I am of course well aware of the global financial situation at this time, and that everybody is doing their best to be wise with their budget, but I assure you that a donation of just ten or twenty dollars would be an immense help to me.

Whether or not you decide to donate, I hope that you will keep up with me during my journey. I have no illusions about this; I know that this will probably be one of the most trying (and most rewarding) experiences I will ever undertake, and your spiritual support even from far away will be most appreciated. I hope that you will take the time to check in on my blog www.bietainpalestine.blogspot.com from time to time, where I will be posting updates, pictures and videos to chronicle my experience. And please also take a peek at TYO’s website (www.tomorrowsyouth.org) and blog (http://tomorrowsyouth.wordpress.com).

Thank you,
Bieta