Training With Those Who Have Come Before

It has been a whirlwind few days here as our team spends days training with the team that has preceded us. The placement house is typical for the area, with three bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs and a large common room with a cooking nook off to the side. Built to fend off the harsh summer heat, houses are built to stay cool, and the large stone tiles running throughout it are like ice on my feet.

The team members who came before us have been patiently trying to explain many things, like where to get the best vegetables and how to turn on the water heater, which can't run at the same time as the space heaters. I'm finding out that my new team mates are kind and generous and funny people, and I think we'll continue enjoying one another's company. They are Lottie from England, Linnea from Sweden and Jarmo from Norway.

The four of us have split up so that those who came before can show us as many of the opportunities for connection in the area as possible. Lottie and I have been to many places together, including the Quilandiya checkpoint (from Ramallah into Greater Jerusalem), Silwan (a Palestinian community), a morning walk around the Dome of the Rock, a demolition, and two schools at the top of Silwan. 

Last night we took a chance on riding the light rail to the area right outside the Knesset to see a movie at Cinema City, a large and extremely tacky theater in the middle of an upscale shopping mall. We saw Hidden Figures, it was a good movie. I'm glad that I sent, but also regretted not catching up on sleep as I hadn't had any the night before (and I'm certain that I dozed off a little bit).

Interesting moments happened on each of these excursions, which I will cover in separate blog posts.