Day 15 and Beyond

Dear Friends,

Allan and Nancy said goodbye to Alvin, Bill and Will in Paris airport on Monday night to meet up with their daughter Karen for a week in France together. Late the next night, Alvin, Bill and Will arrived safely at SFO tired and still considering how we can best tell the fullness of what we experienced. Max went on to Spain (and caught some great waves!) and made it back on the 5th. Zelda remains to volunteer in various schools for the next few days. Do email Will at willymac4@comcast if you would like to schedule a presentation sometime after Thanksgiving.

Day 14 - More pictures while we wait for the taxi

The Olive Press Co-operative in the Bethlehem area. Farmers bring their olives in here in a big bag, and walk away with large plastic jugs of pure olive oil. Then the next farmer comes in to have his family's olives pressed. We saw one man standing on the street selling his oil as soon as he was finished. Tasty stuff!

Day 13 - Worship in Jerusalem and Saying Goodbye

Today we took a trip into Jerusalem to worship at St. George's Cathedral, the seat of the Arab Anglican Bishop of the region, Bishop Suheil. A bishop from England, Bishop John Parker gave the sermon and we participated in holy communion. The organ there was quite something to here, and it was good to be among other pilgrims from around the world worshiping together.

We had lunch in the old city, at a rooftop cafe overlooking the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Dome of the Rock. We then went to the Wailing Wall one last time, before making our way back to the bus. Boy was the bus crowded, with standing room only. You can't beat six shekels for a trip back to Bethlehem, having been taken advantage of by the taxi driver on the way in, but it was quite crowded for the locals who take this route everyday to their jobs in East Jerusalem.

Tonight we had an evaluation of the trip and a musical concert and celebration of our time together with the other internationals. The Al Arabia reporter that followed our groups showed the clips that she send in to Dubai about the olive harvest. A couple of them included interviews with us, including one clip about this blog, but the audio tracks weren't playing correctly so we couldn't hear part of it. Hearing Arabic for part of the clip, then nothing at all, made it all pretty funny to watch. We hope to get an English version of the clips sometime soon, but if you have satellite, look for us on Al Arabia. Some people left early in the morning, but our flight doesn't leave until Monday afternoon. See you all soon.

Day 12 - A Peaceful Day Near Nahalin

Today, we went to a farm nestled between two hilltop outposts, makeshift settlements of trailers and small buildings placed on Palestinian land, where extreme Israeli settlers hope to further their expansion of other major settlements in the area around the small Palestinian villages of Jaba' and Nahalin. Once these settlers move in, however, the Israeli government runs roads, water, and power to these outposts, and then helps protect them with the military. Once these "facts on the ground" change, it is easier for politicians to include such areas within the Separation Wall that will run through this area. The farmer told us that the wall is planned to go around his village, separating him from two of his three fields, and the wall will go right through Jaba' separating neighbor from neighbor.

Despite this reality, this Muslim family goes about their work, harvesting their 200 olive trees and working to protect what is left of their land. Today's picking was more joyous and celebratory, as we have heard of past harvests, without the interruption of either soldiers or settlers. Since this was a Saturday, the whole family came out to pick olives, and kids were quite hilarious. Will's stomach was upset most of the day, and the father made an herbal tea for him. Here are some of the pictures that the children took of us today.

This afternoon we went to see the Olive Press co-op, a series of machines that clean, press, de-pit, and then compress the oil out of the mash. Quite a process.