learning where "we" come from

Before I came to Israel I received an e-mail with a flyer inside.

It read:

The Shabbaton, for post-college programs only, will provide an examination of the security reality in Israel from various perspectives, through lectures of senior speakers and academics, interactive group workshops and fascinating tours. On the Shabbaton program you will find: A tour of the security fence around Jerusalem • A background lecture about the Israeli-Arab conflict • A lecture about the Iranian threat • A lecture about Israel and the Hamas • Group workshops dealing with dilemmas and issues in Israeli security • Group workshops dealing with questions of Zionism in the face of the security • situation in Israel and the personal perspectives of participants And more…

Sounds great right? Oranim was paying for us, and we'd be given food and a place to stay. Why not?

I wish I could say I got a lot out of this weekend, but this is the weekend my plague started. So instead of spending the weekend learning, I spent most of it in a daze, on probably one too many Dayquils.

But since I know most of you, yes including you father, are curious about what is really go on around here, I borrowed Jackies notes and with what I remember, will ramble on.

We woke up early Friday morning and ran to make the 8 am bus to Jerusalem. Being the beginning of the weekend here in Israel the busses were filled with Soldiers going home to their families, so it was a tight fit.

Jackie, Erica, Lindsay and I did the Israeli thing and pushed ourselves onto the bus. We could not afford to miss this bus, wait an hour, and arrive in Jerusalem late, we would miss the entire tour.

As we got on we realized Dan was still outside waiting. Lucky us, Dan was the last to get on. After we realized there wouldn't be any stops letting people off till Jerusalem, we sat down to "enjoy" the ride.

An hour and a half later we were on a tour bus. We had two options on which tour to take, and we choose B'Tselem, a civil rights group for West Bank and Gaza.

It was interesting to hear the side of the story from Arabs. Unfortunately, this is when the Dayquil kicked in, and I spent the remaining of the tour asleep on the bus.

We toured the fence, Rachels Tomb, and had lunch on a view of it all. I wish I remembered more, but all I remember is the story of how they leave their land.

It takes up to 8 hours to leave the West Bank, and cars are not allowed to drive from one side to the other. Our tour guide told us of a story of a son and his sick mother who needed to get to a hospital.

He carried her the 8 hour walk along the fence, only for her to die along the way. Ambulances are not allowed to go through out the areas, even though the fence is not completely finished.

Sadly that is about all I got out of the convention, and the best thing about the weekend for me was I got a chance to stay at the new Young Judaea Hostel.

A couple weeks later Oranim send a guide down to Ramla where we all got a tour of the city. There is actually a lot of history here.

Ramla means sand in Arabic, and it is one of the only cities in Israel built completely by Muslims.

There is actually a book, called the Lemon Tree, written about a family in Ramla! And though the city doesn't have much to offer, like a mall, bar, or movie theatre, it does have monuments and underwater wells!

Take a look at Ramlas Wiki Page if you really want to learn more! I've been living here since October and still find new things about Ramla to ramble about!