Tuesday

I forgot to mention the cabbie from yesterday. The cabbie who drove me to see Ari was very interested when I told him I was studying the Middle East. When I asked him his thoughts about the situation he said, "They're [the Palestinians] retarded and us, we're even more retarded." His words not mine. "The problem is, they want more land. Gaza is like a closed pot. They're just fighting us for some land. But the thing is, if we give them more land, they will want even more. It's like if they ask for part of your finger; you give them the tip and they want the whole thing. We need to give them more land without them asking for even more. But that can't happen so we're all screwed." Taxi drivers can be pretty insightful.

Today I pretty much finished my Historiography final. I should go over it again and add some more to the last question, but it's pretty much done. So that feels good.

After I finished that, I went over to the Ayalim urban village to help out with a Tu BiShvat program they were doing for some local kids. We planted some flowers and tea and some kids put on a play of "The Giving Tree." An interesting part of the scenery that probably isn't part of most neighborhood hangouts was the Beit Midrash in a Bomb-Shelter. But of course that didn't phase any of the kids, they climbed on top of it and played soccer right next to it, as though that is something that is supposed to be normal.

This posting was my break from work. Time to get back to it!