3/4/2011

I am sorry it has been so long since I updated last. Since I last posted we left Bethlehem and moved to Ramallah to stay with families from Ramallah Friends School. I was a little nervous about being immersed in a group of people my age from a completely different part of the world. Yet, I quickly found that there was nothing to be nervous about. As soon as we stepped off the bus we were greeted by some of the students and they all came up and introduced themselves. Since the initial meeting we have started to get to know them better by finding connections, talking about our different cultures, and giving ourselves over to the concept that we are not all that different from each other.

We still, of course, are constantly on the move. Some of the highlights from this week have been visiting different parts of the wall, meeting Jean Zaru (clerk of Ramallah Monthly Meeting), meeting Hanan Ashrawi (legislator), meeting a settler, and visiting Jericho, the Mountain of Temptation, and the Dead Sea. Of course we have done much more, but there is simply too to put in one post.

What I have realized in my time in Ramallah is that I have no answers to this conflict. I am thinking back to the conflict resolution paper for Palestine/Israel that I had to write for one of my classes last year. I realize that if I needed to revise it after going on this trip I would throw the whole thing out and start again. I was blinded to the emotional and practical levels that play apart in this conflict. Of course, after two weeks I cannot fully grasp it still, but I have started to see the picture a little more fully.

Whenever I talk with someone about their opinions on the conflict here I have to remember the perspective I am seeing. I was talking to someone in Ramallah and they said that they hate all Jews. I didn’t really know what to say to that. I believe that is a narrow-minded and harmful thing to say, but at the same time I cannot tell him he is wrong because I understand why he said that. One of the things that I have learned on this trip is that every perspective (and there are many in this region) is both insightful and limiting. This man in Ramallah can see and feel this conflict in away that I will never be able to understand because I have not lived it. Yet, it is keeping him from understanding that not all Jews are bad and further still, not all Israelis Jews are bad. I have, of course, not only seen this from a Palestinian. Perspectives have hurt and helped Israelis we have met, other members of our group, and me. I see now that one person cannot truly understand this conflict. It is too complex and the emotions are too strong. If there is ever going to be a solution, all perspectives must open up and show everyone how they see this conflict, and must also be willing to truly listen and understand what everyone else thinks. Unfortunately this is much, much, much easier said than done. We all have our biases and we will stand behind them as long as we possibly can.

I hope to post at least one more time before flying home, but it probably won’t be until Sunday night.

Until then,

John

This just in via Teacher Deb’s phone! This is Lynn, Emily and David making bricks at the Elephant Park. Note their pachyderm friend in the background! 

  

Hello all,

Today the sun finally decided to come out. I went for a long bike ride before going to Back Alley Bikes to volunteer again. Afterwards I came back to the Trumbullplex to make some dinner. I went for a walk out to what’s called Pheasant Run. It’s an entire large block without buildings. In the last couple of years pheasants have come back to Detroit because of all the vacant land. After I came back a collective member took me to one  local high school for pregnant teens and young women. Next to the school is a farm with chickens, a horse, goats, rabbits, and apple trees. The idea is to teach them about taking care of a living creature. We milked the goats and fed them. I came back and some folks had made extra dinner so I ate a second one. A while back while cleaning I found a movie called Salt of the Earth. It’s an old pro-union movie, the acting isn’t great but it was blacklisted in the States at one time. Tomorrow I’m going to Earth Works again and then to a rally against budget cuts to Wane State then back to Back Alley Bikes.

Peace,

Henry

Where to start? It’s been a full couple of days here.  On Friday, at the SSB, I was introduced to Willy, a big strong guy with a strong Swabisch accent.  “Hasch du noch net schon mal geschweisen?” (Have you welded before?) and then, “mm, egal,” (doesn’t matter)  I was a little worried, but as I started welding flat plates and then moved on to right angles, with Willy’s guidance, I began to feel more confident.  By the end of the day, I was doing reinforced welds with an electric arc welder.  I’m not sure If I’ll ever weld again, but it was certainly an experience learning.  On Friday, we got on the TGV to Paris, an experience that I have looked forward to since childhood.  Unfortunately, it was dark already, but the train back was during the day.

For me, the most interesting part of Paris was its Metro.  The trains were always packed, and the buskers plentiful, and it was interesting to see such a cross-section of Paris life, far from the tourist islands of the Eiffel tower and Notre Dame.  The food in Paris was also amazing, it seems like there is a Bistro on every corner, some more touristy than others.

After spending the weekend in Paris, we returned to Stuttgart, where I learned that I would be reporting early at 8 am to the general repair area, where I helped rebuild on of the air-ride suspension systems on one of the streetcars.  Afterwords, there were some air conditioning  units to be installed.  Today, I was in yet another department, where the wheels and transmissions are assembled.  There wasn’t a ton of work to do, and most of it involved using large cranes to lift heavy objects, so there was a lot of awkward standing around, but it was still cool to see how real things are built.  Tomorrow, I’ll be in the testing and special vehicles area, where they set the newly rebuilt trains up to run in the system, and make sure everything works, as well as maintain service vehicles and non-streetcar trains – Should be interesting!

Jack

I finally got the photo posting to work, so the first to are from the SSB shop (which an enormous drill press) and Paris