Category: Uncategorized

Day #1: continued…

On By rachelwortmannIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Nothing hits you harder than seeing the type of poverty you’ve read about, seen films of and researched. The salty desert sand touched my lips and stuck on the busride back to the hotel.

After our talk with Eid we were given time to walk about the camp and school yard. I wandered off on my own a little bit with both cameras (digital and film) around my neck and my backpack hanging behind me. I took an entire roll of film about the camp: from the broken playground equipment to the shack-homes themselves. After a few minutes I noticed I had a small posse growing behind me. Little girls from about 3-7 years old dressed in mis-matched outfits covered in desert dust and smiles kept pointing to my backpack with clever grins. I hadn’t realized we would be visiting the camp: otherwise I would’ve brought something like stickers or notebooks to give but all i had was my cameras, hand lotion, water bottle and hand sanitizer. The girls started grabbing at my backpack so I turned and kneeled in the land to be at eye level.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem…

On By Thinh in the Middle EastIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Jerusalem, March 3, 2013

I’ve spent the past 30-ish hours in the breezy Middle Eastern air, and I still have a hard time believing I’m here. I love the weather, the food (every meal is served with warm, fluffy pitas with creamy hummus – which is actually pronounced with a defined “kh” sound from the back of your throat instead of a “h” – and ten different other types of dips), and the people who return my clumsy “Assalam alaykum” with a friendly smile, but I very soon realize that there is so much more to this land than the beautiful things I love. Continue reading “Jerusalem, Jerusalem…” →

Day #1: Jerusalem and Bedouin Camp

On By rachelwortmannIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

 

Today began with breakfast from 7:15-8:00 AM. The meal was held right downstairs off the hotel lobby into the restaurant area. When we first arrived last night we were brought fresh fruit baskets to our rooms and were offered orange juice upon entrance. This morning there was a modest buffet of traditional Israeli breakfast foods including soft cheeses, humus, pita (which seems to be part of EVERY meal) egg omelets, and most importantly a coffee machine. I enjoyed cucumbers and carrots as well.
After breakfast an older gentlemen in a striped button-down shirt, blazer, and corduroy pants greeted us in the lobby, ready to take us on a walking tour of the Old City. Our tour guide, Mohammad, started down the street, as we hurried along to keep up. The entire morning was spent walking in and out of streets within the Old City. One of the highlights of the morning was visiting the Western (Wailing) Wall. Continue reading “Day #1: Jerusalem and Bedouin Camp” →

Day 1 in Israel

On By jundazhu2013In Uncategorized1 Comment

“We are not bad”

Mar 2nd 11:26pm

Location: Azzahra Hotel, East Jerusalem

Our flight took off at 9:30pm on Mar. 1 from Philadelphia Airport. 10 hours later, we landed in Tel Aviv. When the plane was in the air but low enough to see the landscape, I saw that the majority of land is covered by green, not like how I had pictured Israel before.

Before boarding, we were informed about the questions we might get at the Israeli immigration gate and how we should answer them. But luckily, everyone passed immigration smoothly.

We met our driver and headed to our first location, Ramot’s house. Our trip leader, Teacher Melissa, has had a personal connection with the family since graduate school. We were welcomed by a supper that included bread, turkey and various delicious hummus and cheese. At dinner, we also met their children and a friend who is an American-Israeli. Continue reading “Day 1 in Israel” →

Peregrinos

On By lynettea1In Uncategorized1 Comment

I am Lynette and together with Teacher Jorge we are chaperones on the Senior Project/Spain Exchange program.  Our grand adventure consists of two parts: walking the Camino de Santiago and studying the language, culture, art and architecture of Spain in Barcelona.

CaminoMapOSBWe will begin our trip with the Camino de Santiago, the Way of St. James. This pilgrimage has been made by the faithful for about a thousand years, and follows the path of legend that St. James the Apostle’s remains made. St. James’ final resting place was Santiago (which means ‘St. James’) around which the cathedral and city was built. In the middle ages the Camino was a strictly religious rite, but in the 20th century people began to come from all over the world to walk the Camino for reasons as varied as the individuals who undertook it. An estimated 200,000 pilgrims (peregrinos in Spanish) don their backpacks and make the trek to Santiago de Compostela each year. The Camino was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987. Continue reading “Peregrinos” →

T-Minus 20 Hours

On By sophieberlinIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

It’s crazy to think that I am less than 24 hours away from something I have been looking forward to since middle school. Senior Projects are one of the things so inherently Westtown, that I feel on par with the night before my first middle school canoe trip, or the day I moved in on Girls 3rd.

However, no matter how many years I have been waiting for this day, I can confidently say that my Senior Project ended up being completely different from anything I had imagined as a 12-year-old. When my proposal came back passed by the committee, and it became clear that I was indeed going to Berlin, spending a week at the American Embassy, the first thing that popped into my head was, “But what am I going to wear??”.  Continue reading “T-Minus 20 Hours” →

Marhaba!

On By Thinh in the Middle EastIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Westtown, February 28th, 2013

I am sitting in my empty, spotless dorm room as I type this – I will leave Westtown in about half an hour, and my flight to Israel/Palestine departs in a little bit more than 24 hours. The countdown gadget on my computer has finally reached zero, and I could not be happier about it. Senior Project is so close, I can almost feel it in the air!

“Marhaba” means “welcome” in Arabic, a phrase that I have heard so many times when I was in Abu Dhabi last December on a college visit trip. I love Arabic hospitality – they are so warm, welcoming, and always happy to give interested people a slice of their world. That is partly why I am very much looking forward to being in Israel/Palestine this time. But all that aside, welcome to my thrilling journey as I find my way to one of the oldest, holiest, and most complicated lands in the world. Continue reading “Marhaba!” →

TourBot

On By AlexHrnIn Uncategorized2 Comments

My name is Alex Horne and for my Senior Project I, along with with my classmate Ben, am building a tour guide robot for Westtown School’s Admissions office. We are both heavily involved in Westtown’s Robotics Team, which Ben is a co-captain of. I’ve been building combat robots (made famous by the former TV show BattleBots) for the past three years. So between the two of us I’d say we’ve got at least a little experience with robots. Continue reading “TourBot” →