Check out this link

Before I write anything else, I want to share a link that just distracted me for at least an hour and a half... for those of you who don't know about her, Anna Baltzer is a Jewish American woman striving towards peace in the Middle East by working with the International Women's Peace Service and documenting human rights abuses in the Palestinian Territories. I have read her book, Witness in Palestine, and been on her website (www.annainthemiddleeast.com), but I didn't know (until my facebook newsfeed informed me) that she also has a blog- and it looks just like mine! Hers was established way before mine and I had no idea about it until just now. I highly recommend it; if you like my fun cultural anecdotes but want to read about some very serious, heart-wrenching but immeasurably important experiences, look into her blog. It is absolutely fascinating.

www.annainpalestine.blogspot.com

I did some fun stuff the last few days; I visited the Church of the Nativity with a few really nice girls I am friends with now (Jiries' relatives), we walked around the church and also went to the Milk Grotto, which is where Mary supposedly stopped to feed Jesus during the flight to Egypt. Jiries says its a tourist trap set up by the Franciscan Church though. After I went to their house with them (they are the daughters of Jiries' sister Hanan's daughter Lana) and we hung out, ate a huge lunch, and played card games. Lana has 5 kids and the two older girls I was with during the day were Natalie and Marian as well as Hanan's other daughter Nawal's daughter Lumha (spelled right?). We had a great time. I would have taken more pictures but my camera died.






A few nights ago Jiries and I met with the Sa'adeh family- they are speaking at the Tree of Life Conference in November. Najwa and George, the parents, came over with their daughter Marian. Long story very short: a few years ago while they were driving through a checkpoint the Israelis opened fire at their car, killing their youngest daughter and wounding all of them. The Israelis never apologized and since then, instead of seeking revenge the family has sought means to achieve peace. Marian, their 23 year old daughter, is VERY active and interesting. Jane, Jiries' niece who is also participating in the conference, came by too. We all talked, took pictures, and compiled short biographies for conference advertising material. Everyone was REALLY interesting! It is going to be a fantastic conference. Sometime in September I will post an entry that is all about the conference and its participants.

Other than that, I have been working at the Palestine Wildlife Society each morning for the past few days. Jiries and I have gone shopping and to the beach, in Ashkelon, Israel. Today we stayed there until the sunset- it was really beautiful. Every day has been really fun and exhausting, but I love it.