Letter from Palestine, 25. Roller coaster week.
18th February 2005
Dear friends!
It is not only the scenery of Palestine which is hilly, the days here are also. It has been a roller coaster week, with many ups and downs. I can try to see the positive, that there have been ups. It is also good that there are downs, if not there would not have been any valleys to climb up from. Here is a description of some of the hilly area of the last week.
Up: The flight last Friday went well. I caught both flights and did not have to stay overnight at the airport (as I had to in Vienna two weeks earlier). The sunrise was beautiful, the plane did not have an accident, the food was good and there were lots of things to be satisfied with.
Down: I only got two weeks visa at the airport in Tel Aviv (the little up in this down was that it went so quickly). The security check in Vienna was not a good experience when I understood how badly it functioned. The guards found something strange in a bag in the X-ray. It was the bag of the person after me. The guards thought though that my bag contained the strange thing, and messed it all up when taking things out and stuffing it back after sending the content through another time. I don’t think that the person after me had anything dangerous in her bag. But I don’t believe in the security, when they don’t even manage to check the right bag for what looks dangerous on their screen.
Up: I met several nice people taking care of me. Friends were ready to meet me. That also new friends, who heard that I had lost my father, dared to be together with me, was good. It is not easy for them to know what to do. But I experienced that they cared and wanted to spend time with me.
Down: Internet did not work. I have experienced it quite a few times here, and so is the case while writing now. When having the need to write to somebody, it is extra hard not to have the chance to send it.
Up: The first Arabic lesson went well after having been absent for two weeks. We learnt the numbers, and because I knew them already, it was easy. The clock was not far from classical Arabic, so my private studies in my “Teach Yourself Arabic” book gave results.
Down: Many tiring thoughts made me feel down. I didn’t do much demanding physical. But all the thinking makes me exhausted. The visa has been in my thoughts almost the whole week. Combined with the mourning it easily pushes me down.
Up: For the next Arabic lesson I tried to attend the intermediate class instead of the beginner, and it went surprisingly well. I managed to follow, understood the most and did not have big difficulties of participating. The language self-esteem was on top and I will continue to follow the intermediate class.
Down: It was never any real work this week. I was in Jalazone, but came to a closed centre, so I had to return without working. The visa has also taken time, though it has not given any results yet.
Up: I felt there were many helpful people around wanting to help me with the visa. The will to help is great, hopefully it will also give results at last.
Down: After having had a taxi around half of Jerusalem, at last I came to the right Ministry of Interior office. I only got an appointment for 8th March (in fact after my visa is expired). Everybody who knows how difficult it is to get a volunteer visa has told that I will probably get nothing from the Ministry of Interior. I totally lost the faith that I will manage this visa problem.
Up: After the Ministry-trip which made me so tired, it was time for an Arabic lesson again, and I was soon up on a hill with the help of our really inspiring teacher. Later that evening there was a Bible study in the church and a difficult text was suddenly meaningful.
At the moment I am not sure where I am. I am not quite down, then I would have felt it. I have a hope that a travel to Jordan will help me to get a new visa. That the hope is there shows that I am up on a hill. Tomorrow my mother and Trond, her live-in, come to visit me. The land will not be flat though. I am ready for more hilly scenery.
Greetings from Hanne.
Dear friends!
It is not only the scenery of Palestine which is hilly, the days here are also. It has been a roller coaster week, with many ups and downs. I can try to see the positive, that there have been ups. It is also good that there are downs, if not there would not have been any valleys to climb up from. Here is a description of some of the hilly area of the last week.
Up: The flight last Friday went well. I caught both flights and did not have to stay overnight at the airport (as I had to in Vienna two weeks earlier). The sunrise was beautiful, the plane did not have an accident, the food was good and there were lots of things to be satisfied with.
Down: I only got two weeks visa at the airport in Tel Aviv (the little up in this down was that it went so quickly). The security check in Vienna was not a good experience when I understood how badly it functioned. The guards found something strange in a bag in the X-ray. It was the bag of the person after me. The guards thought though that my bag contained the strange thing, and messed it all up when taking things out and stuffing it back after sending the content through another time. I don’t think that the person after me had anything dangerous in her bag. But I don’t believe in the security, when they don’t even manage to check the right bag for what looks dangerous on their screen.
Up: I met several nice people taking care of me. Friends were ready to meet me. That also new friends, who heard that I had lost my father, dared to be together with me, was good. It is not easy for them to know what to do. But I experienced that they cared and wanted to spend time with me.
Down: Internet did not work. I have experienced it quite a few times here, and so is the case while writing now. When having the need to write to somebody, it is extra hard not to have the chance to send it.
Up: The first Arabic lesson went well after having been absent for two weeks. We learnt the numbers, and because I knew them already, it was easy. The clock was not far from classical Arabic, so my private studies in my “Teach Yourself Arabic” book gave results.
Down: Many tiring thoughts made me feel down. I didn’t do much demanding physical. But all the thinking makes me exhausted. The visa has been in my thoughts almost the whole week. Combined with the mourning it easily pushes me down.
Up: For the next Arabic lesson I tried to attend the intermediate class instead of the beginner, and it went surprisingly well. I managed to follow, understood the most and did not have big difficulties of participating. The language self-esteem was on top and I will continue to follow the intermediate class.
Down: It was never any real work this week. I was in Jalazone, but came to a closed centre, so I had to return without working. The visa has also taken time, though it has not given any results yet.
Up: I felt there were many helpful people around wanting to help me with the visa. The will to help is great, hopefully it will also give results at last.
Down: After having had a taxi around half of Jerusalem, at last I came to the right Ministry of Interior office. I only got an appointment for 8th March (in fact after my visa is expired). Everybody who knows how difficult it is to get a volunteer visa has told that I will probably get nothing from the Ministry of Interior. I totally lost the faith that I will manage this visa problem.
Up: After the Ministry-trip which made me so tired, it was time for an Arabic lesson again, and I was soon up on a hill with the help of our really inspiring teacher. Later that evening there was a Bible study in the church and a difficult text was suddenly meaningful.
At the moment I am not sure where I am. I am not quite down, then I would have felt it. I have a hope that a travel to Jordan will help me to get a new visa. That the hope is there shows that I am up on a hill. Tomorrow my mother and Trond, her live-in, come to visit me. The land will not be flat though. I am ready for more hilly scenery.
Greetings from Hanne.
posted by Hanne at 6:18 AM
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