What Happens at Night

For a city with no night life, Nablus might actually be the loudest city I’ve ever lived in.  The call to prayer from each mosque is timed slightly differently, so they continue for at least a half an hour five times a day.  People stay up late talking and wake up early bustling.  Taxi drivers seem to honk and beep just for the sake of it, and I am considering a hunting license after being woken up to the same bird call every morning (not to mention the roosters).  Children do not seem to go to sleep here, as we can here them playing and screaming and crying even now, at 11pm.  The sounds of a raucous party are drifting up from a house down the hill, and in a few hours the Israeli Defense Force jeeps will come rumbling through the city to make arrests.  Despite all this, last night marks the first that I slept through the whole night, so I guess I’m adjusting.  People here have to adjust to a lot.  

I spent most of today with the local volunteer who helps me translate during classes, Ola.  It’s really fun to meet someone my age and hear her perspective on Palestinian society.  We went to a local park to get tea, which was interesting.  The park was filled with teenaged boys who have nothing to do, and since I stick out as it is, I felt like I was in a fishbowl.  I don’t know what they’re saying, but Ola keeps saying she’s glad I don’t know Arabic…so I feel really self-conscious.  I realize that their attention to me is a product of the occupation - many people here haven’t even been outside the city throughout their whole lives because of restrictions on freedom of movement, and therefore aren’t exposed to anyone different than themselves - but it’s still not a nice feeling to walk everywhere staring down at your shoes and trying to act invisible. 

In the evening we had a meeting for Project Hope volunteers followed by a big dinner.  Everyone here is so accomplished and interesting, so it was nice to talk to people without having to rush off to classes.  Tomorrow evening we’ll all leave for Ramallah to meet with the other FFIPP interns and hopefully go to a beach in Israel.   Counting the minutes!