Ok, for real now

James and the Giant Mosque

I thought I had just run into the wonderland of Roald Dahl, with James and the Giant Peach. You'd think Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker were going to pop out of somewhere with the look of this structure.

PEACHY KEEN!

TRIPLE TOMATO!

One of my coworkers was out in the field visiting farmers and brought this freakazoid back to show us! It is a triple tomato fused in one! It was the actual size of there tomatoes beautifully fused like siamese triplets. The joke in the office was that Gaza has invented the new hybrid between a tomato and a red pepper.

Fresh Almonds

These little guys are popping up in every corner market. FRESH ALMONDS! It is popular to dip them in salt and pop them into your mouth. They are rather crunchy, with a peachy fuzz on the outside. They taste a little "planty" with a hint of almond flavor.

Beautiful Tiles

Instructions: How to get away with not sharing

If you would like a really good excuse to not share your delicious cookies, do the following.

1. Move to a predominantly Muslim Location
2. Buy these cookies made with wine.
3. Take them to your office
4. Result: No one will touch your cookies.

Fattat Hummus

I popped down to the kitchen in my office and this large array was on the table. My first thought was...holy S*** that's a lot of hummus!

This my friends is Fattat Hummus, which is hummus with little pieces of pita bread already cut up and mixed in side. How do you eat it? You just scope about 5 spoonfuls onto your plate and eat it!

Very bizarre, psychologically I'd rather scoop hummus onto dry bread and eat it rather than having the 2-in-1 deal.

Your Falafel or Mine?

In my first blog entry entitled "Your Hummus or Mine?" I reflected the claim to fame of the world famous middle eastern food. It's "Jewish! Israel makes the best Hummus" I heard on the plane, thinking about how I wasn't so sure about that little fact.

A few weeks ago I was outside of Gaza, up in the city of Akko which is one the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the area. It has been in the hands of the Romans, then the Arabs, then the Crusaders, then back to the Arabs (we're talking year 1191 here). The UN 1947 Partition Plan included Akko as part of the Palestinian state, but during the war of 1948 Akko was besieged by Israeli Forces. 13,000 residents became refugees and fled as a result. Sigh.

Strolling through Akko, I found this post card and it speaks for itself.

I'm Sad

There are many sad times in Gaza.

Today I was in the kitchen and popped down to get a cup of coffee, ended up talking with my sweet co-worker H. H and I started talking about my Arabic classes and I was practicing the basics of "your office, my office, our office".... she giggled, and told me about how she once had the opportunity to study in Virginia.

She had won a scholarship, but they soon informed her that they were sorry, and they would choose someone from the West Bank because it was impossible to get her out of Gaza. H also had the opportunity of studying in Belgium, again, she won a scholarship, and soon enough encountered a denied exit from Gaza.

I couldn't help but burst into tears in the middle of the kitchen thinking about the pain and sadness and the block to opportunity and knowledge. She even said it matter-of-factly, and had clearly dealt with the pain and sadness of it when it first happened. After receiving notice, H cried for two days, moving on to the resilience that many Gazans have built up over time.

This is not the first impediment to education that I have heard of. Knowledge is power, and education is a right.

It's a sad day.