Uneventful day, mostly planning

Today was uneventful. I spent some time on the phone with the engineer in Beit Anan going over the plans and playground layout because they're supposed to have the ground completely ready by Monday.

I made some calls to plan for a trip to Jenin and to Nablus. Got in touch with some friends, and finally got hold of Esperansa. I've been trying to reach her since I got here. Simply can't come here without seeing her at least for coffee, preferably at her house with her mom and siblings. I tried to get into Ramallah to see her, but when I got to the qalandia checkpoint, it was going to be at least three hours before I could get in. The line was really long and by the time I could get in, it would be dark and we couldn't spend much time together. So, tomorrow I'll be there bright and early, before the checkpoint gets crowded. Plus, she's not working, so I can just go straight to her house.

so, I went back to Jerusalem and decided to visit some of my cousins. I have to make the rounds to certain people every time I come. My cousin Rawya is one of those people. It turns out her sister and mother are here from Amman, visiting after a 33 year absence! So, I got an extra nice visit.

That's about it for today. The playground getting held up has really thrown me off track. I'm sure glad Sonia is coming when I leave.

I'm off to Ramallah tomorrow, and taking Rawya's daughter, Karam, with me. Karam is a sweetheart who works with a local NGO and i'm looking forward to getting to know her better. I plan to meet with a couple of other candidates for the intern position. For the rest of the week, I have planned a visit to Beit Anan to begin digging the post holes, a visit back to Bethlehem to check on the leveling of the ground, a visit to Jenin to check out a potential location for a new playground, a trip to Hebron to check on an existing playground and to see if I can get a couple of friends who helped me build playgrounds in the past to help out with the Beit Anan site; and finally, to visit Nablus, to see friends, visit a young woman who recently came from the States to work with Palestinian kids, and to check on our existing playground there. Then, i'm off to Amman, where I plan to cut my hair much shorter [i cut it shoulder length on the way in] and head back to Yardley through Heathrow. deep breath.