An Update

Alvin says I need to do an update. However, I have not one, not two, but five papers to write in the next week - plus over 2,000 pictures to organize and upload. And when the update comes (and it will) it will cover perhaps the most interesting month of my life. So a full update might be a while in coming.

For now, let me share my status and a story. Status: This is my second day back in Agouza. I have about twelve days here before I head back to the states, and there's still a bunch of stuff I want to do. Yesterday, we had a great Thanksgiving celebration. Our amazing cook Kareema made three turkeys for us, and each MESP flat (there are four) brought a side dish and a desert. Most of the guys, including myself, wore our galabayas. Afterwards, we went to the roof of the villa and sang Christmas carols and did Dordt Comedy League-inspired improv (courtesy of Ashley Kaspar) for hours. I have heard multiple people in our group say over the last couple of days, "We've become socialized." That's a pretty cold way of saying, we're family now. We can do anything, say anything in front of each other and not be embarrassed or uncomfortable. There's love here, man. Love.

Story: The Old City in Jerusalem is filled with souvenir shops. About 10% of those shops (guesstimate) are devoted to T-shirts. In every country we visit, there's a souvenir craze that hits the whole group. In Syria it was 25 cent pirated movies. In Turkey, it was Turkish flags and paraphenilia. In Jerusalem it was T-shirts. I bought two. One has the Coca-Cola logo in Arabic, and the other says "Free Palestine" in English and Arabic, with a big ol' Palestinian flag in the middle. I like the shirt, but I felt uncomfortable wearing it around Jerusalem, for obvious reasons. So I figured, "Hey, I'll wear it on the day we leave. Long day, nothing to do but sit on the bus and read, no mingling with AK-47 wielding Israeli civilians. It'll be fine."

Somehow, after four border crossings in as many weeks, I forgot that at a BORDER CROSSING (like the one between Israel and Egypt) you have to get OFF THE BUS, grab all your luggage, walk through a half-mile of security, and get on to another bus.

I knew it was a bad sign when the woman working the passport line took my passport away and walked over to her superiors. Then one of her superiors came back. This is how our conversation went:

Israeli Dude: Hello, Joel?
Joel: Yes?
ID: My name is Yonatan. I have just a few questions for you for security purposes.
Joel: OK.
ID: Where are you going?
Joel: Cairo.
ID: How long will you be there?
Joel: About two weeks.
ID: How many people are you traveling with?
Joel: 36.
ID: What is your job?
Joel: I'm a student. I don't have a job.
ID: What are you studying?
Joel: Political science and communications.
ID: What is that?
Joel: What am I studying?
ID: Yes, explain it to me.
Joel: Uh...political science is about how governments work. Communications is about how people interact with each other, and media...and stuff.
ID: OK. One moment please.
Britta and Brian, in the line behind me: Joel, why didn't you tell them about your plans to join a Palestinian extremist group?
Joel: Guys, can you not joke about that right now???
ID (returning): What were you doing in Syria?
Joel: Uh, just touring. We stayed in Damascus' Old City and saw the Krak de Chevaliers.
ID: How long were you in Syria?
Joel: Uh...I forget exactly. Five days?
ID: When?
Joel: Umm...I've been in Jerusalem for two weeks, and Jordan for a day before that, so whenever that was...
ID: Where did you get that shirt?
Joel: This shirt?
ID: Yes.
Joel: In the Old City in Jerusalem.
ID: Why did you choose to wear this shirt today?
Joel: [Because I'm a moron.] Because I believe in a free Palestine and a free Israel living together in peace. ...I hope this isn't offensive to you.
ID: Oh, no, no, no, no. [Yes, very.] How long were you in Jerusalem?
Joel: Two weeks.
ID: Why did you choose to stay in East Jerusalem? [!]
What Joel Should Have Said: East Jerusalem? I think you mean Jerusalem, the eternal, undivided capital of Eretz Yisrael!
Joel: Uh...well, I didn't exactly plan this trip, but the Old City is close to a lot of things we wanted to see.
ID: Do you know anybody in East Jerusalem?
Joel: No.
ID: Do you have any friends in East Jerusalem?
Joel: No.
ID: Did you meet anybody in East Jerusalem?
Joel: No. [If anybody excludes a diplomat from the PLO who spoke to our group.]
ID: One moment please.
Joel: Sorry, Dr. Dave.
Dr. Dave: Joel, why didn't you just wear your Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shirt today? [For the record, I have no such shirt.]

Eventually the guy came back, returned my passport and let me through. I had a much easier time with Egyptian security on the other side.

I think getting interrogated by Israeli security should enhance my indie cred a bit, don't you think?