A walk to savor

Both yesterday and today I missed my shuttle home. With my very sparse Arabic it was a little troubling the first time because Nick and my co-workers had left while I was out (more on that later) and I had never been really on my own in the country. Still, I figured, I didn't come here to hide from Palestine and decided to set out on foot. An-Najah National University has two campuses in Nablus and I work at the old campus which is further away from my place than the new campus but is on the same road. Knowing this I set off in the right direction unsure of how I would actually find the apartment. The heat is sweltering right now and the humidity is actually much higher than I expected, so I got quite a sweat going. It's important to mention that there are sidewalks in some places in Nablus, but they aren't very good and no one uses them. There is also no concept of rules of the road or traffic laws, but personally I think I prefer that to the US style of cars and roads and driving. I must have walked a least 1.5 to 2 miles before finally arriving at the new campus and called it quits and caught a taxi to Al Amriya, our apartment complex. I thanked the driver and walked down to our apartment complex to find out that we didn't have power and wouldn't get it back for a more hours. Welcome to the West Bank I suppose.

Today I actually chose to walk home because I pushed my work until a little past quitting time (3:30 here) and knowingly had missed the shuttle this time.So off I went in the direction of the new campus to catch a taxi there. I had brought my camera with me and decided to walk as far as the new campus again and take some pictures along the way. The terrain is very familiar yet foreign, like some alternate reality's version of the area around wenatchee. At a quick passing glance they seem very alike, but then you stop and look for a second and realize it's much rockier and has abundant shrubs and short, squat olive trees instead of apple orchards. I find it beautiful here and already have settled in quite comfortably, not entirely familiar with my new surroundings but eager to be apart of the land and people that is Palestine, the West Bank, and Nablus.

Pictures from the walk