Today was hot, sunny, and amazing. After not having the sun for a long time, returning to it is a blissful, blissful occurance. And the monotony of two months of nothing but sun does not hinder my appreciation of the blazing skies.
I woke up around 10:00 today, not exactly in time for breakfast, but getting closer and closer with each passing moment. I'm still aiming for 9am right now, but I'll need to get up even earlier than that when the program actually starts. (The seven hour time difference means I need to wake up before 2am tomorrow, I'm quite proud that I've adjusted so quickly already!) I joined Shira and a few instructors for boxed breakfast downstairs in our little office, then met with “Group One” outside for our first Teen Workshop.
MEET has several training sessions, both in Boston and in Jerusalem. As training coordinator, I organized the ones in Boston, including an introduction to the program, communicating across cultures, old/new instructors dinner, teaching workshop, and final session. There was supposed to be an additional “intro-to-the-conflict” session, but it fell through time after time. This is quite unfortunate, because it provides a very crucial understanding of the history of the region for those unfamiliar with it. Then again, perhaps it is best to retain our ignorance and allow the students to teach us the ways of the region? It's hard to say what the best way to go about this sort of preparation, and any given set of debators or mediators or presenters or just PEOPLE is going to give a different spin on the material. But that is a discussion for a different day.
The point of the matter is that half of the group (David, Harpreet, Rishi, Amelia, me, Amanda, Ted, and Woody, to go around the circle properly) joined Eden in our first Jerusalem training session. (If any instructors in Group 2 are reading this, please stop here... it will spoil the session for you, maybe.)
This workshop was the first of a two part session on interacting with teenagers. In this first session, we focused on teenagers as individuals, on both their interior and exterior worlds.
To start things off, Eden explained the components of the two sessions using “new and improved powerpoint.”
Then we dove into the first half of the session by drawing a teenager. Amanda bravely volunteered to sketch the teenager, a lovely, pink stick figure.
We then talked about internal issues or characteristics of teenagers, giving examples of such characteristics. We came up with an extensive list, and just talking about these things made us start to remember what this time period was like.
Our instructor age ranges from 20-31, so for many of us, our teen years weren't too terribly long ago, but once you've moved on from a stage of your life like that, it quickly becomes “THE PAST.” We then went around the circle and shared a story about ourselves on one of the topics. I spoke about angst, and how I had a lot of it as a teenager. (My family members reading this may clearly remember such teenage angst!) It's hard to tell whether that feeling resonates with my students here, though clearly, many of them go through similar issues and emotions by sheer necessity. The stories of other instructors were as familiar as my own, reminding me that we all have this common “teenage experience,” even if we feel like we have an entirely unique existence at the time.
After a short break, we reconvened to discuss the exterior world of teens. Eden related this to a bunch of balloons that we carry with us whereever we go. Again, we brainstormed some ideas and filled all the balloons with the exterior world.
Eden saved one crucial ballon for last, the MEET balloon! We then zoomed in on the MEET balloon, and filled it with more information about the MEET ex perience, and what makes it special to our students. A lot was shared during this information session, and as I said to Noa beforehand, “It reminds us that we are working with PEOPLE first.”
Following the info session, the group headed down to Damascus gate to get six shekel falafel. There is more construction now than before, as the city is building train tracks right outside the Old City walls, but it didn't deter too much from the scene, despite my whining. What DID deter was the fact that the six-shekel-falafel stand was GONE. Just straight up not there at all. :-( Downtrodden, we went into the city, where we would soon be non-downtrodden.
We wandered through Damascus gate, and down Beit HaBad. For several, it was there first time in the city, and it was quite unfortunate that we couldn't stay long (Ted needed to be back on campus at 3:30 due to the flight situation and such). We only covered a few streets, going down Via Dolorosa, passing through the Christian Quarter, and then out Jaffa Gate. I'll save some Old City history for our tour in two weeks; for now, just a few pictures.
(tower made of spices!!)
It should be noted that we DID in fact eat falafel. And it was six shekels. It still wasn't THE six-shekel-falafel-stand, but it was actually quite delicious. I was impressed.
After stopping by the MEET office to get a Ted, we returned to campus, all 9 of us packed in the mini-van, and then relaxed or napped for awhile. Around 6pm or so, a few of us decided to go back to the Old City for dinner. I drove, and Harpreet, Anna, Rishi, and Froy joined in the fun. We got a little lost in route, but didn't need to look at the map, especially since we accidentally stumbled across the German Colony. We ended up parking in EJ, on A-Zahra street!!!! Within view of the old apartment!!!! Much love to Ranger, and the dentist office, of course.
Again, we wandered through the city, this time trying to eat at Lina cafe. Sadly, it was closed, as was Abu Shukri, but we'll be sure to go much earlier next time if we can (and I will HAVE to learn how to parallel park). We ended up getting some overpriced Lemonade with Nana (mint) on the way out, then eating at Al Ayed Restaurant for real dinner.
Froy made a few friends at one table over, a British guy and an American guy who had travelled from Haifa, and were spending a few weeks in the West Bank. The American guy is going to Berkeley next year, so of course, he and Froy exchanged e-mails. And of course, he fed Froy some rice. A typical Froy encounter, you see!
On the way back to the van, we discovered that THE six-shekel-falafel stand DID exist! Oh happy days!!
Tomorrow... boring. Work.
After stopping by the MEET office to get a Ted, we returned to campus, all 9 of us packed in the mini-van, and then relaxed or napped for awhile. Around 6pm or so, a few of us decided to go back to the Old City for dinner. I drove, and Harpreet, Anna, Rishi, and Froy joined in the fun. We got a little lost in route, but didn't need to look at the map, especially since we accidentally stumbled across the German Colony. We ended up parking in EJ, on A-Zahra street!!!! Within view of the old apartment!!!! Much love to Ranger, and the dentist office, of course.
Again, we wandered through the city, this time trying to eat at Lina cafe. Sadly, it was closed, as was Abu Shukri, but we'll be sure to go much earlier next time if we can (and I will HAVE to learn how to parallel park). We ended up getting some overpriced Lemonade with Nana (mint) on the way out, then eating at Al Ayed Restaurant for real dinner.
Froy made a few friends at one table over, a British guy and an American guy who had travelled from Haifa, and were spending a few weeks in the West Bank. The American guy is going to Berkeley next year, so of course, he and Froy exchanged e-mails. And of course, he fed Froy some rice. A typical Froy encounter, you see!
On the way back to the van, we discovered that THE six-shekel-falafel stand DID exist! Oh happy days!!
Tomorrow... boring. Work.
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