Colored Stones
I’ve been given the wonderful opportunity to volunteer at a school in Beit Jala which is in Bethlehem. I’ve been volunteering there for 7 weeks now and every week is better than the last. The West Bank can be a little intense at times. Israel is very modern. I haven’t experienced the slightest form of culture shock since I’ve been here. However, it took me several visits to get used to the culture, environment, and social norms of the West Bank.

I volunteer at a school that has students from elementary thru high school age. I do conversational English with a 10 year old boy named Johnny. The kid is absolutely adorable and he’s really bright. I help him out with his homework reading and then I’ll have a game that we’ll play that will require him to describe, direct, or explain something. We have a lot of fun and he’s really starting to grow on me.

Also, I play basketball with some of the high school students at the school. My skills in the sport are somewhat lacking, but being a Hoosier puts me on par with the guys I’m playing with. Yesterday, when I was at the school, one of the high school students invited me to his game on Friday. So, the principle of the school is going to pick me up at JUC tomorrow and we are going to watch the game together along with some of the other students.

I’m really stoked about being invited and I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to spend some time with him, the students, and the principle. It should be an eventful time. These Palestinian kids have minimal fundamentals when it comes to basketball, so it should be entertaining. I wonder if the fans throw stones at the referee instead of off colored phrases of disapproval? I guess I’ll just have to wait and see…