Population of Ramallah

Last week I introduced a new feature on this blog--a quiz.  The question challenged readers to determine which of four US cities is closest in population to Ramallah.  The most popular answer was that Ramallah and Milwaukee are closest in population.  The other options were San Francisco, Akron, and Palestine, TX.

In fact, the correct answer, with a population just under 20,000, is Palestine, TX.  Although the census figures are not clear, Ramallah's population appears to be roughly 30,000--a few hundred thousand short of the population of Milwaukee.

My darling wife and I live near a neighborhood in Ramallah called Tahta, and my daily walk to and from work takes me directly through that neighborhood.  It is the 'old city' of Ramallah and has the highest concentration of Christians in the city...which means plenty of liquor stores and churches.  (Maybe that's the connection to Milwaukee that my loyal readers made.)

Walking through Tahta takes me past a bevy of vegetable vendors, butchers, bakeries, coffee shops, and restaurants.  Other sections of Tahta host a museum, gas station, and bank.  Tahta is filled with aromas (freshly baked pita bread, spices, nargilla (hooka), fresh fish, etc.), sights (men playing cards, mounds of brightly colored fruits and vegetables), and activity (people shopping, cars navigating the narrow streets).  I feel lucky to have these aromas, sights, and activities accompany me in the morning and evening before and after my busy work days.

So, although the number of people living in Ramallah is modest, the population is vibrant.  And because Ramallah is the de facto capital of Palestine, it serves as the hub of cultural and commercial activity--thus, acting like a much bigger city while keeping its small town charm.  I'm told by Palestinians on a regular basis that living in progressive, bustling Ramallah is not representative of the typical Palestinian experience.  I don't take that to be a critique but simply an observation that life in Ramallah is unlike life in the village.  Just as life rural parts of the US can be strikingly different than urban living.

Apropos of nothing, I will end this blog by mentioning that yesterday as I sat at my desk at the end of the workday, I heard an ice cream truck near our office belting out a medley of holiday hits, including "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer" and "Santa Clause is Coming to Town."  It's true that the Arab-Israeli conflict might be mired in intractable political wrangling, but I don't think anyone can argue with the logic of promoting a frozen treat on a hot afternoon in Palestine by singing the praises of a mutant flying deer and a fat, bearded white man. 

Arab Spring

As regular readers of Unimpossible Life, you know that I spend most of my energy contemplating the critical issues of contemporary life that influence the undercurrents of society, politics, and religion.  That is why this blog is dedicated to the world changing series of events that have been building over the past several months--events that cut across demographics, ethnicities, and culture.  Events that will shape the future.  I like to summarize these events with the term: Arab Spring.  And even though I have been observing these events in the Arab world, I am certain that similar trends are affecting all loyal U.L. readers around the world in significant ways.

You see, the influence of Arab Spring is inescapable.  Not two months ago, I was regularly wearing a sweater and a jacket to and from work.  Last month, I stopped wearing sweaters almost altogether.  And lately, even the jacket has been unnecessary.  But the warmer temperatures associated with this Arab Spring are not the only noticeable trend.  As you will see illustrated below, the plants in and around Ramallah are coming alive with new growth.  These are truly astonishing developments.

My bold prediction is that this Arab Spring will soon yield to something altogether new and different.  Something I'm tentatively calling: The Arab Summer.  Stay tuned.  And in the meantime, if you are so bold, scroll through some photographic evidence of the Arab Spring of 2011...

Apparently, Ramallah is home to huge stalks of asparagus. 

Purple flowers are a more typical Arab Spring sighting.

These delicate red flowers truly symbolize the essence of the Arab Spring.

 Nothing says "Arab Spring" louder than olive buds.

Even cacti are flowering during these revolutionary times.

And that concludes this week's groundbreaking analysis.  Next week I will explore even more astounding dimensions of the Arab Spring.  In addition to influencing the weather and climate, I believe the Arab Spring can be a source of fresh ground water and a useful shock absorbing device!!

Learning Arabic

When my darling wife and I decided to move to Palestine, we knew there would be several transitions for us to navigate.  New city, new culture, new language.  Being in Ramallah, although exotic sounding to Westerns is actually very familiar in many ways and learning Arabic is not an absolute requirement.  English speakers, English-language signs, English-language menus are plentiful and even if the shopkeeper you’re dealing with at the moment doesn’t speak much English, capable English speakers can easily be tracked down to help out.

Nevertheless, my darling and I felt that learning Arabic would not only be fun but also important.  It took a few weeks to decide on a language teacher, but by late March we started our lessons.  We currently attend Arabic language class two times each week and are the only ones in the class, so we get plenty of personalized attention.  We started by learning the alphabet and some basic vocabulary.  We quickly added writing to the lessons.  For the most part, we concentrate on vocabulary and phrases that are useful for everyday life.  More and more, we are able to utilize our new skills at the vegetable market and at restaurants, mostly.  “How much is this?”  (Adish hada?)  “Do you have vegetables from Palestine?” (Andak hodra min philistine?) “I would like salad without tomato.” (Mmumkin salata bidoon banadura.)

Of course, learning a new language doesn’t happen without making a few mistakes.  Actually, that’s part of the fun if you don’t let it overly frustrate you.  During class a few weeks ago, our language teacher asked me to practice the phrase, “I would like potatoes.”  I responded quickly—anna bitata—confident of my answer.  He asked me to try again.  Thinking perhaps he didn’t hear me, I said very clearly: Anna Bitata.  He repeated the instruction: tell me you would like potatoes.  My confidence was a bit shaken, but I stuck with my answer: ANNA BITATA.  After three chances, he realized I didn’t know I missed some verbs, and instead of asking for potatoes, I was emphatically declaring in his office: “I am a Potato!”  (My JFK moment, I suppose.)

And just the other day, I was with a group of co-workers (all Arabic speakers) and someone asked where another co-worker was.  I had just seen the person in question in his office and was pretty sure I could explain his whereabouts in Arabic.  In Arabic, many nouns and verbs take on the possessive form with specific endings.  So the phrase I mentioned earlier: Do you have vegetables from Palestine?  Would start with “Andak” when asking a man but with “Andik” when asking a woman.  If you want to say “I have…,” the phrase starts with “Andi...”  So far, my darling wife and I have learned the possessive endings for I, you (f), and you (m), but that’s all. 

Too anxious to answer and forgetting the possession rules, I told my coworker in Arabic: “He is in your office” instead of “He is in his office.”  Confused, he asked why the coworker was in “my” office.  Realizing I made a mistake and thinking he was correcting me, I ‘corrected’ myself and said “He is in my office.”  This caused more confusion and finally laughter ensued as those listening pictured our lost coworker wandering aimlessly from office to office according to my fledgling Arabic skills.  Luckily, we realized what was going on and ended our version of the “Who’s on first” routine.

Needless to say, this potato needs a few more lessons…

Upside down in Ramallah

In Baltimore, our weekends were good opportunities to relax, catch up on household chores, and run errands—especially to the farmer’s market or grocery store to restock the pantry at home.  Occasionally, we ventured out for a play, festival, or concert.  Sometimes we simply took a leisurely walk, ending up at the library or bookstore.

Our weekends in Palestine haven’t strayed too terribly much from the Baltimore routine, with two important exceptions: first, as apartment dwellers we no longer spend long hours working on house projects or in the yard and garden; and second, we live within easy walking distance of many of Ramallah’s cultural and social hot spots.  Within a fifteen walk of our apartment, we can attend cultural events at the Danish House of Palestine, Ramallah Cultural Palace, Friends Meeting House, and Al Kasaba Theatre, or simply have drinks and dessert at Café De Vie where Irish Folk bands are known to plop down for an impromptu jam session.

So, the other weekend when my darling wife asked, “What are going to do today?” I responded, “We will have an amazing adventure.”  She asked me to be more specific, so I explained, “We will have a crazy, amazing adventure.”  When pressed for further details, I suggested we either take a bike ride or play tennis on the street in front of our apartment building—likely revealing that I was making this up as I went along.  We brought our bikes from the States, but hadn’t saddled up yet, so we ultimately decided to pump up the tires and pedal around Ramallah.  Our first destination was the Ramallah Cultural Palace, which is under construction but appeared open for business.  (We recently went to the opening of the Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival there, so we know for certain that it is open.)  From the Cultural Palace, we could see the Mukhmas Funland Amusement Park and decided to bike over to take a closer look.

After navigating a few of Ramallah’s many steep hills, we arrived at the entrance of the Funland.  We were content to simply look from outside the gate, but a nice gentleman on the other side of the gate insisted we park our bikes and enter the park.  Once inside, he explained that he was the manager and told us about some of his latest improvements and ideas for further development.  After a quick chat, he offered us free tickets.  “Are three tickets for each of you enough?”  Plenty, we said, and before we had a chance to consider the consequences, we were strapping into a ride that swings riders back and forth higher and higher until riders (us in this case) are hanging upside down some 80 feet above the ground.  “I can’t believe I’m doing this!” was my darling’s battle cry as it occurred to her that we were putting our lives in the hands of Palestinian carnies.  (No offense meant to Palestinians or to carnival workers…)  “We’re upside down in Ramallah!!” was my retort to her repeated exclamations of disbelief.  To see a video of the ride, visit the Funland website: Mukhmas Funland Amusement Park

We used our remaining tickets on bumper cars and the “4-D Theater,” which showed a strange 3D cartoon featuring a floating clown apparition and puffs of air blown into our faces when the snakes in the cartoon lunged toward us hissing.  For me, the best part of that experience was making stupid jokes about experiencing the ‘fourth dimension,’ which I’ve always considered to be the passage of time.  So, unlike other movie experiences when time stands still, this movie experience ended after it began, as I incessantly pointed out.  We truly did experience…the fourth dimension!!

A few hours later, we went to karaoke with some German guys that my darling wife met at her office.  We belted out classics such as, Outkast's “Hey Ya,” Michael Jackson's “Beat It,” and The Beatles “Yesterday.”  My favorite, though, was a duet performed by me and my darling: “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” originally by Aretha Franklin, but I’m certain that our version would have topped the charts, too.  And because I have a goofy streak in me, I started each of our songs by announcing over the microphone to the other karaoke patrons, “You are about to enter THE THIRD DIMENSION!”

So, I’m not sure whether we’re being turned upside down in Ramallah or turning Ramallah upside down, but we’re having a good time here either way.