I want to win, I want to win, I want to win...
21 July, 2008 - Posted by: Lena
I have a problem.
I have gone through my photos from 2007 & 2008 and have narrowed it down to 5 potential entries in this year's Washington Post travel photo contest.
The problem is that I don't know which photo to send.
I guess it isn't a terrible situation when you have too many good pictures, though, is it?
When the world turns upside down
20 July, 2008 - Posted by: Lena
Has anyone else seen
this?
If you haven't, go ahead and read it. I'll wait.
Okay.
Let's review, shall we?
[Editor's note:
text in bold = emphasis mine]
Text:
Palestinian refugees along the Iraq-Syria border are so desperate, they may accept a U.N. offer to go to Sudan, a country widely condemned for atrocities and genocide in its Darfur region.
Oh, yeah, there's a recipe for success. Take some 400 Palestinian refugees out of a position in which they are targeted by Iraqi militias in Iraq and move them to
Sudan, where they are likely to become targets for Sudanese militias. Genius, people.
Text:
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said the Palestinians would be resettled in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, away from Darfur.
Oh, well, that makes it all perfect, then. Send them to the capital, rather than to the province in which the genocide has been occurring.
Text:
Palestinians are the most vulnerable group being targeted in Iraq, said Andrew Harper, the U.N.'s Geneva, Switzerland-based senior Iraq operations manager. "They literally have nowhere else to flee and in many cases have been denied travel documents," he said. "The international community must act now to help these people. A safe haven needs to be found immediately, outside Iraq."
Translation: Sudan was the only Arab country that would accept them into its borders. We don't
really think this wise, either, but it is the only option left to us. Won't someone else please step up and accept them? Pretty please?
Text:
Washington-based Refugees International, founded in 1979, is asking the United States government to intervene and resettle the nearly 3,000 Palestinians in America.
There's an idea...
Text:
The U.S. State Department has rejected the request, saying that the relocation plan is voluntary and that Sudan is the best option available to the UNHCR.
...or not. Apparently, the United States feels that a country run by a man who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide is a great place to send 400 Palestinians.
Text:
"The Palestinians being resettled in Sudan is obviously not an ideal or preferred solution," State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper said.
Oh, wait, no they don't.
Text:
"But we accept the judgment of the UNHCR that it is preferable to the Palestinians continuing to be stranded in the border area in extremely dire circumstances."
But we don't want them and, hey, won't somebody please take that big ole' spotlight off us?
Text:
But Sudan is one of the most violent places in the world.
Yup.
Text:
Michel Gabaudan, the UNHCR representative in Washington, said that no final decision had been reached on the transfer to Sudan but that no other country had stepped forward to help.
Not a single other Arab country would take them in. The United States would not take them in. But Sudan...as the reporter admitted, one of the most violent places in the world...would.
Text:
He described the plight of the Palestinian refugees as "dire circumstances," prevented from moving by both Iraq and Syria and with little water or access to services. "They are stuck in extremely difficult circumstances," Gabaudan said. "The conditions they would live in in Khartoum would be much better than the conditions they are living in now."
Yes, being stuck in a squalid refugee camp in a border zone in which no country in the region will take you is a decidedly bad situation.
Text:
He described the plight of the Palestinian refugees as "dire circumstances," prevented from moving by both Iraq and Syria and with little water or access to services. "They are stuck in extremely difficult circumstances," Gabaudan said. "The conditions they would live in in Khartoum would be much better than the conditions they are living in now."
Note to the US gov't: you just got dissed.
But we knew that the State Department is not exactly famous for its brilliant decision-making skills.
But when the alternative is Sudan? What happened to this "give me your tired, your poor..." bit? I guess it only functions in "acceptable" cases, huh?
A change of method
16 July, 2008 - Posted by: Lena
As was most of Israel, I imagine, I was also secretly hoping to see Udi Goldwasser and Eldad Regev walk across the buffer zone between Naqoura and Rosh HaNikra this morning. I, not owning a television, woke up, opened YNet and the first thing that hit me was the picture of those two black coffins.
Shock.
Not that it should have been a shock that they were dead; as I was reminded by several friends, Hizbullah would have openly boasted that they had two live soldiers and extorted us to release far more people than we did this morning. Te recap: we exchanged Samir Kuntar, four other captives, and the bodies of slain Hizbullah fighters captured by the IDF during the war. We received three coffins: two containing the remains of the two captured IDF soldiers, and a third containing the remains of IDF soldiers killed in Lebanon during the war.
A quick aside for those who do not know: Samir Kuntar is one of the terrorists who, in April of 1979, crossed the border from Lebanon to Israel in a rubber boat, came ashore at Nahariyya, entered the home of the Haran family, dragged Danny Haran and his four-year-old daughter down to the beach, murdered Danny as his daughter looked on, and then smashed her skull against a rock. Back inside the house, Danny's wife, Smadar, was hiding in the closet with her other daughter, two years old, and accidentally smothered her while trying to keep her quiet.
And this man just received a hero's welcome not only by Nasrallah but also by the Lebanese president in Beirut. We exchanged him this morning for the bodies of two dead soldiers.
I don't want to comment on whether this was the right decision or not, as there is plenty of that being done elsewhere. What I want to comment on is a headline that appeared on YNet just minutes ago:
Don't worry if you can't read Hebrew; the headline translates to "The fact that their fate was kept secret was a point of strength."
OK, it's impossible to deny that this is a rather large political victory for Hizbullah. However, read the headline again...does there not seem to be an undeniable element of cruelty in it?
There has been much talk about the change in the nature of warfare in the Middle East since 9/11. It seems to me that the change has not only been in the methodology; that is, that we are no longer one national army fighting another national army. It used to be that we would fight the Egyptian army or the Syrian army or the Jordanian army throughout Israel's various wars. Prisoners would be taken...and then exchanged at the most several months down the line (with, perhaps, the exception of Ron Arad).
It seems to me that along with the methodology of warfare, the intent among those who would fight us has changed as well. Though the intentions of prior Arab leaders - Sadat, Nasser, King Hussein, etc. - were never particularly kind at times of war, I hardly remember reading of quite this level of plain cruelty involved. We were used to the "we'll push the Jews into the sea" bit that seemed to repeat itself with each war. But to boast about killing soldiers and then keeping their deaths a secret in order to entice another state to hand over men like Samir Kuntar?
This seems to me a high level of evil not apparent in the conventional warfare of the past decades between "us" and "them." Perhaps it's because none of the Arab armies were really any match for us in those wars (though the Yom Kippur War gave Israel quite a turn, she recovered majestically by the end). The War of Attrition is a similar scenario of stalemate, but at that time, missiles were being lobbed only across the Canal and not into civilian populations. Perhaps, then, it is because we seem unable to cope once and for all with this changing methodology?
Anyone else either noticed this or have any better theories as to what led to it?
The girls go to Cairo, pt. 4
03 July, 2008 - Posted by: Lena
So here is Part The Last of the Cairo Saga: A free day in Cairo! To do whatever we want! Initially, we had not realized that we would getting this extra day; we were supposed to return home on Leg The Second of the Endless, Day-Long Trek Across The Desert on Wednesday, June 18, according to what we thought; the tour itself was supposed to be four days - one spent driving from Tel Aviv, two spent touring Cairo & the Pyramids, and a fourth spent driving back again. However, Mazada only runs buses between Cairo and Tel Aviv on Sundays and Thursdays, and they kind of failed to tell us that we would have this one extra day...until we actually showed up at our hotel in Cairo. As such, we had not packed enough clothes with us (lesson learned).
Though it was our free day, we were not into sleeping late (so little time, so much more to see!). We were such good girls, we even got out of bed at the same time we had been getting up the previous two days in order to take in as much as possible in one day. We set off on foot from Dokki heading towards downtown Cairo around 9 AM.
On the bridge over the Nile connecting Dokki to downtown Cairo.
As we were crossing the bridge over the Nile, however, a man stopped us (when does this not happen in Cairo?), attempting to make friendly conversation. As usual, he had a motive: he wanted to tell us that Misr Travel, whose office weas nearby, would take us to the al-Fayyum oasis or to Alexandria if we wanted. When we declined - both for lack of time and for lack of desire to get into a jeep in another country with a strange man - he told us that oh, by the way, we could not walk downtown now. President Mubarak, you see, was meeting with "an Arab minister" and "the police, they take you camera, they take you passport, you cannot go until 12 o'clock." Now, this may or may not have been true (we glanced at a newspaper later and it looked like maybe it actually could have been), but we decided that risking a run-in with the Egyptian police was probably not a very good idea. So back to Dokki we trekked, where we hung out until noon...at which point we turned right back around and headed out toward Talat Harb and downtown.
Walking from Dokki to Talat Harb requires walking through Al-Tahrir Square. The American University in Cairo is here, as is the Egyptian government building, the Mugama'a.
Random street, Talat Harb area.
This could be in Tel Aviv.
One distinctive feature of walking through Cairo - especially if you are obviously not Egyptian - is that everyone seems to want to stop and talk to you, ask where you're from, if you are enjoying Egypt, and so on and so forth. One of the biggest surprises about Egypt was how absolutely friendly its people are. We told everyone that we were Americans from Washington, DC, and we were never met with anything other than something along the lines of "we love Americans! I visit DC, I love it! You know President?"
Of course, those same people who stop you in the streets ("excuse me! where you from?") are all scouts. They either own stores in the area, or are family of people who own stores and are trying to draw you in. This can get rather annoying, though once inside, they insist on bringing you tea or coffee or Pepsi and chatting with you. All of these encounters, however, led to quite friendly conversations with quite friendly people.
Except for one.
We had ducked into an indoor area to get out of the sun for a couple of seconds. We were sitting on a ledge and a man came up to us and said "are you my friend?" As everyone else who had approached us was quite friendly, we talked to him, but he was creepy. He was looking at us all wrong and just kept saying "are you my friend?" After a couple of rounds of this, we got up and walked away...and he followed us. So, once on the corner, we stood next to a cop (of which there are everywhere in Cairo). He crossed the street, but kept stopping and looking back, staring at us. When we eventually couldn't see him anymore, we dashed down another street in another direction, looking over our shoulders every thirty seconds. A man stopped us a minute or so later, though this time only to ask if we needed help finding something. We told him what had happened. Turns out he's a lawyer, and he waited with us for a minute or two to see if the man came back, promising to deal with him if he did. As it turns out, we were explained, he might have mistaken us for Romanian prostitutes (!).
When the man never returned, he offered his contact information, in case we had any other such situations we needed help with. As I said, Egyptians are friendly.
Prior to this lovely little encounter, however, we stopped for lunch at a place called Falfella that had been recommended to me (and promised that it was safe to eat at). We were quite paranoid about getting sick, so we were very careful...more on this later. Falfella, it turns out, is quite a beautifully decorated, quiet little place.
The inside of the restaurant.
We shared some kind of sausage, which was okay, and I had the best lentil soup of my life. Potential visitors to Egypt take heed.
After lunch, we set off on foot once again to do some more exploring. We came upon a market, more open than the Carmel Market here but about the same overall size.
We also came upon a rather interesting sign:
The sign says something like "for the sake of Egypt...put your hands in mine...Mubarak."
The night before, Jamie had spotted T.G.I. Friday's along the Nile, and so we went there for dinner that night. It's quite a nice atmosphere, in a large boat-like structure with outdoor seating on a terrace. There was a large screen playing one of the European Cup games in one corner, and I noticed that people were smoking shisha, so I asked the price of a narghila. It was more than reasonable, so I asked for one. Quite a lovely atmosphere...evening on the banks of the Nile - nice, cool, and breezy...
Now, for the bit about paranoia that I mentioned earlier. We had been warned not to drink the water in Cairo and we had been warned to be careful about what we ate. We ate nothing off the street, and nothing in places that were not recommended to us (except for on the cruise the previous night). We drank nothing that did not come from a sealed bottle or can. We even washed our faces and brushed our teeth with bottled water. Yet, when we got back, both of us managed to get sick. It is now two weeks after the fact and two doctor visits and many pills later, and only now are things beginning to return to normal. Suck.
The girls go to Cairo, pt. 3
03 July, 2008 - Posted by: Lena
I apologize for the delays in between the various installments of the Cairo Saga. Here is Part 3, the multiple-museums-plus-Nile-cruise day.
This time, we were waiting outside our hotel at the bright n' early hour of 8:45 (neither of us are morning people). Stop number one, if I remember correctly, was at the Egyptian Museum. Now, as might not be a huge surprise, the Egyptian Museum has a collection of its own country's artifacts that rivals only the British Museum; while the former has a lot of mummies and sarcophagi and the golden masks and other jewelry from King Tutankhamen's tomb, the British Museum has - among other things - the Sinai Codex found at St. Catherine's (the earliest copies of the Old Testament ever yet found) and the Rosetta Stone.
The Egyptian Museum has one major flaw, however: before you enter, you must
surrender your camera.
I kid you not. One of the greatest museums in the world, and no photography is allowed inside. They take your camera at a booth outside and give you a number, and you come back later to collect the camera. I hated that. Absolutely hated it. I even removed the photo card before handing it over. But mostly having to give up your camera is sad because the artifacts on display inside the museum - and especially the aforementioned items from King Tut's tomb - are worth photographing. And they don't allow it, I imagine because over time, flash photography does indeed corrode. However, one who is skilled in the use of his or her camera will know that flash photography is not always necessary indoors.
That said, I suppose it goes without saying that the only parts of the Egyptian Museum that we photographed were outside. We had plenty of time to take pictures because the third person in our group - a French-Israeli guy - had decided to walk off somewhere inside the museum and our guide three times had to go looking for him.
The building is pink. Can't beat that.
Jamie has a penchant for funky posing: "now bow to the statue..."
Me, on the edge of the pool of lotus flowers and lily pads.
Yeah, we liked that pool.
From there, it was on to a series of religious sites: 1) the Coptic Church & Museum, 2) the Ben Ezra Synagogue, and 3) the Muhammad Ali Mosque. If I remember correctly, all three are preserved as sites of historical-religious significance; none are actually in active use as places of prayer. The synagogue also does not allow photography inside. Inside the Coptic Church, there is a trap door kind of thing that Jamie noticed in the floor under some of the pews. Our guide explained that it was from the days when the Muslim conquerors would come and the Christians would have to hide underground.
We'll start with pictures of the Coptic Church:
And then move on to the only shots we were allowed to take of the synagogue. Our third person decided that since he is Jewish, he would tell them that he could take pictures inside. Hell, we're Jewish, too, but we didn't press the issue. He ended up forking over something like 50 L.E. in order to take that one photo.
And finally, on to the Muhammad Ali Mosque, which, if I recall correctly, has no actual connection to Muhammad Ali other than its name. For those of you who think that Muhammad Ali is a boxer, know: in fact, he was an Ottoman official, of Albanian origin, sent to run Egypt in the 1800s.
From the outside.
From the inside.
From the terrace.
Our final stop was Khan al-Khalili, which is a very well-known bazaar:
At this point, we were taken back to our hotel and given some time to rest prior to setting out for a two-hour cruise on the Nile by night. We were picked up later and taken to a medium-sized boat anchored along the river on the Giza side of Nile Street.
Looking back on the city.
A candid shot, of sorts.
I got to dance with the belly dancer.
A not-so-candid shot, circa sunset.
Moon over Cairo.
Fireworks coming from the Opera Hall - a total lucky coincidence.
A funky shot, achieved completely on accident.
Next time: a last, but free, day in Cairo. This will be the last installment.
More dental woes
30 June, 2008 - Posted by: Lena
So this root canal thing is totally taking months.
But no matter. Here is what I have to say to you Israelis:
She finally closed the thing last Thursday. Since then, it has been hurting on and off, albeit badly. So I assumed it was infected again. I was given antibiotics a few weeks ago, for a week, and I went back today, in which she told me that it would take the infection a few months to fully go away, and she could give me another prescription for antibiotics, and it was up to me whether to take it or not.
Now, I am fully aware of the dangers of overuse of antibiotics. However, the concept of "you took antibiotics for a week - four weeks ago - but it will still take the infection another few months to clear up" is a little strange. And I have a good biology education.
So, to that end, my father called his dentist, one of the top dentists in the United States, who saw me and examined me back in March, before all of this started. He said that a) at that point, I did not need a root canal (several months passed between then and the start of this root canal, and dentists sometimes do drill cavities too far down and end up having to do root canals). Nevertheless, he also said that root canals that become infected and need antibiotics were quite rare.
The advice was: find an endodontist and get another opinion.
I don't know of any reliable Israeli endodontists. Do any of you?
