Not having an Internet connection in my Ramallah apartment, with all the neighboring wifi connections password protected, remains a hassle. After checking in yesterday afternoon first from Ramallah Municipal Park until the connection weakened and the rain started, I wandered around the corner to get a cup of coffee and some Internet time at Birth Cafe, which promises “A Taste of the West in an Eastern Manner.” With the sounds of English around me and a menu offering hamburgers and other such fare, I finished my online business.
I had intended to go wandering again last evening, but the rain persisted longer than my interest. I spent the time at what now passes for home, mostly sorting through my photos to delete or fix as needed. I had the TV on in the backgound, sometimes on Al Jazeera’s English channel, which seems to me more varied and interesting than the BBC and something else in English called Euronews, and sometimes on Fox Movie Channel, where I could watch Hollywood movies I probably wouldn’t go to a theater to see.
Last night it got a lot colder than I expected. This morning I called the building’s owner to arrange heat. (I have to pay for the gas container. The landlady made sure the guy who delivered it showed me how to turn it on without killing myself. I also made sure other things worked, at least well enough for three weeks, especially the stove (one burner at least, enough to boil water for coffee) and the shower.
I left to wander over to the Old City, looking more or less for the ISM office I remembered being there two years ago (ISM is the International Solidarity Movement, and I figured I’d find out what was going on locally). I never found it, and will have to call – their address isn’t publicized so far as I can tell, and maybe they moved. I did wander through streets I hadn’t stumbled across last time, and will have to go back to some with my camera. One thing I noticed was more signs of Ramallah’s galloping Westernization. I passed a few new pizza places, and other restaurants and stores that look new. Lots of new construction on the outskirts, and some right here downtown.
I didn’t bring my camera today because I brought my laptop instead, so I could connect at some point (taking both gets heavy). I ended up in an Internet cafe, though again “cafe” doesn’t come with much other than computers. After more wandering, I’m now in Stars and Bucks Cafe, which I remember from two years ago, right in the heart of busy Al Manarah Square. I’m surrounded by a lot of tables with people smokling nargeelah, the sweet smoke not as troubling as cigarettes would be, though it does seem to be getting thicker. The sun is coming in the window. Nice day.
And that’s about it for today so far. Tomorrow I go to Jayyous for a couple of days; I’ll get to Bil’in probably next week instead and maybe stay there for a couple of days as well.
Tags: Ramallah