- Wander around. Soak up the atmosphere.
- Get together with the few people I know here, see some interesting organizational projects, go where the political action is.
- Talk to strangers without forcing it.
- Take photos of Palestinian life and whatever else draws my attention.
- Go through the photos I’ve already taken. Delete a lot, fix some, keyword as many as I can.
- Improve my Arabic. This morning’s initial teaching session went well. Scheduled another one for tomorrow morning.
- Blog.
- Prepare a slideshow I’m scheduled to give in three weeks at an Israeli Bedouin high school English class. The topic is Travel Photography. I’m not supposed to raise political issues, but maybe the kids will ask some good questions.
- Get to a few other places in the West Bank to visit people, and to see more of Palestine outside the Ramallah vibe.
- Do a couple of brief academic projects I committed myself to: review a chapter I haven’t had time to read yet, review a revised version of a manuscript I critiqued a month or two ago.
- Answer months of piled-up emails. Or email everyone with a group apology.
- Think about, maybe even resume working on, my long-imagined political memoir about my Zionist youth and post-Zionist present. Try to imagine who might publish it.
- Figure out how and where to see friends and relatives in Israel during the short time I’ll spend there after leaving Ramallah or on a quick trip to Jerusalem next week.
- Whatever else comes up.
Well, maybe not all of this….
Tags: Ramallah