This month in Palestine marks the Olive harvest. We enjoyed ourselves picking olives in beautiful scenery together this weekend. The kids climed the trees and beat them with sticks to make the olives fall down so they could be gathered. Apparently it is a dry year here and so the olives aren't very big and were difficult to pick. I love that there are olive groves all around the town bustling with people anxious to get their bags full to be taken to the press and made into the years olive oil supply. I love olive oil...Palestinian olive oil is sooo rich and delicious. I am grateful that living here gives my children opportunities to participate in cultural activities they wouldn't be able to enjoy anywhere else!

seasonally yummy

Today I am grateful for fresh and seasonal produce! (sometimes this can cause trauma in my menu planning position, but since the blog is Positive in PA...alas) Anyway, this morning I bought some clementines, which I thought were unripe lemons...hard to tell them all apart since all are citrus looking and are still green due to the time of year and freshness of the market....Oh my deliciousness. I bit into one of these babies and the flavor was like an explosion of vitamin C in my mouth...love love love that everything is locally grown and sold...right now it is berry's and lemons and guava that I am loving. A few weeks ago dates and figs and nuts. Yum! Glad to have available fresh and delicious produce! I also love to see it growing all over the place...orange trees are sooo pretty!

The other day the President stood before the whole world in front of the United Nations and delivered an amazingly powerful speech. In an effort to be recognized as a state he reminded me that I am so honored to rub shoulders with the people here. That I am proud to be "Palestinian". But mostly he reminded me of the peoples will to persevere and to just be. Also, he reminded me that I am grateful that Palestinians speak their mind. Sometimes this can be uncomfortable but for the most part it makes communicating easier.

September 9 2011 kids in Palestine

Today I am grateful for Palestinian children. While they deal with alot of things most adults around the world don't have to. They remain positive and creative. I am impressed with their ability to pretend. For the most part they don't have to deal with society telling them pretending is babyish or beneath them. Due to not having alot of material things as well as not having alot of options for entertainment due to the occupation they are led to be imaginative in their play. I think the hospitality of the culture also guides them to make friends easily. As I was washing windows today I looked out the window and noticed my son and his 13 year old friend doing a little greeting handshake dance. You could see the excitement with which they approached each other and the sincerity in their greeting. They didn't seem to be holding anything back emotionally but rather expressing their joy in seeing each other through physical movement as well as big wide grins on their faces. None of the macho fives or handshakes with a stern look that I am used to seeing in the states. They also have a fifteen year old friend who seems to have no thought as to their being a stigma associated with being a fifteen year old boy wearing a mickey mouse hat and holding a stick pretending to be an english teacher. My neighbor (colas best friends family) Have four kids they are very friendly and made us welcome from the beginning. The youngest daughter is four and plays with my four year old. She has no fear of coming over to my house and saying where is Jude? Can I have a banana? I love bananas....and on and on and on... she is my buddy and dishes out all the gossip in the building. She can only say a few things in English like Come Come Come she says that alot to Jude but for the most part she chatters away in Arabic. Self consciousness seems to be much less of an issue here. Relationships with others seem to hold a much higher place than they do in the states. Interaction is a necessary part of survival here. I feel positive about this aspect of living here. I am glad that my kids get to be more uninhibited and trusting than they have ever been allowed to be in the states. I am enjoying raising my kids as part of a village and in turn helping to raise the other kids in the village.