Moving On
I'm coming home.
There, I said it. After something of a rough and tumble two years in a war-torn, Third World country, I've decided that I miss my family, friends, and Washington Redskins too much to be so far away for another year. Friday night - assuming cooperation from Customs officials at JFK - I'll be back in the muggy climes of Our Nation's Capital, Washington D.C. And it will be great because I'll be home.
Not that it is so easy to leave. Palestine, to be sure, is a little rough around the edges. Fifty years worth of treatment as second-class citizens (or third) and the indifference of the international community will do that to a country. But for all that, this place is filled with the most hospitable and welcoming people in the world, and some of the best live in Beit Sahour, where I've been teaching for the past year. Their obvious affections for me makes this departure truly gut-wrenching, especially since I, too, have fallen hopelessly in love with so many of my students and their families. I will miss them something fierce.
In light of these budding connections - as well as the modicum of professional success I've enjoyed here - it seems crazy to leave. Deteriorating conditions in the aftermath of this year's elections here and in Israel make things harder still, because someone should be here to document this sea change. Seeing as I don't have a job, a "next step," lined up and waiting for me in the States, even I am forced to admit that jetting now doesn't make much sense. I am buoyed, though, by the thought that the last counter-intuitive decision I made (i.e. "Going to Palestine!") paid off so handsomely. It is nuts - majnoon, in Arabic - but I have rarely operated any other way.
Being a great deal closer to friends and family is a great consolation, too. I have appreciated all the support I've received while stationed a million miles away. The letters, e-mails, calls, thoughts, and prayers really went a long way towards making this experience worthwhile, towards making it even possible! I look forward to being a lot closer and a lot more available in the not-so distant future. Inshallah (God willing), I can return the favor in support of their own world-beating endeavors!