Just 24 hours before my flight is to depart I get my final briefing, I asked my contact person if the information I read in my 3 year old Lonely Planet Guide to Libya, pg 227, was correct.."Israelis and those with an Israel stamp in their passport will not be admitted to Libya". Surely that was out of date info. My passport has multiple entries from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. "Let me see"
An hour later my trip is canceled, and I have 3 weeks off and no agenda.
Sorry for the anticipated drama.
I will still use this site for my trip back to Palestine Oct. 27th. You can put in your order for spices now.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Libya
I am waiting for my itenerary for the trip to Libya. Not sure exactly where they will send us. Here's a map and some info in Libya. Current activity in Surt and Bani Walid
Libya map
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Last Day
This is our last day in beautiful Amsterdam. I plan on going to the purse and handbag museum and riding all around in the sunny weather.
Some pictures from yesterday.
Art neuveau building and it's cool neighbor.
Cute little Dutch building.
My bike at the Van Gogh museum.
And at the Hortus botanicus.
This is an awesome city.
Some pictures from yesterday.
Art neuveau building and it's cool neighbor.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Comments
This is my first blog and forgive my ignorance. If you have posted a comment, I can not for the life of me figure out where it is. So if you have a question you can e mail. Or if any one knows how to access such comments, please let me know.
Otherwise I will be on a rented bike peddling the streets of Amsterdam, taking in the sights and a few museums. t
Otherwise I will be on a rented bike peddling the streets of Amsterdam, taking in the sights and a few museums. t
Let the vacation begin.
The last day in Jerusalem is a bit of a jumble. We tried to see the Dome of the Rock in the old city but were told it was closed on Sat. That was after we were told it was open. That was in between when Kevin and I became separated from John. You miss the cell phone when stuff like that happens.
We ambled around the old city, as the rest of Jerusalem is essentially closed down for shabbat until sunset. At 12:30 our taxi takes us to the Tel Aviv airport, this is usually a bit grueling, lots of security checks. This time it is ridiculous. In short, we got there at about 1pm and i didn't get to my gate until 3:30. No, I didn't get detained or anything just choose the wrong line, every time. We board, then sit at the gate for almost an hour. Apparently there is 1 more bag in the hold than there is supposed to be and we can not leave until they find it. There is obviously no way we are going to make our connection to Amsterdam. On arrival to Frankfurt, Lufthansa gives about 60 of us, hotel rooms and vouchers for dinner. That was after standing in line at 3 different countes. We arrive en mass to the hotel, another line. I get to my room at 11pm. Up at 5:30 to catch the morning flight to Amsterdam. I don't know if I will ever feel rested again.
Amsterdam is great. What a beautiful city. I can't believe the number of bikes, and how few cars there are. We are in a nice 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment between the central train station and the neighbor hood called Jordan. It has a full kitchen, and awesome patio in the back that I am sitting at. lilac in bloom, birds chirping, scooters in the back ground , and the steepest freakin stairs I have ever seen.
We are in the De Dijk apartment. Only slightly more than us renting 2 hotel rooms.
http://www.frederic.nl/ Sorry no picture from Amsterdam today. Feeling a bit lazy since this is a more common place. I'll continue to post.
We ambled around the old city, as the rest of Jerusalem is essentially closed down for shabbat until sunset. At 12:30 our taxi takes us to the Tel Aviv airport, this is usually a bit grueling, lots of security checks. This time it is ridiculous. In short, we got there at about 1pm and i didn't get to my gate until 3:30. No, I didn't get detained or anything just choose the wrong line, every time. We board, then sit at the gate for almost an hour. Apparently there is 1 more bag in the hold than there is supposed to be and we can not leave until they find it. There is obviously no way we are going to make our connection to Amsterdam. On arrival to Frankfurt, Lufthansa gives about 60 of us, hotel rooms and vouchers for dinner. That was after standing in line at 3 different countes. We arrive en mass to the hotel, another line. I get to my room at 11pm. Up at 5:30 to catch the morning flight to Amsterdam. I don't know if I will ever feel rested again.
Amsterdam is great. What a beautiful city. I can't believe the number of bikes, and how few cars there are. We are in a nice 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment between the central train station and the neighbor hood called Jordan. It has a full kitchen, and awesome patio in the back that I am sitting at. lilac in bloom, birds chirping, scooters in the back ground , and the steepest freakin stairs I have ever seen.
http://www.frederic.nl/ Sorry no picture from Amsterdam today. Feeling a bit lazy since this is a more common place. I'll continue to post.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Back to Jerusalem
And as we came in we go out...
Sitting at the Erez check point waiting for our taxi to Jerusalem. The return process is a series of gates and doors where you wait for the the green light to go through. It takes about 1.5 hours to get all the way through. Only heard one gun shot. It's nice and sunny, breezy once we finally get through. Feels good to be outside. I guess this is what it was like in Gaza if we were ever outside during the day to feel it and see it. Taxi is here.
Welcome to Israel.
12 hours and 2 bottles of wine later.....
Soheil took us to a beautiful hotel on the north coast for dinner last night. Fresh fish, calamari shrimp, I wish I had the appetite to eat more. We have been fed so well here as it is insulting to turn down food and they are very persistent. My pants are a bit more snug that when I arrived. The hotel was definitely a 5 star place. The manager gave us tour of the 6th floor suites still in construction. Reclaimed hand made tiles, and hard wood reclaimed and made in to head boards and trim. Antique wood doors and panel pieces, view of the Mediterranean across the street with the pool. There is a wedding going on in a big room off the lobby. Palestinian weddings are a big deal. About half of the people half their spouse picked by their parent here. The popular night for weddings are Thurs. and Friday. You will hear cars running up and down the streets honking, well you hear that most of the time in Gaza anyway. Some wedding celebrations have the men and women separated, but in this one, the men and women are in the same room, there is loud music playing, and the members of the wedding party can dance together. I take a peak at the door way and the women are serious about their clothes. Even with their heads covered the clothing is very embellished. Some of the young girls are dressed like little brides. There is some big money in this production. Soheil says the typical wedding lasts about 4 hours. It is a business. There are several big facilities just for weddings and you must book in advance.
So we make it to Jerusalem in a couple of hours. Our rooms at the 7 Arches are not ready so we walk down off of Mt. of Olives to the Lion Gate into the old city of Jerusalem for lunch. It's a bit touristy, but not too crowded today and how often do you get to walk in the steps of Jesus for shwarma and baklava? It's a beautiful day here also and the old city is great for people watching. Kevin and John try to get me up to speed on catholic history as we sit for Taybeh beer and tea, but it's pretty much useless.
My Google religion team in the square of the Holy Sepulcher.
Lion's gate entrance to the Old City.
Old City wall.
Mt. of Olives. Contemporary sculpture in foreground. Our hotel at the top of the Mt on the right. olive trees, Hebrew cemetary.
Close up of cemetery.
View back to the Old City.
Again after dinner.
Sitting at the Erez check point waiting for our taxi to Jerusalem. The return process is a series of gates and doors where you wait for the the green light to go through. It takes about 1.5 hours to get all the way through. Only heard one gun shot. It's nice and sunny, breezy once we finally get through. Feels good to be outside. I guess this is what it was like in Gaza if we were ever outside during the day to feel it and see it. Taxi is here.
Soheil took us to a beautiful hotel on the north coast for dinner last night. Fresh fish, calamari shrimp, I wish I had the appetite to eat more. We have been fed so well here as it is insulting to turn down food and they are very persistent. My pants are a bit more snug that when I arrived. The hotel was definitely a 5 star place. The manager gave us tour of the 6th floor suites still in construction. Reclaimed hand made tiles, and hard wood reclaimed and made in to head boards and trim. Antique wood doors and panel pieces, view of the Mediterranean across the street with the pool. There is a wedding going on in a big room off the lobby. Palestinian weddings are a big deal. About half of the people half their spouse picked by their parent here. The popular night for weddings are Thurs. and Friday. You will hear cars running up and down the streets honking, well you hear that most of the time in Gaza anyway. Some wedding celebrations have the men and women separated, but in this one, the men and women are in the same room, there is loud music playing, and the members of the wedding party can dance together. I take a peak at the door way and the women are serious about their clothes. Even with their heads covered the clothing is very embellished. Some of the young girls are dressed like little brides. There is some big money in this production. Soheil says the typical wedding lasts about 4 hours. It is a business. There are several big facilities just for weddings and you must book in advance.
So we make it to Jerusalem in a couple of hours. Our rooms at the 7 Arches are not ready so we walk down off of Mt. of Olives to the Lion Gate into the old city of Jerusalem for lunch. It's a bit touristy, but not too crowded today and how often do you get to walk in the steps of Jesus for shwarma and baklava? It's a beautiful day here also and the old city is great for people watching. Kevin and John try to get me up to speed on catholic history as we sit for Taybeh beer and tea, but it's pretty much useless.
My Google religion team in the square of the Holy Sepulcher.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Too tired
11:30, just getting back to hotel, exhausted. Total of 31 cases this week. Great staff at the hospital.
View from my bathroom window.
Hood to Coast Gaza style.
Group photo. Dr. Faez in the navy blue. Wonderful man, great surgeon.
celebration cake.
View from my bathroom window.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Happy day
Maybe we are getting more efficient, maybe the local staff is moving faster to get rid of us. It is 9pm and I am in the hotel restaurant drinking a fresh mango juice. Five cases today.
But the real news today is they announced that the border between Egypt and Palestine/ Gaza strip will open on May 14th. This is big local news. Imagine not being able to leave Portland for 5years, unless you file for a visa that may or not be approved. The people are going crazy on the streets, hanging out of cars waving large Fatah and Palestinian flags. A lot of honking. I asked Kahlad, one of our PCRF helpers, where he would like to go in Egypt. He said it didn't matter he just wanted to be able to go somewhere else for 2 weeks with his family.
We were told that you have to pay $1000 to go through the tunnel at the border. I guess those guys will be out of a job.
Anyway, hallis, or "enough". Here are some pictures:
My fresh strawberry juice and breakfast.
Al Majd is not feeling well today, vomiting despite the NG since surgery. His mother and father with him constantly.
But the little princess is back in her fashionable attire.
Folding guaze and laundry in between cases.
Scrub technician students and their teacher.
But the real news today is they announced that the border between Egypt and Palestine/ Gaza strip will open on May 14th. This is big local news. Imagine not being able to leave Portland for 5years, unless you file for a visa that may or not be approved. The people are going crazy on the streets, hanging out of cars waving large Fatah and Palestinian flags. A lot of honking. I asked Kahlad, one of our PCRF helpers, where he would like to go in Egypt. He said it didn't matter he just wanted to be able to go somewhere else for 2 weeks with his family.
We were told that you have to pay $1000 to go through the tunnel at the border. I guess those guys will be out of a job.
Anyway, hallis, or "enough". Here are some pictures:
My fresh strawberry juice and breakfast.
Al Majd is not feeling well today, vomiting despite the NG since surgery. His mother and father with him constantly.
But the little princess is back in her fashionable attire.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Football will be the death of me
Today was another very long and exhausting day. It is 10:30pm and we arrived at the hotel about 45 min. ago. Too late and too tired for dinner. There is what must be a very important football/soccer game on. The hotel lobby is full of men smoking sheesha yelling and moaning at the TV after the announcer screams.
I am sitting outside because despite my exhaustion, I am wide awake and afraid to use up all my ambian. Plus the scene is hard to resist. The waiters are running back and forth as fast as they can. In Portland it would be with trays of micro brews, here it is water pipes. That's about the only difference.
I'm not sure how long I will be able to maintain consciousness so I will write a bit, and put up some pictures and I'll let you know how the game goes.
This is probably as close as I will get to the beach. Our commute to work.
The Hospital entrance.
Moms in OR waiting area.
Look your best before surgery......
13 pairs of helping hands for a buccal graft.
Our gift to the staff for working so hard and late with us.
It is 11pm I'm either going to bed or joining them to watch the game.
11:30 Scored tied 1-1
I'm going to pay for this tomorrow.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Just Another Day
This will be short and sweet. It is 11pm and we are just back from dinner. My eyelids are very heavy. We did 5 cases today. 2 bilat. ureteral reimplants, 1 hypo, and a 4 hour mitrofanoff case. Google it, very interesting procedure.
None of the staff mentioned the death of Osama bin Lauden. When I asked one nurse about it as the news was on the TV in the break room she said, "I don't care about it, there is too much bad news. I just care about my home and family".
Must sleep now. Enjoy these pictures.....
Fish market on the way to work this am.
Gaza police , Hamas, morning work out.
Me with Al Majd, the patient, in ICU after mitrofanoff procedure.
OR staff goofing off.
None of the staff mentioned the death of Osama bin Lauden. When I asked one nurse about it as the news was on the TV in the break room she said, "I don't care about it, there is too much bad news. I just care about my home and family".
Must sleep now. Enjoy these pictures.....
Fish market on the way to work this am.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Blogging in Gaza
I am sitting in the hotel restaurant of The Marna House hotel in Gaza City. It has a large covered outdoor area with some nice big trees. It is 9:45pm. The electricity is off in our rooms. We just finished a light late dinner of hummus, eggplant, tabouleh, and a hamburger. Kevin and John left to go to bed, and I am at the table blogging. I am the only woman here. There are 7 other tables with 2-6 men per table smoking from hookas and talking, laughing. Sometimes the bubbling is loud enough to drown out the talk. It smells good. Smokey and sweet. It is just warm enough and enough humidity you know the ocean is near. A bit of car noise and horns honking, but really quite nice. It's one of those times when you are traveling that you know you've left home
What I have seen isn't as mysterious and different as you might think. The biggest contrast is the entry. We drove through Israel on nice highways, Sarbucks Israeli, big new train bridges that might be used, fancy man made lake with water park features, to a parking lot with loud taxi drivers which is the Erez crossing. One picture, that the signs say I'm not supposed to take....
And one that Steve was not supposed to take...
The Israelis check us through relatively quick in a big structure like an airport terminal. There is us and 1 other woman coming in. You go through a couple round scissor gates with all your luggage and it's a 2 k walk under a covered walkway to the Palestinian check in building which is a couple of trailers.
Now there is rubble on the right ("no man's land") and view of the dividing wall stretching south on your left, a dirt parking lot, and some shanties ahead. The Hamas authorities check our passports and want to check our bags. They are giving Kevin's bag a pretty thorough look.
This is where you would have seen a picture of that had the guard not taken my camera, asked me to come into the office and delete them. They need to put up some signs.
Sohail is one of the PCRF workers here that will be helping us this week. He meets us and we go to the hospital. You will be hearing more about the hospital in the next few days, but in brief, the staff is friendly, and welcoming. It is smaller than the others we have worked in, but not the oldest and it is clean. They have 2 OR rooms, and have not scheduled any surgeries this week because we are there. Five cases today, sorry for the medical jargon, hypospadias, clitoralplasty on 2 sisters with ambiguous genitalia, ureter reimplant. We are done at 8:00pm.
my camera is in my dark room, will do more photos later...
What I have seen isn't as mysterious and different as you might think. The biggest contrast is the entry. We drove through Israel on nice highways, Sarbucks Israeli, big new train bridges that might be used, fancy man made lake with water park features, to a parking lot with loud taxi drivers which is the Erez crossing. One picture, that the signs say I'm not supposed to take....
And one that Steve was not supposed to take...
The Israelis check us through relatively quick in a big structure like an airport terminal. There is us and 1 other woman coming in. You go through a couple round scissor gates with all your luggage and it's a 2 k walk under a covered walkway to the Palestinian check in building which is a couple of trailers.
Now there is rubble on the right ("no man's land") and view of the dividing wall stretching south on your left, a dirt parking lot, and some shanties ahead. The Hamas authorities check our passports and want to check our bags. They are giving Kevin's bag a pretty thorough look.
This is where you would have seen a picture of that had the guard not taken my camera, asked me to come into the office and delete them. They need to put up some signs.
Sohail is one of the PCRF workers here that will be helping us this week. He meets us and we go to the hospital. You will be hearing more about the hospital in the next few days, but in brief, the staff is friendly, and welcoming. It is smaller than the others we have worked in, but not the oldest and it is clean. They have 2 OR rooms, and have not scheduled any surgeries this week because we are there. Five cases today, sorry for the medical jargon, hypospadias, clitoralplasty on 2 sisters with ambiguous genitalia, ureter reimplant. We are done at 8:00pm.
my camera is in my dark room, will do more photos later...
Saturday, April 30, 2011
What to do with a free, rainy day in Ramallah
The City Inn, is in a part of Ramallah I'm not familiar with, not that I am familiar with much, but I do want to find that bakery and the pouring rain is a good excuse to loose a few hours in the Turkish bath. .
My room at The City Inn.............
( Do not judge me by the poka dot bag I had to buy in Seattle when the Lufthansa attendant told me they have a 8 kg limit on carry on bags. After seeing the other passengers when boarding, I think this is a selective policy)
I wake up Kevin, I mean he has had 2-3 hours of sleep by now, that's enough , right? We had at typical breakfast of humus, pita, cucumbers, tomato, hard bolied egg, and some good coffee. Kevin has a few cups. We are off to the PCRF office to deliver baked goods, say "hello" and check in. Noura and Randa are there, friendly as always and very helpful with every request. , Such as, "I need to get some spices for my friends and family so they will continue to cook food for me", Oh, I mean as gifts! (you foodies know who you are) Noura takes us to a spice store, as the outdoor markets are all covered up because it is pouring, again. (Portland?) I get lots of spices including 2 bags of Saffron for about $5 US, look....
Deema Sosebee joins us at the bath. It is an hour and a half of hot steam, body scrub, massage, hot steam again, hot marble, cold dunk, shower followed by fresh carrot juice. And they are having an Easter special, $23, lovelyness. Perfect way to easy your body and brain into a new time zone 10 hours from you own.
It has actually stopped pouring now. Steve Sosebee picks us up and we are off to meet the pediatric cardiac group from Chicago for dinner in the old city of Jerusalem.
It's actually a nice time to walk in the old city, I think the rain has washed a few tourists away and the setting sun from the restaurant gives a nice view. The food is delicious like always and the company great. I'm excited to leave for Gaza in the am and help John who was doing great surgeries today. Right about the time we were at the baths, sorry about that John.
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My room at The City Inn.............
I wake up Kevin, I mean he has had 2-3 hours of sleep by now, that's enough , right? We had at typical breakfast of humus, pita, cucumbers, tomato, hard bolied egg, and some good coffee. Kevin has a few cups. We are off to the PCRF office to deliver baked goods, say "hello" and check in. Noura and Randa are there, friendly as always and very helpful with every request. , Such as, "I need to get some spices for my friends and family so they will continue to cook food for me", Oh, I mean as gifts! (you foodies know who you are) Noura takes us to a spice store, as the outdoor markets are all covered up because it is pouring, again. (Portland?) I get lots of spices including 2 bags of Saffron for about $5 US, look....
It has actually stopped pouring now. Steve Sosebee picks us up and we are off to meet the pediatric cardiac group from Chicago for dinner in the old city of Jerusalem.
It's actually a nice time to walk in the old city, I think the rain has washed a few tourists away and the setting sun from the restaurant gives a nice view. The food is delicious like always and the company great. I'm excited to leave for Gaza in the am and help John who was doing great surgeries today. Right about the time we were at the baths, sorry about that John.
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