View of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives

Quick update on new things for Euphrates!  I returned last month from three weeks in Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan planning a student study abroad to the region for 2011.  I toured with a former student of mine, Kateland Oakes, and her mom, Sue Oakes, who is a co-founder and director of the Center for Ecological Living and Learning  (CELL).  CELL focuses on “Sustainability through Community,” and runs study abroad programs to Central America and Iceland.  Because of Kateland’s interest in the Middle East after taking my classes at Principia, she connected me to her family, and we started discussing an abroad to the Middle East based on the same theme of sustainability.

We had an amazing and very full trip!  It had been three years since I had been to Israel and the West Bank, and it was wonderful to revisit my old stomping grounds in Birzeit and Jerusalem.  We also covered a lot of new ground in northern Israel to visit the headwaters of the Jordan river, to see the holy sites around the Sea of Galilee, and learn first-hand about border issues with Lebanon and Syria.  It was Sue’s and Kateland’s first trip to the region, and it was inspiring to see what an impact seeing the situation for themselves had on them.  We were all drinking in the beauty and mystery of the land, the warmth of Palestinian and Israeli hospitality, and the hope retained by so many individuals on both sides for a non-violent end to the conflict.

We had some remarkable examples of how safe and cared for we felt throughout the trip.  Several times in the West Bank, Palestinians went out of their way to make sure we made it to where we needed to go.  When we were lost after dark on a dirt road trying to locate an Israeli checkpoint, one Palestinian gas station attendant even went so far as to leave his work, and hop in our car with us, and drove for twenty minutes with us to ensure we made it there safely.  And he refused any money for a cab ride home!

Another highlight was visiting kibbutzim in the south of Israel, especially Kibbutz Ketura, on whose grounds is located the Arava Institute.  The stark, desert landscape provides a striking contrast to the green oasis of the kibbutz.  We enjoyed eating meals collectively with others and learning about the collective system in operation.

I’m really looking forward to planning this abroad, which will expose students directly to the region, its people, and its history, culture, and pressing environmental issues.