Alastair Mitchell

East Jerusalem.

Today I taught just a few students at the conservatory here in Jerusalem. They were all fine, with some standing out as being particularly able, but the general operation in Jerusalem is definitely not as smooth running as in Bethlehem – perhaps that’s just the nature of a larger organisation.
Finding good food around East Jerusalem is an art, not a science. So far I’ve been employing basic trial and error, with the successes bringing decent results and the error producing some pretty rough meals. Today however, I got lucky. I tried a little shop that I’ve already passed a couple of times on my way home – it sells only Falafel, as far as I could make out, but it’s the best Falafel I’ve found yet. What a difference a good feed makes at the end of a day.
As my awareness of seasonal eating in Britain has only come in the past year or two, I was delighted to discover the extent to which seasonality comes into food here. At the moment the watermelons are on their last legs, the figs are great, as are the prickly pears and soon the olive season begins. Apparently, everyone in Palestine harvests their olives within a two-week period in October, so the thought of freshly picked olives and freshly pressed virgin olive oil makes part of me wish that October was already here.
When I arrived nine days ago I didn’t see a cloud for days, but over the last two or three days clouds have begun to appear increasingly regularly and with them they have brought cooler winds. It’s a very comfortable, temperate climate at the moment, but I’m aware this doesn’t last. Winter here, especially up in the hills, brings cold temperatures and rain. I feel ready though - the West coast of Scotland has prepared me well, both for the winter and for the unorganised nature of daily life here.

East Jerusalem.

I spent all of today in Bethlehem, and found it quite a charming place. If I do end up teaching more in Bethlehem than anywhere else, I’ll certainly be happy to live there. The day began with my first public bus journey in Palestine so far – Jerusalem to Bethlehem, and it was fine – except for being stopped at the checkpoint for about a quarter of an hour while all the Palestinians on board had their passports checked. I gather that a quartet of an hour is a fairly short wait compared with what can happen. Yesterday one of the piano teachers from Nazareth was coming from Ramallah to Jerusalem and all the Palestinians had to get off the bus and physically walk through the checkpoint. That is normal for this checkpoint, but they held them there for an hour and a half out in the sun, ‘herding them like sheep’. Perhaps inevitably, arguments and fighting began to break out amongst the Palestinians.
I was very impressed by the standard of the students today. Even the young ones who were applying as total beginners took to it, almost without exception, like ducks to water.
To get back from Bethlehem after the buses have stopped, which is at about 6pm, you have to get a taxi to the checkpoint, then walk through and get another from the other side to take you into Jerusalem, or wherever it is you’re going. This is unless you happen to find a taxi in Bethlehem with yellow number plates, but most have the green ones that restrict them to the West Bank only and hence the need for a change when crossing over into Israeli controlled territory. Walking through an almost deserted checkpoint after dark is a strange experience – a bit like walking round a deserted dock, or factory of some kind. There’s lots of equipment around for dealing with hoards of people and lots of cars, and it all lays dormant with just the odd soldier here and there, to whom you say ‘Tourist!’. I wonder whether any actually believe me.
In my taxi from the checkpoint into Jerusalem the driver, and elderly Arab man was pointing out the age of the buildings as we passed them; ‘These houses are 100 years old, that Church is 300 years old – Israel is only 60 years old. These houses were built for Arabs. These walls were built for Arabs’, he said. As we approached another building, he said ‘that building used to be an eye hospital for Palestinians, it was an eye hospital’. And that building, just now happens to be the ‘Mount Zion Hotel’ – talk about adding insult to injury.

East Jerusalem.

Today at the conservatory I achieved pretty much nothing due to the general mayhem there, except to call a few students to arrange lessons in the Jerusalem branch for Saturday. Because I didn’t hear many of the new candidates yesterday at the auditions, several are coming on Saturday to play, so I’ll hear them as well. The Jerusalem branch is quite chaotic at the moment – partly because as well as housing the offices for the branch it also houses the central administration of all three branches. This results in a lot of people being around, and if communication breaks down then nobody knows what is going on.
The Bethlehem branch seems to be a bit more organised at the moment, and I’m heading over there tomorrow to hear all of the continuing students from last year, as well as a small number of applicants for new entry. It’s going to be a long day, but it will be good to see them all in one go and get a feel for the type of work I’ll be doing there.
Today I was told that I might in fact be teaching in Bethlehem for three days, and in Jerusalem for only two, or maybe two each in both branches and a day per week doing some outreach projects in various parts of the West Bank, focusing on Jericho and Nablus. The outreach work sounds like a great way to get to know the area better, and would be very interesting work too – the man behind the outreach work is a real live-wire. But, I’m coming to the conclusion that I should take everything with a pinch a salt, as it all changes from day to day, and therefore, I’ll believe it when it happens.
After the conservatory, I walked over to West Jerusalem to go to a cafe that has free wi-fi to make some phone calls and do some other various internet bits and bobs. I’m not keeping up with the news at all at the moment, but hopefully that’ll change when I get the internet at my own place as I’ll be able to listen to the radio. It doesn’t feel bad being out of touch, but I don’t want it to continue.