The past two nights have been spent visiting this funky new guesthouse and cinema that's opened in Jenin, run by German fellows. (and funded by many, including Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame!). It was like being in another world! They had beer in a vending machine, the only alcohol license in Jenin. I wish it very well but I fear the conservative residents of Jenin won't. They'll have to be very careful about what they show; for any kissing type stuff will be more than frowned upon and locals fear that men and women mixing in the private darkness of the cinema will lead to immorality.
There's a similar progressive place just outside of Jenin camp, The Freedom Theatre. They show plays and make films with foreigners and not enough locals, for they worry on the impropriety of it all as well as the colourful manager. He's half Israeli and half Palestinian, hailing from Tel Aviv and some think he is an an Israeli spy! It was firebombed and robbed initially but think it's doing ok now.
Apparently Jenin used to be more liberal, but following the second Intifada (Uprising against Israeli occupation) in 2000 the place became more 'traditional.' As well as being anti-Israeli the Intifada also served to beat down more progressive traits and hark back to a stricter time. I'm not sure how much the Israeli opression affected this desire to hang on to the 'old' ways, or whether it was just used as an excuse to enforce them. Probably a bit of both.
It's pretty powerful too, for as we've seen the University often has to cowtow to traditionalist views. And although some of the youth drink and attempt illicit affairs, they are terrified of any consequences so I can't really see any sign of change. We shall see. (said the blind man)
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Teaching
I haven't written about actual teaching in a while so I guess I should. Well, I don't call it teaching here anymore, we are just processing them really. All they want to know is information to pass the exam (In which they all cheat anyhoo) and extra bonus marks which they don’t deserve.
But! If they know it's bollocks and I know it's bollocks and they know that I know, we can have some fun with it and just look for the productive and good moments. It's also more relaxing because I am reaching the end – only two or three weeks left, readers – and I can be honest with them about the material being badly presented yet important. It's difficult having to use dull material, especially when you don't have the time in the schedule to add supplementary fun stuff. One just has to rely on charm, wit and presence alone! Ahem. As such I think it's going quite well at the moment, I am pushing them through and getting some good stuff done. 'Good humoured yet firm,' that's the ticket!
I'm quite interested as to how far mood affects the vibe of the room – if you appear too relaxed and jokey the students will slide too far to meet you there, and if you are too strict it's no fun at all for anybody, so like everything you have to reach a happy medium. If I'm pissed off then things just slide and they will find it funny, as I'm not really the scary type.
Surprisingly I've found being nervous to be ok – sometimes when a class starts I'm a little nervous and the students don’t pounce, but I'm quite good at hiding it and it soon goes anyhow. I suppose it would be different if I was literally scared, but I've never been so, thank gosh!
But! If they know it's bollocks and I know it's bollocks and they know that I know, we can have some fun with it and just look for the productive and good moments. It's also more relaxing because I am reaching the end – only two or three weeks left, readers – and I can be honest with them about the material being badly presented yet important. It's difficult having to use dull material, especially when you don't have the time in the schedule to add supplementary fun stuff. One just has to rely on charm, wit and presence alone! Ahem. As such I think it's going quite well at the moment, I am pushing them through and getting some good stuff done. 'Good humoured yet firm,' that's the ticket!
I'm quite interested as to how far mood affects the vibe of the room – if you appear too relaxed and jokey the students will slide too far to meet you there, and if you are too strict it's no fun at all for anybody, so like everything you have to reach a happy medium. If I'm pissed off then things just slide and they will find it funny, as I'm not really the scary type.
Surprisingly I've found being nervous to be ok – sometimes when a class starts I'm a little nervous and the students don’t pounce, but I'm quite good at hiding it and it soon goes anyhow. I suppose it would be different if I was literally scared, but I've never been so, thank gosh!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Drinking / Ex-pat teaching
Today I got two Palestinians drunk for the first time. Haram! (that means forbidden by Allah) It was their idea but. Two friends of mine asked me to get them liquor and I was kinda thrilled at the prospect, as well as being keen to show off my knowledge and expertise in this area.
I think part of the appeal of being an ex-pat teacher in a foreign environment is the ‘big fish in a small pond' thing – back home we are nothing special, but we are made to feel important here just for being different and possessing culturally specific knowledge; like what alcohol is good to buy and what pornography and dating is like.
Similarly, going by the characters I have come across, I think that some are running from something or just can't fit into the 'real' world so they take the opportunity to get away from it all for a bit. Or longer, if they can hide away forever. It's kinda tempting in a way, but not too much!
It's also a good place to experiment, career wise. To quote a long-term teacher here, the good thing about teaching in the Middle East is that you can't fuck things up much more than they already are.
Anyways, I bought the booze from the local Christian village (small bottle of Smirnoff and red wine) and we got drunk and that was that. It was quite sweet to see them lounging around and talking the rubbish of first time drunkards worldwide; you might know the kind. ‘Ask me any question! Go on!’ ‘My head feels fine but I can’t quite control my body!’ One had this repugnant habit of tipping the ash from his cigarette into his drink and then drinking it. Maybe he thought it was a madcap thing to do!
I think they enjoyed it but I don’t know if they’ll do it again, just because it's too taboo, different and can't fit into their regular lives unless I am there all the time to buy it for them. (which I'm not). It made me wonder a little about the reason we all do it in the west, probably just because it's part of our culture.
Was funny, when I was filling them in on it (they were quite anxious beforehand - "I don't want to piss in my pants") all I was doing was listing the possible consequences and bad points, so they asked me what the good ones were. I couldn't really think of them, and in the aftermath I still can't really. One of the bad points I mentioned was feeling melancholy afterward, and funnily enough that's how I feel now. Oh well!
I think part of the appeal of being an ex-pat teacher in a foreign environment is the ‘big fish in a small pond' thing – back home we are nothing special, but we are made to feel important here just for being different and possessing culturally specific knowledge; like what alcohol is good to buy and what pornography and dating is like.
Similarly, going by the characters I have come across, I think that some are running from something or just can't fit into the 'real' world so they take the opportunity to get away from it all for a bit. Or longer, if they can hide away forever. It's kinda tempting in a way, but not too much!
It's also a good place to experiment, career wise. To quote a long-term teacher here, the good thing about teaching in the Middle East is that you can't fuck things up much more than they already are.
Anyways, I bought the booze from the local Christian village (small bottle of Smirnoff and red wine) and we got drunk and that was that. It was quite sweet to see them lounging around and talking the rubbish of first time drunkards worldwide; you might know the kind. ‘Ask me any question! Go on!’ ‘My head feels fine but I can’t quite control my body!’ One had this repugnant habit of tipping the ash from his cigarette into his drink and then drinking it. Maybe he thought it was a madcap thing to do!
I think they enjoyed it but I don’t know if they’ll do it again, just because it's too taboo, different and can't fit into their regular lives unless I am there all the time to buy it for them. (which I'm not). It made me wonder a little about the reason we all do it in the west, probably just because it's part of our culture.
Was funny, when I was filling them in on it (they were quite anxious beforehand - "I don't want to piss in my pants") all I was doing was listing the possible consequences and bad points, so they asked me what the good ones were. I couldn't really think of them, and in the aftermath I still can't really. One of the bad points I mentioned was feeling melancholy afterward, and funnily enough that's how I feel now. Oh well!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Children
Palestinians love children. They love families and relatives and neighbours in general, but children especially. However they love them in a way that might intially seem a little unusual to your western eye, dear reader.
It's not unusual for them to keep pictures on their phone or Facebook page of little kids that are or aren't theirs, sometimes they are almost 'glamour' shots. I had a student show me such a pic and say how beautiful it was, as well as trying to search for an also 'beautiful' little girl singer on youtube whilst his friends were around him.
(beautiful is a favourite word here, everyting is beautiful and if it's not beautiful, it's 'not beautiful.')
I'm pretty certain that there's nothing amiss with this adoration. As Westerners we are unfortunately prone to thinking that almost any imagery of children is suspect, but here of course it's very different. A family will on average have about 7-8 children. There's a variety of cultural and relgious reasons for this, as well as the population war with Israel and the fact that life is generally tenuous here anyway. Most families have lost someone in fighting.
I think that because of this especially the children here are very spoilt and venerated, because the adults know that they don't have much to look forward to. And as an unfortunate result, maybe that's why the students at the age of 18-20 at this University are generally lazy and immature. An infantilised and spoon fed culture, waiting for someone to come and save them! Israel's final victory.
PS - yesterday a student solemly played me a recording of a very young kids voice reciting an anti-occupation diatribe. I tried hard to supress my laughter at the cutesy-poo voice whereas the student was deadly serious.
PPS Credit to a good friend of mine for some of the ideas in this post.
It's not unusual for them to keep pictures on their phone or Facebook page of little kids that are or aren't theirs, sometimes they are almost 'glamour' shots. I had a student show me such a pic and say how beautiful it was, as well as trying to search for an also 'beautiful' little girl singer on youtube whilst his friends were around him.
(beautiful is a favourite word here, everyting is beautiful and if it's not beautiful, it's 'not beautiful.')
I'm pretty certain that there's nothing amiss with this adoration. As Westerners we are unfortunately prone to thinking that almost any imagery of children is suspect, but here of course it's very different. A family will on average have about 7-8 children. There's a variety of cultural and relgious reasons for this, as well as the population war with Israel and the fact that life is generally tenuous here anyway. Most families have lost someone in fighting.
I think that because of this especially the children here are very spoilt and venerated, because the adults know that they don't have much to look forward to. And as an unfortunate result, maybe that's why the students at the age of 18-20 at this University are generally lazy and immature. An infantilised and spoon fed culture, waiting for someone to come and save them! Israel's final victory.
PS - yesterday a student solemly played me a recording of a very young kids voice reciting an anti-occupation diatribe. I tried hard to supress my laughter at the cutesy-poo voice whereas the student was deadly serious.
PPS Credit to a good friend of mine for some of the ideas in this post.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Struttin'
The other day the winner of 'Superstar,' the middle East's version of Pop Idol, came to the University to perform. Just what we didn’t need after so many strikes as students will take any pretext to skip classes. (It started at 2 but classes were almost empty from 11).
So having nothing else to do I wandered around campus with a few students from Academic Support. They usually irritate me with their giggling greetings but there was a nice vibe in the air today because of the visit, so I went along.
I rarely walk around campus, because it's like being a D-list celebrity recovering from some kind of embarrassing scandal. Students I know and don't will holler at me, laugh, giggle and come and talk to me. Admittedly some of it is good natured and nice and people tell me I am popular, so sometimes I just plain get off on it and as I say the vibe was good on that day.
So we just walked around somewhat aimlessly before the thing started, but one of our party seemed to be an impatient rush to do so. We sat on a step and he played Eminem from his phone whilst his friend asked me the usual questions about Western culture and all. 'Do they make poronography in Britain? Can you have girlfriends?'
Another thing foreigners are commonly asked by the students here is 'Do you know what happened to us in 1948? Do you know what Israel does?' It's bizarre to me that they would think we would be clueless of their situation. I think this goes alongside the bafflement that they have often expressed as to why I am even here, as if I had just accidently fallen into the place on the way to somewhere 'better.' When I have told people that I am here to teach and to show support for Palestine they seem a little nonplussed. Maybe they just see it as futile. Foriegners motives, perhaps even everyhing about them seem somewhat of a mystery to them, especially since they see very little of us around Jenin way.
Similarly, I am always intrigued by the matter of fact, dispassionate way they discuss dead or imprisoned relatives. This student was telling me how four years ago his brother was shot and killed by Israeli troops for no apparent reason. I suppose such events are so commonplace that the horrific becomes almost banal, every family has a similar story.
So anyway we went and had lunch and argila, which they paid for. I always feel bad about this because they have no money, but they won't hear of it. We listened to more from the students phone and I managed to get some Johnny Cash on, because students here listen to terrible western music: Backstreet Boys, Celine Dion, Westlife, or 50 Cent, Akon etc.
Then all of a sudden it was time to rush off and see the Superstar. He'd been derided as a 'motherfucker' and Israeli conspirator by people I had spoken to but the place was full of people shouting, dancing and (guys) giving the singer kisses and flowers. It was very boring for me because it was all in arabic, and I thought I had better leave because all I was doing was staring at the Christian girls who had dolled themselves up for the occasion.
So having nothing else to do I wandered around campus with a few students from Academic Support. They usually irritate me with their giggling greetings but there was a nice vibe in the air today because of the visit, so I went along.
I rarely walk around campus, because it's like being a D-list celebrity recovering from some kind of embarrassing scandal. Students I know and don't will holler at me, laugh, giggle and come and talk to me. Admittedly some of it is good natured and nice and people tell me I am popular, so sometimes I just plain get off on it and as I say the vibe was good on that day.
So we just walked around somewhat aimlessly before the thing started, but one of our party seemed to be an impatient rush to do so. We sat on a step and he played Eminem from his phone whilst his friend asked me the usual questions about Western culture and all. 'Do they make poronography in Britain? Can you have girlfriends?'
Another thing foreigners are commonly asked by the students here is 'Do you know what happened to us in 1948? Do you know what Israel does?' It's bizarre to me that they would think we would be clueless of their situation. I think this goes alongside the bafflement that they have often expressed as to why I am even here, as if I had just accidently fallen into the place on the way to somewhere 'better.' When I have told people that I am here to teach and to show support for Palestine they seem a little nonplussed. Maybe they just see it as futile. Foriegners motives, perhaps even everyhing about them seem somewhat of a mystery to them, especially since they see very little of us around Jenin way.
Similarly, I am always intrigued by the matter of fact, dispassionate way they discuss dead or imprisoned relatives. This student was telling me how four years ago his brother was shot and killed by Israeli troops for no apparent reason. I suppose such events are so commonplace that the horrific becomes almost banal, every family has a similar story.
So anyway we went and had lunch and argila, which they paid for. I always feel bad about this because they have no money, but they won't hear of it. We listened to more from the students phone and I managed to get some Johnny Cash on, because students here listen to terrible western music: Backstreet Boys, Celine Dion, Westlife, or 50 Cent, Akon etc.
Then all of a sudden it was time to rush off and see the Superstar. He'd been derided as a 'motherfucker' and Israeli conspirator by people I had spoken to but the place was full of people shouting, dancing and (guys) giving the singer kisses and flowers. It was very boring for me because it was all in arabic, and I thought I had better leave because all I was doing was staring at the Christian girls who had dolled themselves up for the occasion.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Cheating
Cheating is institutionalised here. You have to get used to it or vainly struggle to find a way around it. I had six classes sit their exams this week and I only caught two examples of flagrant cheating, but I had a few goombas get implausibly high marks, so hmmmm. Hmm indeed. I felt I was being hyper-strict and vigilant too.
Well when I say 'cheat' it's perhaps a tad unfair, a big part of this is 'helping.' Generosity and helping thy neighbour is so much of a natural, done thing here that if a student asks another for 'help' during an exam s/he can't really turn them down. I've seen lovely kids struggling with the compulsion to help others during exams.
Anyhoo, the flagrant cheaters - helper and helpee - after being given many chances were punished by having their exams taken away there and then and told they were getting zero. The helper got all teary - 'Teacher, consider me your brother, I am sorry, my father is poor and cannot put me through another semester etc' It was kinda unsettling but I stuck to me guns. (The helpee's English was too poor for him to be able to appeal to me, thankfully).
The fact that students can cheat to pass, are spoon fed and treated leniently can be depressing because it feels like what you are doing is pointless. The undeserving usually pass and lots of them know this. They always ask for 'help' and 'bonus marks' - both mean marks for nothing, and there is an undercurrent here at the English Language Centre administration that everyone, regardless of ability should pass into the next level. It's quite disheartening, but I'm trying to look at the small picture and the good moments of genuine learning and fun, rather than getting bogged down with the wider injustice of it all. Just like Palestine itself!
(And of course I become part of the problem - I later reduced the cheaters zeros to a ten point reduction. They still aren't satisfied and are trying to creep around it. I must not bend further!)
Well when I say 'cheat' it's perhaps a tad unfair, a big part of this is 'helping.' Generosity and helping thy neighbour is so much of a natural, done thing here that if a student asks another for 'help' during an exam s/he can't really turn them down. I've seen lovely kids struggling with the compulsion to help others during exams.
Anyhoo, the flagrant cheaters - helper and helpee - after being given many chances were punished by having their exams taken away there and then and told they were getting zero. The helper got all teary - 'Teacher, consider me your brother, I am sorry, my father is poor and cannot put me through another semester etc' It was kinda unsettling but I stuck to me guns. (The helpee's English was too poor for him to be able to appeal to me, thankfully).
The fact that students can cheat to pass, are spoon fed and treated leniently can be depressing because it feels like what you are doing is pointless. The undeserving usually pass and lots of them know this. They always ask for 'help' and 'bonus marks' - both mean marks for nothing, and there is an undercurrent here at the English Language Centre administration that everyone, regardless of ability should pass into the next level. It's quite disheartening, but I'm trying to look at the small picture and the good moments of genuine learning and fun, rather than getting bogged down with the wider injustice of it all. Just like Palestine itself!
(And of course I become part of the problem - I later reduced the cheaters zeros to a ten point reduction. They still aren't satisfied and are trying to creep around it. I must not bend further!)
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Recklessness and Women
Cracks are starting to show…I'm finding it harder and harder to turn down invitations from my female students, and my mouth is going to get me in trouble. My pretty Arabic teaching friend asked me why I didn’t go to church over Easter and I thought ‘Fuck it, lets see what happens if I tell her I have no religious belief.’ Not a good idea.
She was aghast, and proclaimed at length that how could I not believe when everything comes from God. It was disappointing and worrying, but I think I was stupid to expect any other reaction. Pretty sure she thinks I am a ridiculous and decadent heathen now. Oh well!
Similar foolishness led to a tense atmosphere in the conversation class when I bought up the subject of honour killings. Subjects have ranged from nature to love to equality, and it can just get so frustrating here to sit and listen to girls proclaiming that they are totally free and life for them in Palestine is wonderful, when they and I both know that this is bullshit. Everything always comes back to God and the Koran and there is no argument against this, so end of story.
One particularly pious and arrogant girl claimed that women’s organizations in Palestine were ‘absurd’ because there is nothing for them to do here, and this almost enraged me so I asked her about honour killings and perhaps they might be able to help there.
Everything got a little tense and she said she didn’t want to talk about it, and the consensus was that these matters should be kept within the family. Most of them didn’t really think the girl should be killed if she ‘shames’ her family, apart from the pious girl who said that stoning was permitted. (It isn’t mentioned in the Koran - just one hundred lashes - but is in the Hadith, Mohammed’s supplementary writings).
I find it hard to believe that she honestly feels this is acceptable, and would like to find a way to bring it up again. I also need to find a way to circumvent God in conversation classes. Or maybe I should just shut the hell up and nod sagely to everything.
She was aghast, and proclaimed at length that how could I not believe when everything comes from God. It was disappointing and worrying, but I think I was stupid to expect any other reaction. Pretty sure she thinks I am a ridiculous and decadent heathen now. Oh well!
Similar foolishness led to a tense atmosphere in the conversation class when I bought up the subject of honour killings. Subjects have ranged from nature to love to equality, and it can just get so frustrating here to sit and listen to girls proclaiming that they are totally free and life for them in Palestine is wonderful, when they and I both know that this is bullshit. Everything always comes back to God and the Koran and there is no argument against this, so end of story.
One particularly pious and arrogant girl claimed that women’s organizations in Palestine were ‘absurd’ because there is nothing for them to do here, and this almost enraged me so I asked her about honour killings and perhaps they might be able to help there.
Everything got a little tense and she said she didn’t want to talk about it, and the consensus was that these matters should be kept within the family. Most of them didn’t really think the girl should be killed if she ‘shames’ her family, apart from the pious girl who said that stoning was permitted. (It isn’t mentioned in the Koran - just one hundred lashes - but is in the Hadith, Mohammed’s supplementary writings).
I find it hard to believe that she honestly feels this is acceptable, and would like to find a way to bring it up again. I also need to find a way to circumvent God in conversation classes. Or maybe I should just shut the hell up and nod sagely to everything.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Learning Arabic is frustrating
A very pretty Christian Palestinian who works in my building has kindly taken it upon herself to teach me Arabic. We get on well and there has been a little flirting. I bought her some mud back from the Dead Sea, as well as a tiny ornamental Easter chick. (I think she was more impressed with that than the mud, which was disappointing!)
I've been seeing her most days for about two months, and in one way it's great as I study harder because I want to impress her, but in another way it's rather frustrating because I can't ask her out or anything. Why, you might ask? Here is the list:
Not really any concept of dating here, and if there is it would have to be very covert. I would have to marry her fairly quickly and I'm not ready to do that and settle here.
If I express any hint that I like her she could tell others / her family who might want to hurt me for being a decadent and lascivious interloper - also my students would never let me hear the end of it.
I think she's going off me anyway (why? I am an interesting and exotic foreigner!) and I get the idea that she has an admirer or two.
And the number one reason - she comes from a village where there was an honour killing about a year ago - some arsehole had filmed a girl giving him oral sex on his mobile phone, he showed it to everybody and pressure piled on her Dad to do away with her. (Both he and the arsehole are still walking around of course, there are about 20-30 such killings a year here in Palestine and little is done about it).
But on the plus side my Arabic is coming along!
I've been seeing her most days for about two months, and in one way it's great as I study harder because I want to impress her, but in another way it's rather frustrating because I can't ask her out or anything. Why, you might ask? Here is the list:
Not really any concept of dating here, and if there is it would have to be very covert. I would have to marry her fairly quickly and I'm not ready to do that and settle here.
If I express any hint that I like her she could tell others / her family who might want to hurt me for being a decadent and lascivious interloper - also my students would never let me hear the end of it.
I think she's going off me anyway (why? I am an interesting and exotic foreigner!) and I get the idea that she has an admirer or two.
And the number one reason - she comes from a village where there was an honour killing about a year ago - some arsehole had filmed a girl giving him oral sex on his mobile phone, he showed it to everybody and pressure piled on her Dad to do away with her. (Both he and the arsehole are still walking around of course, there are about 20-30 such killings a year here in Palestine and little is done about it).
But on the plus side my Arabic is coming along!
Ta'moon, slaughter and settlements
Yesterday I had a very welcome and relaxing day in the village of Ta'moon near the Jordan Valley, the most noteworthy event there being the slaughter and skinning of two lambs in celebration at the birth of a boy. (Just one is killed for a girl). Most of the meat is then given to the poor of the village, but we were lucky enough to get some too. T'was delicious!
I felt a little wobbly when they were being brought up to the knife, but otherwise nothing beyond morbid curiosity. Two guys held it down while a third sliced through the neck, bled it out whilst it died somewhat slowly, then carved the head off, hung it up by it hind legs and hacked it all down to the bone. (They threw the skin and wool away which seemed a little wasteful, particularly because each one nearly 2000shekels each - around 300 pounds / $450)
After this we went to see our host’s tomato crop, and were a little disappointed to learn that the seeds come from Israel. Seems like the two places are unavoidably linked in a way that would be very difficult to change. I've recently been asking why the University and surrounding towns here sell so many Israeli goods, and the also-disappointing answer I always get is that it's because they are seen as the best - Jordanian goods aren't favoured either.
Also Palestine doesn't really produce a substantial amount of anything beyond olive oil, fruit and veg, the only Palestinian grown goods in the University shop are something like Onions and cucumbers. (Palestinian chocolate is apparently awful).
Back in Ta'moon We met our host's brother who works on one of the many illegal Jewish settlements and has a Palestinian boss, never having any contact with the settlers themselves. More hard to avoid evils! You gotta work. Our host was prevented from doing likewise as he was blacklisted for refusing to become a spy.
But! Some posters have just magically sprung up around the Uni - http://www.karama.ps/ - advocating a ban on Israeli goods. This kind of thing happens every year or two apparently, with little lasting effect. The status quo is always re-established here, nothing changes too much. But Inshallah we shall see what happens this time.
I felt a little wobbly when they were being brought up to the knife, but otherwise nothing beyond morbid curiosity. Two guys held it down while a third sliced through the neck, bled it out whilst it died somewhat slowly, then carved the head off, hung it up by it hind legs and hacked it all down to the bone. (They threw the skin and wool away which seemed a little wasteful, particularly because each one nearly 2000shekels each - around 300 pounds / $450)
After this we went to see our host’s tomato crop, and were a little disappointed to learn that the seeds come from Israel. Seems like the two places are unavoidably linked in a way that would be very difficult to change. I've recently been asking why the University and surrounding towns here sell so many Israeli goods, and the also-disappointing answer I always get is that it's because they are seen as the best - Jordanian goods aren't favoured either.
Also Palestine doesn't really produce a substantial amount of anything beyond olive oil, fruit and veg, the only Palestinian grown goods in the University shop are something like Onions and cucumbers. (Palestinian chocolate is apparently awful).
Back in Ta'moon We met our host's brother who works on one of the many illegal Jewish settlements and has a Palestinian boss, never having any contact with the settlers themselves. More hard to avoid evils! You gotta work. Our host was prevented from doing likewise as he was blacklisted for refusing to become a spy.
But! Some posters have just magically sprung up around the Uni - http://www.karama.ps/ - advocating a ban on Israeli goods. This kind of thing happens every year or two apparently, with little lasting effect. The status quo is always re-established here, nothing changes too much. But Inshallah we shall see what happens this time.
Monday, March 29, 2010
The show must go on
I read an interview with Kenneth Branagh (One time famous English 'luvvie' actor / director) a few years ago and it really stuck in my mind what he said about his work: 'Every morning when I walk to work I feel physically sick.'
Whilst I don't feel quite that bad, every day before teaching I feel pretty nervous about going up there and doing it. It does feel less like a performance now (only been teaching properly for about 6 months) but still I feel a bit wobbly beforehand. I think this is because most of what I do here is lecturing and spoon-feeding, rather than more interactive group work and mutual respect / fun.
9 times out of 10 once I get started I am fine, the bravado takes over and you battle your way through. The worst thing is being in a bad mood and short tempered, once you get pissed off the students just find it funny and down you go! Today I was in that state already, and worsened by a few students pretty much refusing to work. As it takes two to tango there’s not too much to be gained there apart from fruitless hectoring, moaning at them and afterward resolving never to do so again. (Until the next time) Moaning and bad moods never work.
I think my biggest fear is not being listened to and ignored, which says more about my ego than any teaching skills I might have. But like all big fears they are rarely fully realised, and even when they are you see that they aren't that big a deal and you can always get through ok.
So why do it? Well it can be a real buzz and a challenge with kids like these, so it's lovely when things go well and the students are nice, when you have fun and they get it. And when they give me cigarettes after class. Comfort is gained also by the words of a much missed teaching friend of mine; ‘You’ll never have a teaching job this hard again.’ If I do I will jack it all in and become a Paranormal Researcher, which I might just do anyhoo if I knew anything about it. (That’s the other impossible dream, but probably easier than teaching this lot)
Whilst I don't feel quite that bad, every day before teaching I feel pretty nervous about going up there and doing it. It does feel less like a performance now (only been teaching properly for about 6 months) but still I feel a bit wobbly beforehand. I think this is because most of what I do here is lecturing and spoon-feeding, rather than more interactive group work and mutual respect / fun.
9 times out of 10 once I get started I am fine, the bravado takes over and you battle your way through. The worst thing is being in a bad mood and short tempered, once you get pissed off the students just find it funny and down you go! Today I was in that state already, and worsened by a few students pretty much refusing to work. As it takes two to tango there’s not too much to be gained there apart from fruitless hectoring, moaning at them and afterward resolving never to do so again. (Until the next time) Moaning and bad moods never work.
I think my biggest fear is not being listened to and ignored, which says more about my ego than any teaching skills I might have. But like all big fears they are rarely fully realised, and even when they are you see that they aren't that big a deal and you can always get through ok.
So why do it? Well it can be a real buzz and a challenge with kids like these, so it's lovely when things go well and the students are nice, when you have fun and they get it. And when they give me cigarettes after class. Comfort is gained also by the words of a much missed teaching friend of mine; ‘You’ll never have a teaching job this hard again.’ If I do I will jack it all in and become a Paranormal Researcher, which I might just do anyhoo if I knew anything about it. (That’s the other impossible dream, but probably easier than teaching this lot)
I'm a big Christian
I have to pretend to be a Christian here with most people, which is kinda annoying for an agnostic / atheist. I don't really have to do anything except bluff my way though some questioning occasionally (I showed some Muslim students round a church recently - 'Umm, I think that's Saint Peter') but Palestinian friends and strangers will always ask what we consider to be private questions, one of them being what religion you are. Apparently to most Palestinians the concept of Atheism is at best ridiculous and at worst offensive, and since I always have to be careful here with all I say and do it's best to keep quiet.
(Almost every day I am asked if I am married also, and when I say no they are bemused and ask why not. Palestinians are married off aged 20-25 usually. At the age of 31 I am made to feel like an old maid).
It's a very verbal culture here, and because I am a foreigner and a teacher I'm particularly vulnerable to gossip. A few months ago an American Palestinian teacher at this Uni was literally hounded out by an angry mob after prescribing on her syllabus a graphic novel (Perspepolis) that had an image of God in it. I think this was used as somewhat of an excuse because she had become unpopular in some quarters, but it was a stark warning to the rest of us. She wasn’t backed up by the Administration and had to flee quick smart after death threats, proving there’s no justice like angry mob justice!
Religion and students rule the roost here, and us humble teachers merely keep in line and do our best. This can cause one to be somewhat paranoid, and I try to be careful but it can be frustrating sometimes when you can't express yourself properly. On the bright side I get the Christian holidays off, even if I don’t really know what ‘Palm Sunday’ is.
(Almost every day I am asked if I am married also, and when I say no they are bemused and ask why not. Palestinians are married off aged 20-25 usually. At the age of 31 I am made to feel like an old maid).
It's a very verbal culture here, and because I am a foreigner and a teacher I'm particularly vulnerable to gossip. A few months ago an American Palestinian teacher at this Uni was literally hounded out by an angry mob after prescribing on her syllabus a graphic novel (Perspepolis) that had an image of God in it. I think this was used as somewhat of an excuse because she had become unpopular in some quarters, but it was a stark warning to the rest of us. She wasn’t backed up by the Administration and had to flee quick smart after death threats, proving there’s no justice like angry mob justice!
Religion and students rule the roost here, and us humble teachers merely keep in line and do our best. This can cause one to be somewhat paranoid, and I try to be careful but it can be frustrating sometimes when you can't express yourself properly. On the bright side I get the Christian holidays off, even if I don’t really know what ‘Palm Sunday’ is.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Counting my blessings
I hope I haven’t moaned too much and given off too bad an impression of the students here, so here is a random selection of nice moments from the past few days.
- A pretty student of mine from last year told me my beard was ‘too beautiful.’ (‘Beautiful’ is their favourite word, everything is beautiful).
- The students often tell me they have missed me, even if it’s not true. (I don’t mind)
- I stayed behind a bit to help a struggling student and he gave me a cigar. I sometimes get cigarettes as well!
- Had very productive sessions with two intermediate groups teaching transition / cause and effect words.
- One very nice inquisitive student always asks me questions about English I can’t answer, but I like his enthusiasm.
- A pretty student of mine from last year told me my beard was ‘too beautiful.’ (‘Beautiful’ is their favourite word, everything is beautiful).
- The students often tell me they have missed me, even if it’s not true. (I don’t mind)
- I stayed behind a bit to help a struggling student and he gave me a cigar. I sometimes get cigarettes as well!
- Had very productive sessions with two intermediate groups teaching transition / cause and effect words.
- One very nice inquisitive student always asks me questions about English I can’t answer, but I like his enthusiasm.
Hanging with the kids
Two nights back I had the most unbearable experience yet in the Holy Land – I was babbled at long and hard in Arabic and English by some of my student ‘friends’ in their digs in the local village. Ack! The notion of personal space sometimes carries little weight here, especially amongst these frustrated and excitable young chaps.
I had this one guy crouching right up against me, right up in my face asking me to say this and that in Arabic, asking me questions about sex, terms for body parts, with the others, whilst not focused on me, were dancing and fighting and saying ‘suck my dick’ and ‘fuck your mother’ to each other etc. Another kissed me once and tried to get me to dance. I just exaggerated my headache and tiredness and tried to keep my cool.
I was massively tempted to walk out but that would have meant offense and controversy. I’m not sure if these guys are just utter tools, really immature, nervous, trying to impress me, laughing at the foreigner or maybe a mix of all that. All other times I’ve spent with them have been ok but this took the biscuit. They’re all incredibly sexually frustrated as well and can’t do anything about it, so I suppose it’s sublimated into idiotic behavior like this.
I had this one guy crouching right up against me, right up in my face asking me to say this and that in Arabic, asking me questions about sex, terms for body parts, with the others, whilst not focused on me, were dancing and fighting and saying ‘suck my dick’ and ‘fuck your mother’ to each other etc. Another kissed me once and tried to get me to dance. I just exaggerated my headache and tiredness and tried to keep my cool.
I was massively tempted to walk out but that would have meant offense and controversy. I’m not sure if these guys are just utter tools, really immature, nervous, trying to impress me, laughing at the foreigner or maybe a mix of all that. All other times I’ve spent with them have been ok but this took the biscuit. They’re all incredibly sexually frustrated as well and can’t do anything about it, so I suppose it’s sublimated into idiotic behavior like this.
Pride Swallowing Seige
(A prize for spot that phrase) Yes readers, sometimes teaching is most certainly that, particularly in another country. Generally the teaching so far this semester is going really well I think and most students are pretty nice, but some classes just have a bad feel to them, especially those late in the day where the students are lazy and recalcitrant. The honeymoon may be over now that they are starting to get their rubbish homework back…
As well as general giggling, laziness and probably slagging me off in Arabic I almost had a rebellion in a so-called ‘Advanced’ class t’ other day because of my ‘If you phone rings during class you are marked as absent’ rule. Despite giving a warning, a particularly low-ability student’s phone rang and I made a show of reluctantly marking him absent.
Most of the class were up in arms about this decision, telling me it was ‘haram’ which means forbidden / against God / or just really bad and unfair. A few classes back I had let a first offender off, on the condition that they all agreed this would be the one and only time. They apparently didn’t care about this agreement (even the kid whose phone I let off, one of my arch enemies who I had last year also) so I reminded them that it was also ‘haram’ to go back on their word. That shut them up a little. It’s always satisfying to use their own culture / religion against them, ha! The culprit whinged for forgiveness all lesson, most hearts were hardened against me (I did not relent) and the lesson trundled to its’ end.
I got changed into jeans and t shirt and went out again, where a student from last year looked me up and down and burst out laughing to himself, seemingly just because I was dressed in clothes that he had not seen me in before. Now that’s got to be haram.
As well as general giggling, laziness and probably slagging me off in Arabic I almost had a rebellion in a so-called ‘Advanced’ class t’ other day because of my ‘If you phone rings during class you are marked as absent’ rule. Despite giving a warning, a particularly low-ability student’s phone rang and I made a show of reluctantly marking him absent.
Most of the class were up in arms about this decision, telling me it was ‘haram’ which means forbidden / against God / or just really bad and unfair. A few classes back I had let a first offender off, on the condition that they all agreed this would be the one and only time. They apparently didn’t care about this agreement (even the kid whose phone I let off, one of my arch enemies who I had last year also) so I reminded them that it was also ‘haram’ to go back on their word. That shut them up a little. It’s always satisfying to use their own culture / religion against them, ha! The culprit whinged for forgiveness all lesson, most hearts were hardened against me (I did not relent) and the lesson trundled to its’ end.
I got changed into jeans and t shirt and went out again, where a student from last year looked me up and down and burst out laughing to himself, seemingly just because I was dressed in clothes that he had not seen me in before. Now that’s got to be haram.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Stabbing
I was having a cigarette round the back of the building this morning, always a dumb idea because my students (all around 18 years old) come and talk to me or I am harassed by past students and strangers. 'How are you? ' I love you Simon!' etc. For some reason I am very amusing to them, harrumph.
But anyway one of my most troublesome Beginner students from last year came up to me. Last year he and his mate were the biggest pain in the arse, always talking, laughing, arguing every point with me. I kicked them out of class a few times and argued with them incessentally about it. (Which I now know to be pointless, just say your piece and be done with it)
Annnnywaayy this student told me that he was in trouble and had been in jail for stabbing someone in the chest and leg. I asked him why and he didn't say, he was kinda shifty but you could see he was a little proud of it as well, the swine. He jocularly asked if I wanted to be stabbed and I politely replied 'No thank you' and he went on his way.
If I'd had known he was violently inclined I think I would have been a lot less strict with him last year. Despite all this I still kinda like him, we had some memorable times. I suppose in a way I like all my students, even the intensely irritating ones become like your children. You get to watch them grow, hear about them being in prison and to tut at their violent assaults. Awww.
But anyway one of my most troublesome Beginner students from last year came up to me. Last year he and his mate were the biggest pain in the arse, always talking, laughing, arguing every point with me. I kicked them out of class a few times and argued with them incessentally about it. (Which I now know to be pointless, just say your piece and be done with it)
Annnnywaayy this student told me that he was in trouble and had been in jail for stabbing someone in the chest and leg. I asked him why and he didn't say, he was kinda shifty but you could see he was a little proud of it as well, the swine. He jocularly asked if I wanted to be stabbed and I politely replied 'No thank you' and he went on his way.
If I'd had known he was violently inclined I think I would have been a lot less strict with him last year. Despite all this I still kinda like him, we had some memorable times. I suppose in a way I like all my students, even the intensely irritating ones become like your children. You get to watch them grow, hear about them being in prison and to tut at their violent assaults. Awww.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Palestinians
How do. A word on Palestinians (and I am told the Arab world also) - they are in general the friendliest, most welcoming and helpful people you could ever meet. (sometimes overbearingly so, particularly to us western miserablist types)
A person that you have just met on the street is very likely to invite you into their home and give you more than you can ever eat (you have to keep eating) and much more than they can afford. I was reading how the Zionist troops exploited such hospitality back in the early '40s, when invited into Palestinian homes they would use it to stake out the area for future razing to the ground. (Ilan Pappe - The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine) But even this would not deter them! I was told recently in the tiny, impoverished village of Fahmi near Jenin that if Israelis visited they would have to treat them well as their guests.
Most plush Palestinian houses have specific 'guest rooms' with cases full of glasses and silverware to indicate their willingness to serve, and indeed I have eaten very well indeed at their generous hands. A whole other blog could be dedicated to the wonder of Palestinian grub.
But now I am a little ashamed to say it's getting a bit much for me. When you visit friends (or people you have just bumped into on the street) you are obliged to stay for hours and hours, and very often overnight, or make up an incredibly urgent and important reason to leave. I was told that a few years ago a visitor had to stay at least three days, even if he had important work to do. Lawks! I'll miss it when its gone though.
A person that you have just met on the street is very likely to invite you into their home and give you more than you can ever eat (you have to keep eating) and much more than they can afford. I was reading how the Zionist troops exploited such hospitality back in the early '40s, when invited into Palestinian homes they would use it to stake out the area for future razing to the ground. (Ilan Pappe - The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine) But even this would not deter them! I was told recently in the tiny, impoverished village of Fahmi near Jenin that if Israelis visited they would have to treat them well as their guests.
Most plush Palestinian houses have specific 'guest rooms' with cases full of glasses and silverware to indicate their willingness to serve, and indeed I have eaten very well indeed at their generous hands. A whole other blog could be dedicated to the wonder of Palestinian grub.
But now I am a little ashamed to say it's getting a bit much for me. When you visit friends (or people you have just bumped into on the street) you are obliged to stay for hours and hours, and very often overnight, or make up an incredibly urgent and important reason to leave. I was told that a few years ago a visitor had to stay at least three days, even if he had important work to do. Lawks! I'll miss it when its gone though.
Academic Support
Academic Support has re-started! Woop woop! What this means is that student volunteers sit around and wait for other students to come and ask them to do their homework. I am supposed to be Academic Support Co-ordinator, which sounds good and will look good on a CV, but all I have to do is sit in on some sessions, nodding sagely and being the respected foreign teacher guy.
Met a nice volunteer who I felt bad for as he can’t travel anywhere cos he was in prison for 27 days two years ago, and that will follow him around like a reet bugger. I asked what it was for and he said weapons dealing and planning to attack
Also the volunteer girls in Academic Support were practicing conversation, with very heavy topics like ‘Have you ever contemplated suicide?’ and they were all very pious and serious which was a right royal bore. After it finished a girl told me I looked like I had a real sadness behind my eyes. I don’t think I do?! Or maybe we all do, readers.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
The Classes
The classes are a max of 25, (too big!) focus on Reading and Writing, students aged 18-20ish. The most important thing to remember is that they are compulsory classes and most of them, if not all, don't really want to be there.
I didn't know this before coming - I didn't ask, and naively assumed that students at a University would be keen to learn and would choose their own classes. That's why we say the ELC (English Language Center) is more like a school, as I think at a University no one should be 'forced' into classes. Lessons are 50 mins or 1 hour 15, and towards the end - or even 20 mins before the end - the students will often groan 'Enough' or 'halas teacher.' Halas is a word you hear all day every day in Palestine, it means 'finish' or 'enough.'
The classes are (somewhat loosely) grouped into Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. This semester I have the good fortune of having just Intermediate and Advanced, as the Beginner classes can be very rowdy, immature and of a very low ability, despite having apparently studied English in school almost all of their life. Mixed ability classes are always difficult to deal with as you feel you should be juggling many different sized balls at the same time.
That said, there haven't been any great problems with classes, mainly just talking too much in Arabic. I have given up trying to get them to speak solely in English as it's impossible and the classes are intended to focus on Reading and Writing more than speaking anyway. I very rarely do any group work either as the often somewhat dull Northstar curriculum we use doesn't seem too tailored for that, but I guess I should try it more. (Next semester we are changing to the far superior Headway, but I will be back in England then!)
Overall they're an ok lot for kids / adults who have been pushed into classes. I should experiment more as there's not too much to lose really - A colleague of mine said it best; that teaching in the Middle East is a great opportunity to experiment as you can't fuck things up more than they already are! One of my best lessons was when I got an exceptionally bright student to be the teacher for the lesson, it was great fun and she did a good job teaching Abstract Nouns. She even did an angry walkout at the noise in imitation of mine the lesson before, funny.
I didn't know this before coming - I didn't ask, and naively assumed that students at a University would be keen to learn and would choose their own classes. That's why we say the ELC (English Language Center) is more like a school, as I think at a University no one should be 'forced' into classes. Lessons are 50 mins or 1 hour 15, and towards the end - or even 20 mins before the end - the students will often groan 'Enough' or 'halas teacher.' Halas is a word you hear all day every day in Palestine, it means 'finish' or 'enough.'
The classes are (somewhat loosely) grouped into Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. This semester I have the good fortune of having just Intermediate and Advanced, as the Beginner classes can be very rowdy, immature and of a very low ability, despite having apparently studied English in school almost all of their life. Mixed ability classes are always difficult to deal with as you feel you should be juggling many different sized balls at the same time.
That said, there haven't been any great problems with classes, mainly just talking too much in Arabic. I have given up trying to get them to speak solely in English as it's impossible and the classes are intended to focus on Reading and Writing more than speaking anyway. I very rarely do any group work either as the often somewhat dull Northstar curriculum we use doesn't seem too tailored for that, but I guess I should try it more. (Next semester we are changing to the far superior Headway, but I will be back in England then!)
Overall they're an ok lot for kids / adults who have been pushed into classes. I should experiment more as there's not too much to lose really - A colleague of mine said it best; that teaching in the Middle East is a great opportunity to experiment as you can't fuck things up more than they already are! One of my best lessons was when I got an exceptionally bright student to be the teacher for the lesson, it was great fun and she did a good job teaching Abstract Nouns. She even did an angry walkout at the noise in imitation of mine the lesson before, funny.
(waiting to start) Teaching English in the Arab American University
Hellos! (This is how the Teaching Assistants and I greet each other, it always makes me laugh but maybe you have to be there)
I start this blog near the beginning of the second semester, a month and a bit in and still haven't worked a full week. This is due to many many strikes, by both students and employees of the good ol' Arab American University.
The reasons for such strikes are always murky to a foriegner like me, (I have never begun to think about trying to learn how to read Arabic, and am learning the spoken lang. very slowly) but the most recent one was due to the troubles in occupied East Jerusalem where the Israelis have re-opened a 17th Century synagogue very near the sight of a holy Muslim site, Haram al-Sharif. Palestinians fear that this is part of a continuing process to push out or destroy them and their holy sites, and along with settlement expansion and general stresses of the occupation there were clashes in Jerusalem and so the student union kicked off.
The funny thing during such so - called student strikes is that the students come and ask you, the teacher, if there is a strike! So I just tell them no now to make things easier for the poor dears. Another silly thing is that we still have to go to work on the strike days but not teach (not too much of a problem for me as I live above the classrooms) and the strike days have to be made up by extending the semester. This makes it not so much a strike as a day off which has to be paid for, kind of defeating the notion of refusing to work to protest your beliefs!
Oh dear. At least I get another day of sitting around with my beloved, aka a portable DVD player which has saved my life on many occasions. Hooray!
I start this blog near the beginning of the second semester, a month and a bit in and still haven't worked a full week. This is due to many many strikes, by both students and employees of the good ol' Arab American University.
The reasons for such strikes are always murky to a foriegner like me, (I have never begun to think about trying to learn how to read Arabic, and am learning the spoken lang. very slowly) but the most recent one was due to the troubles in occupied East Jerusalem where the Israelis have re-opened a 17th Century synagogue very near the sight of a holy Muslim site, Haram al-Sharif. Palestinians fear that this is part of a continuing process to push out or destroy them and their holy sites, and along with settlement expansion and general stresses of the occupation there were clashes in Jerusalem and so the student union kicked off.
The funny thing during such so - called student strikes is that the students come and ask you, the teacher, if there is a strike! So I just tell them no now to make things easier for the poor dears. Another silly thing is that we still have to go to work on the strike days but not teach (not too much of a problem for me as I live above the classrooms) and the strike days have to be made up by extending the semester. This makes it not so much a strike as a day off which has to be paid for, kind of defeating the notion of refusing to work to protest your beliefs!
Oh dear. At least I get another day of sitting around with my beloved, aka a portable DVD player which has saved my life on many occasions. Hooray!
Marhaba!
Hello!
This is my long delayed and kind of contractually obliged blog where I talk about doing what I am doing and being where I am, which is teaching English on a University campus near Jenin in the occupied Palestinian territories. (or just Palestine as we call it here).
I'm 31, male, originally from the South of England. I've been here since late Sept '09, but I spent a month and a half in Palestine in summer '08 also where I taught English to kids and adults in Amari refugee camp near Ramallah.
Here I will talk about Palestine and Palestinians, teaching, and just general stuff and nonsense. Ma salama for now!
This is my long delayed and kind of contractually obliged blog where I talk about doing what I am doing and being where I am, which is teaching English on a University campus near Jenin in the occupied Palestinian territories. (or just Palestine as we call it here).
I'm 31, male, originally from the South of England. I've been here since late Sept '09, but I spent a month and a half in Palestine in summer '08 also where I taught English to kids and adults in Amari refugee camp near Ramallah.
Here I will talk about Palestine and Palestinians, teaching, and just general stuff and nonsense. Ma salama for now!
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