Restless Clouds

First, a sunset.

It’s been several days since my last post. These are some things I decided not to post about:

How I stayed in bed until 2 p.m. on my first full day in Nablus because I was so lonely, overwhelmed, and cold, and I thought the lighter for my stove was out of fluid.

How I didn’t check my receipt at the grocery store and two blocks later a young man caught up with me, slightly out of breath, to tell me … something… about my receipt. I understood there was a shekels/dollars problem, so I followed him back to the store and found out that my card had been charged the shekel amount in dollars. A manger gave me the difference in shekels and a lecture on paying attention.

How I was so desperate for friendly conversation the first week that I returned to a kitchen goods shop where the owner had talked to me and then, as I opened my wallet to pay, spotted a ₪20 note and told me my total was ₪20. This was probably close to a fair price, but price tags are non-existent in shops and I’m certain prices are fluid. I’ve haggled in markets before, but I’m not sure how much resistance to put up in an actual shop. The second time, I kept my wallet closed, but the American mark-up inched a little higher.

How a taxi driver told me his brother teaches at An-Najah, his other brother is an engineer, his sister is a teacher, “and I driver, you know, brothers, sister, alhamdulillah, I driver!” His “praise be to God” was delivered unironically but with a shrug in the voice, not quite resignedly. Riding in a taxi in Israel and the West Bank felt like a death ride the first few times but then something changed, and I haven’t decided if it was a recognition that these professional drivers are safer than they seem or if I’m willfully ignoring the danger.

How the screaming match (or was it a conversation?) between the toddler downstairs and one of the many stray cats around my building made me smile.

How I haven’t actually met any of my neighbors yet.

How I’ve met a few people in my department so far and I’m looking forward to going to campus today to work with a colleague on a class that starts Sunday. At the moment, I’m scheduled to teach 2 sections of a course called Writing and Research that corresponds to one of the classes I teach at VCU and 1 section of a poetry course (focused on British and American work). This may change as enrollment is finalized.

How I was finally able to get my washing machine to start in less than 5 minutes of perplexed knob twisting and button pushing.

How the elevator makes a doorbell sound and the doorbell has a repertoire of at least 3 different tunes, about 30 seconds each, fortunately played only one at a time. At first I was irritated, but now… alhamdulillah, the doorbell works.