To celebrate the end of the Ulpan, I went to Oktoberfest in Ramallah with a few other graduate students. I may have lost some of you at this point. Yes, there is a brewery in the Islamic culture of the West Bank/Palestine. And yes, I set foot in Ramallah. The Oktoberfest in question was organized by Taybeh brewery(http://taybehbeer.com/), which is situated in the town of Taybeh, which is a short distance north of Ramallah. It is the last Christian town in Palestine, I believe. As there are trade restrictions on the West Bank, the brewery only imports to India and Japan. I don't often see it in Israel, except in certain left-leaning bars and in the Old City. This particular Oktoberfest was, you could say, unique. It was not like any other Oktoberfest. Palestinian MC's rapping in Arabic, traditional dance, break-dancing, and a comedian that started with some funny jokes, but gave up translating himself into English half-way through his set. Good times.
Questionable graduate students.
As for the city of Ramallah itself, it was fascinating. If you live in Israel, you can sometimes forget that you are in the actual Middle-East. The moment the bus we were on crossed into the West Bank, I remembered.
Noise, Arabic script, hijabs, and political graffiti everywhere. I quickly noted Ramallah was not the same as the portrayals in the states. Not surprising. Ramallah is the most liberal city in the West Bank. It still has a majority of Muslims, of course, but as suggested by the presence of an Oktoberfest, there are certain concessions made. It's the center for Palestinian Feminists, and many women attend university before marriage. I spoke with a female non-religious Palestinian Feminist, and she was fiery. It was a fun conversation. Walking through the streets I never felt like I was in any danger per se, but the "otherness" gives you a funny feeling. Hopefully I will have time this semester to go into the West-Bank again.
Yesterday I made a visit to the City of David dig with two of the students that went to Ramallah with me. It's named as such because one of the archaeologists involved believes it is the site of King David's palace. That point is disputed, and I don't know enough of the details myself to have an opinion. The site is interesting, as the structure was constructed on solid rock, so you can't dig farther down like most sites. I'll be going to the area again for one of my courses this semester. One notable aspect is Hezekiah's Tunnel as mentioned in 2 Kings 20:20, 2 Chron. 32:2-4, and 2 Chron. 32:30. It's a tunnel carved in solid rock that was used to bring water from the Gihon spring into the city, to the pool of Siloam(John 9:7). You're able to walk through it for the entire way, so I did. At the end was a replica of the Siloam inscription(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siloam_inscription), as the real deal is held at the Istanbul Archaeology Museum.
The Autumn semester starts this Sunday. As of right now the courses I am taking are: Archaeology of Jerusalem, Historical-Critical context of the Hebrew Bible, Ancient Egyptian and Hieroglyphics, and History and culture of the Palestinians during the British mandate. I am still trying to work in Literary Arabic, so we'll see about that. My choices may seem wide-spread, but I am a twenty-one year old that is living in Jerusalem that wants to study everything so I am rather pleased with them. I have a wide array of interests that have the potential to grow into bigger things, and I haven't quite nailed one down to pursue, yet. This February I am trying to go to Amman, Jordan for a period of time to work with a non-profit in the city, so there is that.
Until next time.
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