Though this road seems familiar to me now, when I stop and think I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to experience this part of the world to the point of familiarity. It's complexity takes years to understand, and I have a lot more to learn. Yet I revel in the endless learning that it brings, and the ever-changing political and social contexts that make it the most fascinating place I've ever known.
This summer, I am living in the West Bank for the first time. After spending time last year with Arabs inside Israel, it will be a different side of the story to get to know Palestinians in Ramallah. My internship is with the Palestinian Education for Employment Foundation, which is an organization that offers trainings, mini-MBA programs and English lessons for university graduates and places them in employment throughout the Arab region. My job at PEFE for the summer will primarily be to help in setting up systems for them to evaluate their programs for effectiveness and plan for their future development.
Sometimes people comment to me that I always seem to choose 'hard' things to do. But that's not how I see it. I love what I do and I love being in this region. Though I'm always nervous go back, I'm also know I must learn more because there is still so much that I don't understand. And what makes me most want to come back are the friendships that I have with people here in Egypt, Israel and Palestine, who give me hope that people are good inside. I have to hold on to that, no matter how depressing the political situation can get, and no matter how hard I have to fight to be accepted by people here.
So my road back to Jerusalem doesn't seem so hard to me, it seems like where I belong. And I feel lucky to continue the journey.
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