Day 2- Tuesday

We have slept 13 hours, but I still sleep in and am very nearly late for our first full day.

I stuff two peices of bread with Nuttella on them into my cool bag, insert that to my bigger back pack and head to the office for the days briefing.

Soon we are off to Bethlehem where we meet the members of the office there, including Civil Engineers who are doing all the re-design work for the area, sponsorship people, and the area directors.

After some sweet Arabic Coffee and a lot of questions from me and Camilla we head out in a car to visit the Al Markour Mountain area of Beit Jala ( a village near Bethlehem) where we will be working. I loose all sense of direction once we get into the winding streets of Bethlehem but or Translator (who also happens to manage the project) guides us surely through.

Once there we visit a few of the rennovated Castles. These castles (they're more like stones huts for temporary accomodation of animals and people) are used by the farmers to cultivate the land more efficiently during key seasons. Oncce the wall is completed they won't be able to visit the land as readily and an ability to stay overnight will be invaluable.

We also travel along some of the new roads others of which are in dire state of repair.

It is a boiling 35 degrees, but the cool air trapped inside the various castles we visit is a great felief. An eduring memory is standing within the simple living accomodation and staring out over the rows and rows of trees. The farmers must be very proud, and feel lucky to farm this land.

We meet one such farmer I'll call him Emad. We share freshly picked almonds with him and listen to his story. Hearing him talk gives us some really clear gudiance as to what questions we will ask over the next few days.

His castle is quite well off, it already has electricity and a bathroom, more advanced than the other that the project is helping. Tomorrow we will interview him in more detail and his family as well, for now we sit drinking sweet tea and over look the beautifull scenery of the Mountain.

We stop for falafel in a small on the road side restaraunt, it is my first of the trip and is deliciously filling, and full of good things. I love falafel and it really picks me up!

We pay a quick visit to the Church of the Nativity (where Christ is said to hav been born), which is a nice building but filled with very pious tourists and less than pious flash cameras at every turn. I'm also put off slightly by the tour guides who are uncomfortable not because they are aggressive, but because they are desperate.

A further trip to the Shepherds field is cancelled due to closure. Another activity, a trip to a refugee camp is also cancelled because no one can get in touch with the leader there. The last cancellation is a particular disapointment, but we are learning very quickly to be flexible.

We spend some time atthe office reading all of the background information and thinking of questions before going back to jerusalem.

Here we quickly get changed out of our sweat drenched clothes and head right back out again for dinner and shopping with some friends who are taking good care of us on this trip.

Finally we're at home writing up our questions before another full day tomorrow.

The sun is sapping our strength quickly during the day, so an early night will be very important.

Still no gin and tonic.