the west bank

yesterday i went to a coffeeshop that i had been to before in the muslim quarter, and i met a palestinian tour guide performance artist musician who i got into an interesting conversation with and ended up going on an adventure with.

we went to this monastery that's cut into the hills in the desert and rode donkeys down to the bottom of a valley where it's an oasis. on the way we passed israeli settlements and bedouins who aren't allowed to wander and live in half-boxcars. the picture above is of an electrified fence that surrounds the water pumps. you can figure, in the desert, water is a big deal. according to old arab tribal laws/customs, if people are occupying a hill you have to pay them to use the water in it. so, the israelis fenced off the water pumps so they can use the water without paying. the settlements are huge! i pictured some little old west dusty towns, and even though there's definitely an old west mentality here, the settlements are giant "suburbs" (depending on who you ask and where they are) that go on for miles and miles and miles. the israelis supposedly say they stopped building new ones but i saw construction going on.

when i came back from the desert adventure i was late to meet my homos so i ran into the chic hotel all dusty and sweaty and breathless and muttering about palestinians and donkeys that's how i met them. then suddenly we classed it up on the israeli side and had a 7 course dinner at an art collectors house. it was a bizarre day.