From Iowa to Hebron to Sweden and Back

From Iowa to Hebron to Sweden and Back
March 3 & March 16, 2002

Hi everyone!
Just a quick note to let you know I made it back to Hebron safely. My work is definitely cut out for me, not least because most of my 'neat' teammies are out on vacation. I'm headed to Sweden for a conference on international observers later this week.
peace, Le Anne

March 16, 2002

Hi everyone,
I got back from Sweden a day or so ago and am settling back into life in Hebron. Unfortunately, it's been heavy gunfire overhead for the past three days. And pretty tight curfew. I met a widow today whose water tanks and electricity were shot out last night and just as I came in the house she started bawling. She felt like she'd lost everything. All the families I meet here keep repeating, 'Please just write and tell America what you see here happening to us.' Well, at least they've figured out where all the money and weapons are coming from to fund this Occupation.
As we accompanied children to school this morning, the soldiers fired a tear gas canister into the school doorway. That was not pleasant at 7:30 in the morning. There are four small schools located within one block in Hebron. The soldiers told the teachers that the children had to be in class by 8 or there would be trouble. The boys' schoolteachers understood it to mean they had to leave by 8, so they shut down their school while the girls continued. We had kids running all over the place. By the time we checked again at 11, they'd gotten things straightened out somehow and everyone was in class.
It was pretty gruesome later in the day as we walked behind the block where all the schools were and began to realize some of the earlier tension. Only an hour before we arrived to do school patrol, soldiers shot a car and killed the driver. He was coming down a hill and seems to have slumped on the gas pedal after the shooting, which slammed his car into a nearby butcher shop. When we walked by, young boys pointed out the sawdust that was soaking up pools of blood from the man. It was hard to stomach. We had been up the road about a block that morning, not knowing what had happened, and had seen the dozens of M-16 (Israeli) bullet casings scattered on the ground.
A much brighter moment was due to our upstairs neighbors, who just celebrated the Muslim New Year, and had leftover food from the celebration. So they cooked us a huge pot of maklube ('upside down') rice and meat with spices and we are going to be eating it happily for days.
Around the house, my garden is recovering from no one watering itfrom the time Greg left to when I got back, and I have tried to restore some order to the kitchen. There are neat people and there are sloppy people who are on this team, and guess who all is here right now. I never considered myself a neat person until I moved here, actually.
I should tell you a bit about Sweden, for instance that it was warmer than both north Iowa and Hebron this year. Very strange. The next thing is that the most important word in the Swedish vocabulary is Fika. This means 'snacks'! Swedes have fika more times per day than I breathe. This explains why my hosts, the Church of Sweden, gave me sixty bucks for 'coffee'. I did not starve, and by the end of one day of visiting, I felt like I could have been rolled home. And yet I did not see any fat Swedes while there.
I was surprised I got to see much of anything in Stockholm, actually. We were programmed a solid week from wakeup to bedtime, mainly in speaking. I did manage to cram souvenir shopping and sightseeing into one action-packed 90 minutes, but it was at a near full run and oops almost got hit by a car. And you all wrote and said Sweden was a good safe place for me.
I'd love to tell you all about what I did there, only Kathy wants the computer. It's a large team right now and all eight people want to email at night. Seven are women and then there's poor Mark. At least he gets his shower to himself.
Talk to you soon,Le Anne

Wrapping Things Up and Shipping Out

Wrapping Things Up and Shipping Out
February 26, 2002


Hi everyone,

Well, I'm shipping out on Thursday and getting things wrapped up here for the next three months.

If you know how to tune into WORT-FM from Madison, WI, I'll be doing a live, hour-long call-in program starting at noon on Thursday. This means that we'll pull over on the way up to the airport, do the interview, and get back on the road to catch my flight, I guess. I'm anticipating that this will
finally get some of the kooky hecklers I've been wondering would ever show up at one of my talks. I'm not looking forward to that but know it will happen sometime. But at least I've gotten a lot of speaking practice in after this month. I decided to learn how to speak by cramming a bunch of
invitations all into a two-week span and diving in head first. For the most part, it's been good. Here's a summary of what I did:

TV interview on KIMT in Mason City
Feature article for Globe Gazette in Mason City
West Branch Quaker Meeting, IA (sermon and adult Sunday School)
Wartburg College (Chapel, three classes, recruiting table, interview for
paper, discussion with Students for Peace and Justice)
Luther College (Chapel, six classes, recruiting table, public evening forum,
couple lunch discussions)
English Lutheran, La Crosse, WI (adult forum, three Temple Talks, evening
group discussion, lunch with future Middle East travelers)
First Baptist Church, Osage, IA (geography lesson on Holy Land for Ladies'
Aid--ended up as discussion of CPT work and the Occupation)
Trinity Lutheran, Mason City (adult forum)
NIACC, Mason City (two classes)
Francis Lauer Youth Shelter, Mason City, afternoon program.

So, I guess it's been busy. I learned pretty quickly that even if people stared at you slack-jawed (I thought only college students did that), they can be completely absorbed in what you're saying anyway. The best part though, was having so many enthusiastic recruits at both Luther and
Wartburg. One from Luther I'm positive will be on a project by August, I'm so excited! And now, with many thanks to the Baptist Ladies calling up and wanting a geography lesson (I dared to laugh before I went), I brainstormed a list of topics I'm willing to speak on. Hopefully tomorrow I'll send you another letter detailing brilliant ways you can support my CPT work (and not involving outlays of cash although that's always delightful, too). But anyway, feel free to forward the following topics to any group you think may like to know:

*overview of CPT's history and work (worldwide and/or Hebron)
*overview of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and current Intifada (with pictures)
*introduction to CPT's Campaign for Secure Dwellings (advocacy program to protect Palestinian homes from Israeli military demolition)
*introduction to CPT's Violence Is Not Child's Play Campaign (a realistic churchs' approach to opposing violent toys)
*role of Palestinian/Arab women in society
*high school Sunday School/college/young adult discussion on global service opportunities, including practical planning for spending a year in service organizations.
*K-8 Sunday School program on life/culture of Holy Land (with props)
*adult program on life/culture of Holy Land/Middle Eastern customs
*Simulated Occupation of church or school with follow-up discussion
*understanding Palestinian violence/terrorism
*philosophy of peacemaking/theological and Biblical backgrounds for active nonviolence and/or civil disobedience
*afternoon workshop on Palestinian embroidery/cross-stitch technique
(examples to show and hand out patterns for do-it-yourself)
*afternoon workshop on Palestinian cooking, can be coupled with congregational dinner to test the results (I'll bring the spices and you supply the ingredients).


And other things similar to that. The workshops and things that sound like they'll need a good bit of prep work I'd need to know about 1-2 months in advance (so I can bring home ingredients, etc.)

Well, it's nearly 2 a.m. and I should get to bed. I only have three days left in which to cram some quality naptime!

Peace,
Le Anne

Home Again in Mason City

Home Again in Mason City
February 11, 2003

Hi everyone,

I am back in Mason City, apparently just in time for 'the first winter weather we've had all year!' Ugh. But it is good to be home. This time, I packed all of my stuff home, just in case our team is forced out of our apartment in the coming weeks. Things are very difficult in Hebron right now. I don't think the Israeli military would force us out, I do think the settlers may begin to make life tough for us though. Half the team is certain we'll have to evacuate and the other thinks this is all nonsense. For me, it depends on the day. It is good, though, to have all my things in one place. For example, I can now say that my cumulative 17 pairs of socks are more than enough and I shall no longer worry about running out, on one continent or the other!

Setting priorities for my time home is going to be difficult. I probably should be most concerned about resting up for what I know will be three very difficult months when I get back to Palestine will be most important. At the same time, it seems like speaking is more important now than ever. I will probably have to delay any long-distance speaking requests until summer or next fall, just for my own well-being. Hopefully, I can find more places nearer to home that are willing to have me come midweek, which means I can attend my own church for a change also. But anyone who is interested in me
coming, please do ask, so I can see what is possible. I probably won't do too much traveling to visit this time either, but anyone is welcome to come visit me! I guess otherwise I will do my catching up over the phone.

Sounds like I've got lots of interviews coming up, and these are always easier. I am putting together my photos and mementos of Iraq for giving presentations, and hopefully can use them for interviews too.

Looking forward to hearing from you all soon, and catching up on replies to
the letters in my inbox!

-Le Anne