Decisions, regionals, and red-eyes

Two months ago, I decided that this weekend was when I would return to the Middle East. I gave hardly any thought to Regionals, a pretty major tournament in the USA Ultimate season. Instead I predicted that middle September would be the time for local frisbee things to kick off - and prioritized ultimate in the Middle East over Atlanta.

I've been suffering for a few days now over this missing-Regionals issue. As you probably know, Regionals is step two in the three-tournament playoffs for USA Ultimate (Sectionals is first - and Nationals comes last). Here's a now-outdated history of me at Regionals, tracing some college and other club stuff. Congratulations are in order for Bucket and Ozone and other qualifiers!

I arrived to a couple friends greeting me at the airport - then about an hour of extra time in the car because of holiday traffic. Dined at the local - and famous - hummus place. A short work call and hour or so of reading before bed. What's funny is I have a bedroom, a nice bed, quiet, all that. And I slept as many hours here as I did on the red-eye flight. Strange.

Anyway, here's some evidence of the travel: 

Being on time

Imagine you are in a polychronic part of the world, which according to Wikipedia is basically everywhere except the US. Picture yourself sitting in your apartment texting with a colleague who lives in your same village. You are under the impression that you'll leave (you and the colleague) at about 14:00 for an evening meeting. So you message at 13:42 asking if the colleague is ready for y'all's carpool. Your colleague responds "another half hour." What does that mean, in terms of actual minutes? Think about it.

On my end, my first thought was "he says a half hour, but really means an hour." So I settled myself down in the apartment for a little more puttering, time spent dressing and organizing myself, and reading.

About 45 minutes go by and I think, "ya know what, I'll just make myself available at the street level in case he's around and ready." So I pack my laptop and notepad into a backpack and head up to the local, family-run mini-market situated conveniently between my apartment and the colleague's home. Turns out the colleague was running around the market and his car taking care of a few last things, basically puttering and packing for our drive. We set out a few minutes later, at which time I learned that we were picking up one more person on the way out of town. And here's the kicker:

Upon picking up the third person for the carpool, my colleague mentioned to this new guy that "Ben is the reason we're five minutes late." Can you believe it!?! I'm smiling writing this because my colleague had said it mostly-jokingly, and whatever time we left town - and arrived at our meeting - was when it was supposed to me. My additional puttering time, the colleague's vagueness about when to get together, and the few minutes our third passenger spent waiting in front of his apartment - it all led basically to (a) not being late and (b) all being right on time (if that is actually what we were) :-)

unrelated practice photo (though three people running uncoordinatedly might in fact relate to this blog's topic)

Pacing

UP's director DB often starts Camp training by telling staff that "This is a Sprint and a Marathon." This past week felt like a sprint - to today's accomplishment - and now I enter the marathon. The accomplishment was convening twenty spectacular volunteer coaches and coaches-in-training for the beginning of a year of skills-building, ultimate-playing, and learning more about each other - representative of what we are encouraging young people to do :-)

Leading up to today, this is some of what I did: created/released a survey then analyzed answers, negotiated logistics, swept and squeegied, talked about many different approaches to certain topics, sent bunches of emails/announcements. Finally yesterday, I felt some real clarity about the purpose of the meeting - thanks to SBC for the "Cool Tools for Hot Topics" book recommendation. So the goals were roughly to find some agreement among us as year-round coaches, identify needs we have as coaches and participants in UP, and start to brainstorm ways of addressing those needs.

Naturally, one of the best parts of gathering for this kind of meeting was the quality time with loved ones. We really are a family. Everyone knows a few family members who are notoriously late. Despite that, we had a couple hours of great discussion in different formats, learning about sports for development and peace, brainstorming ways of incorporating values into our activities, and how to communicate with each other. Then we played ultimate on a basketball court - something like 45 minutes of it, yeah! Here's what one workshop today looked like. Happy about the number of people, the diversity of the group, and everyone's energy.

Getting into the whirlwind

Can't tell how to interpret the slap in the face a flying disc gave me the other day. It happened in Tamra, from a well-meaning kid's errant throw.

On the one hand, it reminds me of last year's slap in the face. But there's more: like I'm feeling a little uncollected in terms of arrangements like my living, sleeping, traveling, unpacking. But after a few nights of very cold sleep - no heaters in the room where I'm sleeping - I broke down and bought an over-priced (but cheaply made) space heater. It improved my sleep but I'm still cranky from jet-lag and the few days of never really warming up :-/  That reminds me of adjustments I made when last year's living arrangements were new. This is all to say I'm feeling kind of worn down at the moment.

Yet on the other hand, the events I've been to so far have been great! Lots of good people are around, helping with many important projects for the organization. Conversations and decisions reflect added experience, wisdom, and maturity. A big meeting is approaching (set for Saturday) - and that kickstarts the year of working with local/mentor coaches. I'm wary of wasting people's time at the meeting, which has increased my worry about having the right goals and activities/discussions towards those goals. Fortunately they are all awesome, capable of helping a lot (even if asked at the last minute). And its going to be fun!

Hosa joins Tamra and Binyamina in a post-game cheer Tuesday

Middle East as a preferred term

Dear My People, thanks for bearing with me as I said goodbye to the region I called home for the last six months, and hello to the place I called home for the thirty years before that. When we talk about what I've been up to, and where Ultimate Peace happens, below is an explanation of why I say "the Middle East."

Silver Knights at the end of Camp Ultimate Peace 2014

1. A few years ago, David Barkan led off the orientation to Ultimate Peace Camp. And during that training period, one of the things that stuck with me is referring to our location as "the Middle East." He justified it by indicating that its a more inclusive term for all the people that would be attending - local and international coaches, campers from all walks of life, etc. This is the most important reason - a culture of inclusiveness and "one family."

2. Even when a war is not raging there, the area is in conflict - in other words, its contested. The history books are being edited every day to account for changes in local, regional, and international events. The war going on, for example, will change how Israel and leadership in the Gaza Strip relate to each other. Occupation - what's happening across the West Bank - manipulates how a place can define itself.

3. The international community disagrees on how to refer to the places and peoples.

4. Did you know that people in the region originate from lots of different tribes and national backgrounds (ie. the Jewish diaspora), speak lots of different languages and dialects (like how northern Bedouin and rural Arabic differ from that spoken in Ramallah), and/or have a discussion raging about how to refer to themselves (for example: Arabs or Palestinians)?

5. Its quicker to say "the Middle East" than "Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories," or "Israel and Palestine" (and follow up with "well, not its not exactly a full member of the United Nations, but...")

6. I'm interested in hearing what you think. How do you think your way of describing Ultimate Peace, or your visits there, or even your friends' visits there matter to you and your people?

Camp 2014 Preparation Has Started

Camp 2014 coaches are at the site and preparing, training, and selfieing.

And then it hits me in the face

The couple of weeks since I returned in April have felt much harder than my first few weeks back in January. With the school year here getting on, UP players have weirder schedules to accommodate their many exams. This means that UP practices change, cancel, and more.

In a couple difficult situations, I've switched up my communication and relation style from democratic to autocratic. One example is with the "coaches in training" in the West Bank, where the CIT program doesn't run like it does in Israel (the reasons for which I'll save for another post). But in my effort to have a meeting with West Bank CITs, I'm meeting resistance. After weeks of trying the more consensus-building style ("when can you meet?"), I decided that making things "mandatory" might change it a bit. We'll see next Saturday when the CITs are "required" to meet to talk about the year. 

I'm also getting odd messages about practices in the West Bank. Players have tests, people are busy with other sports, the fields are being renovated/unavailable. I recently went on a personal visit to one of the CITs workplaces to ask about this chaos. After feeling like I got nowhere with him, I walked out of the shop and into the sidewalk. Where I was immediately struck in the face by a flapping Palestinian flag. It very well could have been an Israeli flag, in that I feel like I'm getting hit with a real dose of the difficulty of working in the Middle East.

Selfie with Jerusalem in the background:

Traveling

I have been a lot more nervous about traveling recently. I have long understood there were extra security measures where I was headed. But this time felt like I was going to be treated as a special case (and not in a friendly way). Waiting in the airport confirmed the suspicion.

As I was waiting (a longer wait than usual) security guard asked me for my documents. He asked where I was traveling, if I was carrying weapons, what I did in the country, and more. Routine for the place, I guess. And nothing came of it.

The other steps of leaving the Middle East went smoothly, including getting more than the approved amount of liquid (in this case, olive oil) across the final security barrier. And I finished my airport experience with a free whisky tasting at the duty-free shops :-)

Hope to see lots of people supporting Ultimate Peace over the next few days. Here's a rough itinerary. Peace!

What do we earn

There's an advertising war raging between Cadillac and Ford about the American spirit and what hard work earns us. Check out the two videos and some analysis here. Basically Cadillac claims Americans work harder (not taking a month off in August) and therefore deserve nicer things. Ford on the other hand says our world is better cause we work harder and for the common good. So, a few questions and my lessons learned:

What do we earn in life? How?
By working hard, loving fully, being smart, taking risks?
What can I expect in return for putting my best into the world?

Recently, these questions came up in conversations with Rachel. My personal experience to relate to these questions is that I feel that I'm pouring my heart, time, and energy into this six-month fellowship with Ultimate Peace. On top of asking the questions about how to have as much impact as I can, I'm asking what can I expect personally in return. Can I expect that others will do their best? Will I see the fruits of my labor and maybe even the direct spoils? Here are a couple of the lessons I'm learning:

Lesson # 1. Its not about me. Especially in nonprofit work, and in most kinds of leadership, its not about me. Its about the mission, the program, the participants and volunteers.

Lesson # 2. My "earnings" perspective is often shaped by the if-then expectation. Basically that what you put into something is returned to you -- in a different form, but on the same scale and easily identified. Examples: put in 40 hours of work a week, get paid for that time; give love and receive love; allow the car in front of you in and be allowed in next time you need it. Yet the world is not always so clear-cut. In fact, it often seems like the effort we put in does not come back to us at all.

What I'm finding (in relationships and in work) is that we need to think beyond how our effort comes back to us, and more onto how our effort goes to others. And not in a tit-for-tat way... that we are giving of ourselves to a common pot (consider it perhaps the "effort pot"). The richer that pot is the better, though it might not be better for you personally, immediately, or even in the material sense.

Unrelated picture from yesterday's UP meeting/practice ahead of the US tour (someone said "jump" just before taking the shot):

Strong winds

Winds the last couple of days here have been really strong. From a fifth floor apartment in Jerusalem to a second story place near Bethlehem, it feels like the air is really trying to push through buildings - or topple them.

I'm locking up for the night, and closing storm windows that I usually keep open for early sunlight. And I feel inside a kind of excitement - like there's an unknown in the wind, a fascinating power, and a little potential danger.

Side note: mom, don't worry. The foundation of this house is strong. Its not like Grayton Beach where everything is made of balsa wood and up 16 feet above sand on flimsy stilts. Stones here are heavy and the houses are well-built.

So this winds thing got me thinking. There's some symbolism: how exciting it is to be in a place where things are uncertain (things at home are uncertain, but this is more so), how thrilling it is to admire sheer force (of wind, of military might, etc), and how much faster my heart pumps where the possibility of danger is high-er/maybe.

I'm not writing this to say that my Middle East trip is simply thrill-seeking, or even that I feel at risk (I don't, mom, I promise). But I am just kind of thinking and exploring people's (including my own) interest in "conflict zones" as a heart-pumping experience. Interested in hearing your thoughts in the comments below.

Here's an unrelated picture of Karym fixing a flat tire:

Rough schedule

Here's a rough schedule for my weeks, including the anchors and the possibilities. My main concern lately has been balancing UP with stuff like school work and personal time (for getting out and for relaxation).

Wednesday and Saturday afternoon practices in the West Bank are the focal points of my weekly calendar. For these two practices, I generally schedule beforehand half an hour of planning time, half an hour to pick up anyone (players, coaches, visitors), and half an hour for driving or anything else. I plan for about half an hour afterwards of travel/drop-off-whatever, and try to get time with coaches - either for food or a drink, or something more like a night of talking, going dancing, and general visiting. I haven't been able to host very much yet, so inviting people over is my favorite thing.

The rest of the week looks like this:

• Monday - possible travel on my own, possible meetings, skype calls
• Tuesday - possible practices up north (two of them between noon and six pm), reading and other school work
• Thursday - possible tours, possible meetings (last week I had a beer with someone from TCC as a kind of networking)
• Friday - practices up north, maybe a group shabbat dinner party
• Sunday - possible practices, important rest time if not attending practice, school work and other reading

Here's a video from last Friday afternoon after four hours of practice and lots of falafel/shawerma :-)

Short crossing stories

As you probably know, Israel built (is still building? I'm not sure exactly) a wall to separate it from the West Bank, aka Palestine. While there are lots of things going on with the wall (that I hope to learn about and discuss bit by bit over time), I have a couple of personal encounters which are probably better places to start.

For some background information: we are talking about a barrier that stretches a few hundred miles. The most well-known part of the barrier is concrete, in part because it makes for a massive canvas (see above left, and elsewhere on the internet). The concrete version of the wall (as opposed to layered fencing) is also well known because the concrete portion is located on a heavily-trafficked route between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

With the help of the wall, the system of crossing between Israel and Palestine is fraught with difficulty. As I come and go (which is a luxury I touched on a little bit here), I interact with the armed security guards that man the crossings for vehicles and pedestrians. For the most part my experience is easy - my nerves from the first week or so have largely subsided. A couple of my recent experiences crossing stand out:

1. A couple weeks ago, I was entering Israel near Bethlehem. I drive under the arch in the wall where cars go (see the picture on the left) and approach the stand and two guards. Its protocol for these guards to have really scary looking weapons over their shoulder at all times. I slowly get to within a few feet. And the guard looks at me and my passport -- then he jumps back in a dramatized kind of way. He says "Whoa! America!" as if I had flashed my own kind of lethal weapon pointed his way. He was doing his own kind of joking...immediately he smiled and waved me through. I guess his joke was about the intimidation of the USA over different things in the Middle East. What do you think?

2. Yesterday as I was leaving Bethlehem, there was no line at all at the crossing. I drove up to where two guards are on the other side of the wall. Slowly approaching, the guard addressed me and I smiled at him. I had my passport open to the photo page - next to my face as if it were a look-alike contest. He took my passport in his hand and began to walk around the back side of the car. He opened the trunk to look inside, and, seeing only frisbees, shut it a couple seconds later. Back at the window, he asked me if - get this - I was related to Britney Spears :-)

I said "I don't think so...at least, she hasn't showed up at any family reunions." The guy let me through after that.

Tonight - a lot in one

Tonight I stopped by my neighborhood grocery shop that specializes in sweets. The guy who works there offers a real nice smile and handshake, too. I was expecting just to say hello, buy something with chocolate in it, and make my way home. But when my friend who works there seemed interested in shooting the shit, I willingly stuck around for a few minutes. Our conversation wandered from favorite soccer teams and leagues to more serious issues, like Israel and Palestine (by the way, you are allowed to have a favorite team in each country's league, for example Barcelona in Spain, Manchester United in England, etc).

So people here are curious about me. Where did you learn to speak Arabic? is the most common question I get. I'm glad to spend little time explaining: Yes, I studied it in school. Yes, Arabic is taught in America. Yes, I learned classical Arabic (this gets a laugh because so few people are comfortable speaking classical Arabic and I have such a hard time understanding the dialects spoken). 

So with this guy, my friend the grocer, I had mentioned Ultimate Peace before. Tonight I showed him an Ultimate Peace promo video on my phone. Despite not believing frisbee was a sport before watching it, he was impressed with the play and what UP is doing :-) Afterward, he asked me: Are you for or against Israel? Interestingly enough, I've been asked the same question by a friend in Atlanta. 

My answer was basically that my Arabic isn't good enough to give a complete answer. So its hard to even start. But I'm with people, whether they're categorized as Israeli or Palestinian, Arab or Muslim or Jewish or Christian. This does not fit the typical narrative of picking sides, and defending one country or another without question. After that, I asked: Is it possible to be for both?

The guys and I also talked about world travel. I'm lucky that I can travel basically wherever I want -- my passport is accepted fairly universally, the license plate on the rental car I drive gives me a free pass between places, and I'm lucky to have access to financial resources. All these things support me in living out Dr. Seuss's "Oh the places you'll go!" In contrast to that, the two guys I was talking to tonight rarely travel outside the West Bank and have never left Israel/Palestine. Israeli restrictions are so tight on Palestinians' travel.

The most shocking thing I learned in tonight's conversation is that my friend (the one who works at this grocery store I like to frequent because of the sweets he carries and his warm smile) -- he has a brother who was killed within a few miles of where we were talking tonight, and where I am right now. What he told me is that his brother was walking to work near a West Bank settlement and was killed. Nothing was done afterward as far as criminal investigation or prosecution. That's something beyond words (even in English) -- strange, awful, scary, baffling, and more. 

Funny language story

One of my goals while in the Middle East is some greater fluidity/fluency with the Arabic language. Started learning it at 14, and have managed to study in lots of places and at various times ever since. Just not quite gotten there yet.

Arabic and Hebrew are both spoken in this area (both are official languages of Israel; for the Palestinian National Authority its only Arabic). And its well known that the two are really similar languages... alphabets match up nearly exactly, many words have the same syllables and sounds, and they might sound basically the same to non-native-speakers ears.

So last week, I got a rental car in Jerusalem. As I spent my first few minutes in the car, I tried setting up a maps/gps/navigation system. Google maps is alright here (its better in the West Bank, for example); but Waze is by far the most popular and helpful in Israel. What's cool is it actually shares info from driver to driver about traffic, hazards, cops, etc. And despite not being able to see Waze's land map in English (its always in Hebrew), the navigation directions can be changed to lots of languages.

For the first few minutes in the car, then, I'm hearing directions pretty close to words I recognize. "Yemeen" for example, reminds me of "right" (Ben-yemeen, my name's origin, means something close to "son of my right hand" in both languages). Anyway, when I hear yemeen in the navigation of Waze's standard Hebrew settings, I take that to mean that I should get out of the next traffic circle using the road on the right.

But after a few minutes of understanding only part of the directions, I decide to stop at a gas station to change the settings to Arabic. For one, I don't know enough Hebrew. For two, I want even my navigation to be practice in the Arabic language :)

On my phone, I click a few times and find the settings in Waze. And once inside, it tells me that the directions WERE in Arabic! Dang it!

Soooo, back to the drawing board for the Arabic language. Thankfully there are many willing helpers around me 24/7, plus I have a handful of books in my apartment for continuing my Arabic studies (Harry Potter is the most exciting of them).

Full day at school

The son of my neighbors downstairs plays ultimate. He and his friends introduced me to some folks at their school here in Beit Sahour. On Wednesday I met the principal, one of the sports teachers, and somebody else who was really nice but whose position and name I forgot :-/

Fortunately I got invited back to the school -- they have school on Saturday. And I think every student in the school has P.E. at some point on Saturday (not the case other days). I had asked to see what they do there, thinking it would be helpful to observe the coaches, their styles, and how students play, work with coaches, etc.

So today I was out on the schools' court from 7:30 until 2:00. The morning started with standing in lines by class, all facing forward for announcements, then singing the school song (the older students are of course too cool to sing it). After about ten minutes, everyone was dismissed and dispersed.

The classes were all different - all had a soccer game going on, sometimes there was volleyball, basketball, handball, and frisbee. I got a good mixture of introducing the game, introducing myself (kids are curious about the foreigner, not surprisingly), playing a few minutes of soccer, and watching the classes, in general.

One really great thing at this school is the feeling I get from the older kids. Basically, there's a great couple of years of players in this school - they are anxious to play more, throw more, etc. And they do it where the rest of the school can see. I see it as a huge recruiting tool for the next few years of players. And its just fun to see in and of itself.

Lessons learned: teachers have a very hard job, kids reflect leaders' energy, and say yes if coffee or tea is offered repeatedly. Below is a little video of ultimate today :-)

What am I doing here?

There is plenty of fodder for pessimism here.

• My first day here someone said "I do not want to play at the camp because [when I'm there] I feel I am playing with my enemy"
• Today, someone said "Peace is not in my vocabulary." And this is someone at an organization that facilitates visitation to the region. They followed it up by insisting that the word peace is overused and therefore has lost meaning, not so much that peace is impossible. They prefer to talk about human rights rather than peace per se
• The news basically everywhere talks only of events that induce fear and further entrenchment on one side or the other

So what am I doing here? (exploring the streets of Jerusalem though obviously not shaving)

• Promoting ultimate and fun - many experts on human and social development note the importance of playing 
• A la Patch Adams, I twisted a couple balloon bears on the inter-city bus today and handed them to the ~six year old next to me. He was so dang polite and thankful!
• Visiting schools, gyms, and places where people play and play sports
• Today in one of the squares of old Jerusalem, a friend and I threw the frisbee with three different groups of guys - only a few minutes apart, groups of Arabs and Israelis were happily tossing with us
• Studying Arabic, both in books and in the cafes/markets/taxis/living rooms around me

Do we have good reason to be optimistic? Even if we don't have "reason" to be, might we be optimistic because of faith or deep-seeded hope?

Second impressions

The last few days have been amazing! Driving was a main feature, which means observing the Middle Eastern style of driving...erratic signals, veering far over the lines for lanes, and generally a different understanding of the space between cars, the road, and humans.

More importantly, Ultimate Peace hosted their biggest ever hat tournament on Saturday! Like a million kids (175 or so) showed up for four-five games of ultimate, seemed to have a great time, and left with another UP jersey and more friends from across the Middle East. I coached the neon green team into the semifinals, and more importantly through some tough issues.

The main challenge that came up in the afternoon was which language the players chose to communicate in...that Hebrew speakers were a minority meant that the Arabic speakers could almost reach everyone on the team with that language. But one player of mine approached me about the discomfort there - especially knowing that the Arabs were proficient in Hebrew. With this, I approached a particularly capable player and natural leader between points. I asked her to see if she would help me include the other players by speaking partly in Hebrew. She listened well - and acted in little chunks on the request. When I thanked her later, she smiled in a great way. Two more things: (1) I asked her later if she would be interested in the CIT program (read below on what that is); (2) she won my team's spirit award at the end of the tournament!

Just before that, on Friday, UP facilitated a bunch of meetings with the Coaches in Training (CITs)...these are basically the cohort of kids who have played ultimate the longest, and practiced Ultimate Peace values the most determinedly for the last few years. I'll be working with a small group of them who want to become coaches themselves.

Last night I visited with the former Ultimate Peace Middle East director. We hung out on his deck leaning back into our chairs talking about the good ole days - and the opportunity I have right now. One great thing he reflected back to me was from camp in 2011. He remembered me coming up to him and Linda (the chief operating officer based in Massachusetts but at camp like the rest of the staff) -- and me saying enthusiastically "this [coaching ultimate in the middle east] is something I want to do a lot more of!"

So cool that I'm getting that chance. Below is a picture from the UP practice in Tamra, one of the strongest ultimate villages in the region. Abe is coaching and Shada demonstrated marking/defense.

First impressions

After years of interest, months of preparation, and twenty-four hours of travel, I showed up --- and the Middle East welcomed me today!

In Atlanta, Sara walked with me into the airport. And before even getting to the ticket counter, I ran into a friend that grew up in Atlanta, went to the same college as I did, and was on the same flight from Atlanta to Toronto to Tel Aviv.  Certainly a sign that my people are with me along the way.

Then in the security line, emergency lights and sirens went off! Oddly enough the TSA people at the metal detectors and all did not stop what they were doing. A strange experience being that the sirens, to the untrained eye/ear should have been alarming. But I followed their lead and walked to the gate without interruption. I guess that's a sign that will mean different things at different times... that my surroundings are complicated.

Going from Atlanta to Tel Aviv meant leaving cold behind for colder. Some of the folks on the plane had been stranded because of the snowstorm for days. I was lucky to have my travel go smoothly. And even luckier to visit with college a friend at the Toronto airport hotel bar! We threw snowballs :-) And she wished me good luck by saying "its going to be great." This is the very same remark Sara has been making (in speech and writing) the last few days!

Flight to Tel Aviv went smoothly, though the security once I arrived had lots of questions (predictably). I don't yet have a return flight. And there are other pieces that showed up as concerning for the border police. So after 45 minutes or an hour, I was allowed the 90-day visitor visa and breathed a sigh of relief. Ultimate Peace's regional director met me at the terminal and we embraced happily.

I'll describe some of our conversations and meetings, plus this weekend's events, in the next post. Thanks everyone for the love. This adventure is going to be great.

What's actually been happening? Part 1

In the middle of September, my friend Matt and I went out on the Atlanta Beltline for some catching up. Our routine is to walk -or ride our bikes- up and back on the northeast section. So I mentioned to him being interested in international work, connecting it in part to what I did with the Carter Center last summer. In turn, Matt offers to introduce me to Rebecca, a friend of his who worked for NDI, another international elections observer group.

So Matt loops Rebecca and I together on email. Rebecca and I set up a phone conversation to get talking. And during our 30-minute talk on October 1st, she encourages me to seize the moment (meaning spring semester 2014 and maybe beyond) - why wait to get the kind of experience I'm saying interests me. Part of the argument is that organizations are looking for people to show their value before those people ask for a salary. And the other argument is that I'm not as old as I think I am (and that regretting not getting this experience at 23 isn't useful).

So once Rebecca and I are off the phone, I mull over what she said. Something clicks. A couple days later email David of Ultimate Peace about making this real. Side note: this was something David and I (along with Sarah VW) talked about back in 2011 - supporting the organization in developing the programs and doing it more like full-time.

By the following Sunday, David and I get on the phone together. Luckily, I had contacted him just ahead of Club Nationals, a tournament in Dallas that was coordinating with the Ultimate Hall of Fame induction ceremony (same city and weekend). David was going to be there -- to himself be inducted! This was the perfect opportunity to meet in the middle of the country and discuss, with Linda present, the opportunity ahead. So only two weeks after talking with Rebecca about seizing the moment, I met with Linda and David to make a real plan for making the move. And that folks is the start of what's been happening!

Generous spirits

Recently, I got to relaying this story to Sara. And she encouraged me to retell it.

So, on my most recent trip to the Middle East, I stayed with a Palestinian host family for two nights. It was meant to be a way of seeing life in Palestine, basically just vacationing a bit between my full-time internship in Atlanta and the hectic Ultimate Peace camp schedule the following week. I met my host family through the Siraj Center and stayed with them in Beit Sahour, outside Bethlehem.

A main part of this home stay was, not surprisingly, actually staying at home. I sat on the back deck and watched the sun go down over an Israeli settlement in the distance. I read some, and skyped using the family's wifi, in the bed and bedroom they loaned to me. Most importantly, I sat at the family's dining room table and t.v. room couch.

While sitting with the host father my last night there, he told me his story of visiting the U.S. He worked in construction in Palestine and had planned a visit to see his brother, who lived in Kentucky. Upon landing at the Atlanta airport, he was pulled aside for further questioning. And instead of being searched and released, this man hosting me in his home in Palestine was detained in my home of Georgia - for a week without cause.

He never got to see his brother in Kentucky, or any worthwhile locale in the U.S. His family hardly knew his whereabouts that whole week he was detained. On the day the U.S. government decided to deport him, he rode handcuffed in a car the couple hours back to Atlanta's airport. At a lunch stop at a Subway restaurant, his captor/driver (presumably a federal employee), allowed my friend to walk without handcuffs into the restaurant to order and eat.

And the amazing thing is that my friend and host in Beit Sahour highlighted the generosity of his escort in rural Georgia... simply for allowing him the decency of a meal in public without handcuffs. During our talk, he didn't scorn the driver, or the U.S. government; quite the opposite. This man opened up his home to me, an American - from Georgia!

I feel lucky that I had the gentle experience that I had in Beit Sahour, and that my host was a generous person - of his spirit and more. Below is a shameless plug for the current UP indiegogo campaign, certainly a thing of great spirit :-)