Party in Ramallah

In keeping with sharing my tour of the middle east with you, the latest stop was Ramallah. We had a bit of a work party there with staff coming from Jenin, Hebron, Gaza and Jerusalem to join up with the staff in Ramallah at a great outdoor restaurant on the side of a hill overlooking a valley. It was quite beautiful. To get there we drove past Yasser Arafat's compound and the place where he is buried. It was a lovely festive party with people singing and dancing, which was so nice. In most places I have been in the last few years here in this region the vibrant arabic culture has been weighed down with the heaviness of war and oppression. Last night's journey, despite the checkpoints along the way was finally happy and hopeful.