Live from Ramallah: So I've actually left my two darling boys and their father in Burundi for 2.5 weeks so I can travel to Israel and Palestine to collect more stories for One Globe Kids. I knew it would be tough being gone for so long, but it really wasn't until now that I understand how hard it is for my sister and parents to Skype with the boys and not be able to actually kiss them through the computer screen. Plus, I'm around all these darling children and their siblings for work, making it that much harder!
I arrived in Tel Aviv after an overnight trip from Bujumbura with stops in Nairobi and Addis and am very pleased to report that it IS possible to eat Ethiopian tibs and injera at the airport in Addis Abbebe. (My baby needs meat, don't you know?) I picked up a free Time Out Israel at the airport, bringing back memories of my own Time Out New York subscription of a year ago, and rolled my bags through customs without stopping, looking like the tired, pregnant lady that I am.
A mere 5 hours after laying down, I reluctantly pulled myself out of bed the first morning to go out in search of a SIM card so I can make local calls using my own cellphone. (Gotta love that SIM system – my phone can call Zambia, Rwanda, the Netherlands and now Israel depending on what card I put in. Only bummer? It won’t work in Wisconsin. Sheesh.)
And wow, Tel Aviv is great! The weather feels truly Mediterranean, sunny and dry, the streets busy, filled with bikers, buses, cars, walkers, and tons of people pushing strollers and playing with kids. It feels remarkably like lower Manhattan but with less humidity, shorter buildings and fewer people in suits. Oh, and a lot more hummus, believe it or not! I found the card, called my friend Kari in Ramallah to tell her I’d arrived, and reconfirmed my appointment with the first family and child that I’m photographing – a funny, sweet 5-year old boy named Asher.
Here I am, heading out to meet Asher:
Traveling and working internationally while pregnant is actually way better than you’d expect – that big ball is the biggest door opener ever. It seems that besides the 15 – 22 year-old age group, everyone wants to talk about kids. Little girls on the street point, smile and giggle, old women and men tell you about their grandchildren, and parents are more than happy to talk about their own munchkins. Last night, Munir, the 33-yr old Palestinian taxi driver who brought me from Jerusalem to Ramallah (via the famed Qalandia checkpoint) told me all about how long he and his wife waited before having kids, what he hopes they’ll study, how their behavior changes over time. A potentially, slightly intimidating car ride from Israel into the West Bank was made quite entertaining and insightful due to my growing belly - it may be one of the greatest travel assets I’ve ever had.
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