Balata and the Turkish Baths

I finally made it to the Tukish baths after my third time of trying and it was well worth the wait. The way I'm feeling this morning it will probably be an equally long wait before I go again. The massage was something akin to being hit by a train. We started by being baked on the floor, both sides to ensure we were cooked all the way through. Someone said something about being careful not to fry your eggs when we were lying face down but I wasn't quite sure what he meant... Then the sauna, cold shower and finally the steam room. Probably the usual but the first time I'd ever been so quite an experience. More so being that the building itself is truly spectacular with very high domed ceilings. I'm not sure how old it is but being in the 'old city' I'm guessing pretty old! We ate before we left and in traditional Nablusi style the food was the height of excess. Chicken with a bread soaked in olive oil that had been cooked with almonds and onions. Very messy but worth the effort.

The baths felt like a different planet having just been to Balata refugee camp. Balata is the biggest camp in the West Bank and is home to about 20,000 people. The conditions for the people here are very tough and it is noticeable that the place is much harsher than even the other camps. Last time I was here the camp was too dangerous for us to enter so it's good to be able to go in there now. I was there yesterday to arrange some classes at a centre where I will be teaching on Mondays and Wednesdays. The class will be a group of mainly boys aged 16-19 (one very sweet 10 yr old girl sat smiling at the back of the class, hiding in the corner). It is never far from your mind that if the Israeli's enter or there is another intifada these boys will most likely be the resistance fighters. The same people that are like young lads everywhere. They want to laugh and joke and talk about football. It's hard to be normal though when your town is invaded every night. The class was supposed to be for an hour and a half but they asked for two hours. Unlike the children at home they have nothing else to do. There's no cinema, no place to hang out with your friends. One child commented to one of the French volunteers that he was in the French class because he was bored. This doesn't mean they put no effort into the classes, quite the opposite. They give everything they have got. One to relieve the boredom and two because they know education can offer them a way out. I remember reading an article back home saying that boredom would be a good thing for children in the UK. At the time I was somewhat skeptical but the author could well have been right.

A member of staff from Project hope turned up at my class in Askhar yesterday to take some pictures so I'll hopefully be able to post some of them on here soon.