Peripatetic in Palestine

I left you with a puzzle two posts ago -  where was my assessment assignment to be?

Well, here is my Royal Court Hotel in Ramallah, administrative capital of Palestine. They catered for visitors well : after arriving I  had a nice supper of beef-burger, great chips, accompanied by  a fresh salad. The meat was a little over-spiced, however - I’d forgotten how ubiquitous and insistent cumin and black pepper seasoning can be in the Middle East! And, to my surprise, they served a locally produced wine, Star of Bethlehem, no less, produced in the Salesian Convent, Bethlehem!  By the way, did you know the city name comes from the Arabic beit lah’m : the house of bread?

                                      

I loved the traffic lights outside the hotel and couldn’t resist taking a couple of shots, though they’re not so clear. The red, upside down mouth was very clear about pedestrians not crossing on his watch! The amber and green smileys were much more encouraging.

                                                         

 

Next morning I went for a stroll and it was evident that local elections were in the offing with political posters everywhere. I could immediately recognize that that particular candidate belonged to a party affiliated to the policies of the late Yassar Arafat. I came across this cheery bunch of children decked out in national costume, performing traditional dance in the city square. People were gathered in the centre but not really to celebrate.  They were there to highlight the plight of young men imprisoned for alleged political crimes, and who were in their second week of hunger-strike, peacefully demonstrating against infringements of the human rights of the prisoners.

 It was very moving to see friends and family members, silently assembled, holding photographs of their loved ones.  May the Palestinians eventually find peace, prosperity and the property they deserve.                 

                                

   And so to work: here I am on the balcony of Birzeit University , Ramallah, where the assessment was to take place. Up on a hill, it afforded a panoramic view and you could see the dust pall, brought in by desert winds, beginning to settle over the city.

      

 

Job over, time for supper. This one I really enjoyed: grilled chicken (ordered with a request to desist on both cumin and pepper), with roast vegetables in a sauce of fresh ginger and soy sauce - very tasty!

Parting shot is of the vast hall in Ben Gurion airport, Tel Aviv. Not many people around? Certainly not  – it’s 3.30 a.m. – a downside of international travel and early-morning  departures!

                      

People Make Glasgow and Our Gig at the IATEFL Convention!

In my last post on the Glasgow trip, I fear I got distracted by our fine dining experiences, so back to the point of our being there. We enjoyed the beautiful Clyde-side facilities of the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre. It was a vast complex and each day involved walking enormous distances - boots or sneakers only for comfort!

                                    

 

  

Here is our entry in the IATEFL Convention program, and here we are inaction, our workshop participants hard at work on their tasks related to ‘Using the Tablet in the Classroom’ – and using our own Easing into English app materials, of course.  Bless them – they were a very cooperative group!                

                                     

 After our presentation we relax together and join the IATEFL group of presenters at the exhibition site – go Team Greece!

            

We leave our last day for really experiencing the city and enjoy some of the magic graffiti seen on the walls in the centre. This one is a favourite of mine – where our Bard, Robert Burns slides a stealthy glance at a Banksy-type character, who has not only created a landscape scene, but has included his rear-view self-portrait which  is adjusting the frame to straighten it on the wall -  wonderful !

                   

 

The portrait alongside is of another of my favourites: Charles Rennie Macintosh, architect, designer, artist, and son of Glasgow.  We visit the Willow Tea Rooms in Sauchiehall Street which proudly boast many of his designs – on the poster you can see his famous rose design, and Angeliki is sitting on one of his beautiful chairs. We had tea and a delicious strawberry tart and toffee apple pie – mmm! I really have to teach Angeliki that when pouring or drinking tea stylishly, she has to crook her little finger – or as we say in Glasgow, bend her pinkie!!

                                                                                        

 At the reception we had the pleasure of meeting Anne Maxwell who was our MC from Glasgow City Chambers.  A braw lassie who speaks excellent Greek – good on her! While in Glasgow it was a must to meet up with cousin, Freda, and her husband, Derek. So we shared with them our last lunch in Scotland.  Fun company and delicious food in huge portions – but we did, somehow, manage to clean our plates!

                     

 People Make Glasgow – that’s the city’s official marketing slogan- and it’s so true. We had a splendid time in Glasgow and would like to thank everyone who, with their friendliness and cheery banter, made our stay there such a memorable one.

Thanks for all those fond memories, Dear Green Place!