Monday, Aug 15, 2011

Today was an interesting day, to say the least. I stayed up until 9 am due to food poisoning and screaming neighbors. I took a nap and then woke up to go to the West Bank (Tulkarem). My intention was just to do some last minute shopping to pick up some abayas and maybe some little trinkets. I ended up stumbling upon a slightly hidden store with Gulf style abayas. I nearly died when I walked in..no joke. Everything was soooo beautiful. However, I kept on my p-p-poker face. These types of abayas do not come cheap, and if I looked to interested I knew the prices would soar. I pretended that they were nothing extraordinary even though my heart was beating a mile a minute. Afterwards, my visit to Tulkarem became more serious. My dad wanted to hand out money to refugees in order for them to be able to buy food. We stopped in a run down neighborhood. My dad and cousin went door to door to hand out money to the families living in this refugee camp. I was told to stay inside the car because it is a kind of rough neighborhood. I was told that the "homes" these people lived in were the size of a small bedroom with 7 or more people living in them. Their eyes lit when they received envelopes with about only ten dollars. Can you imagine?! Ten dollars! I spend over half that just to get a cup of coffee at Starbucks. My heart broke when I saw the little kids running around with shoes that didn't even fit them. I pray for these people, that their lives become easier and that they can at least be able to afford the small necessities in life.

Just one of the abayas I got

Refugee camps

Yes, people live here.