luke's blog

wedding

2008-08-26T15:44:00.007+01:00

In July I married Becky.
It was a great day, the weather held up
and we felt like it was more than we could have hoped for or deserved.

Last week in India

2008-05-10T13:51:00.011+01:00

Back in Delhi now,
the trip is winding down,
heading to Mumbai on Monday and then home the day after.
Time has flown.

Going on a day trip to the Taj Mahal tomorrow,
you have to, right?
so i'll prob stick some more photos up of that.

The photos are mostly from Jammia mosque in Delhi,
went for a shave a face massage today,
was quite the experience!
I'm not so sure my face will ever recover...

Kashmir

2008-05-08T16:17:00.012+01:00

I'm just back from ten days in Kashmir.

Really Kashmir is just one big valley wedged in between
the top of India and the very West of Pakistan.
Most of Kashmir is controlled by India and that is where we were.

It is a very beautiful place,
we were staying a houseboat on lake Dal in a valley surrounded by snow capped mountains, a world away from the hustle bustle of Delhi and Mumbai.
Every morning we got a shicara across the lake to Srinagar (capital of Kashmir).

As could be expected the people were really friendly,
they were quite distinct from the rest of Indians we met,
fair skin and blue eyes were common, they spoke their own language of Kasmiri
and used many Arabic phrases common in Muslim areas.

All in all a really unique place.

Delhi Belly...

2008-04-25T08:54:00.007+01:00

I've been in Delhi for the past two and a bit weeks,
Delhi is the capital and it's in the North.
The train here took a handy 24hrs, but it was fun!

I was bed bound for a few days,
the dreaded "delhi belly",
the joy of being awake at 4 in the morning puking in a bucket while clinging to the toilet!
but I'm all well now
and have returned to my most very vibrant self!

I've had the chance to do lots of great stuff here,
play loads of cricket with street kids,
go to crazy weddings, being exposed to 43 degree heat!
I really was not designed for this weather!

Tomorrow it's off to Kashmir for 10 days,
where the climate will be alot cooler (on account of being in the himalayas!)
We're staying a houseboat of all places,
can't wait.

Mumbai....

2008-03-26T16:41:00.015Z

Mumbai is a great place.
the smells, the colours, the noise, the food,
amazing.

nearly twenty million people in a relatively small area,
needless to say the place is a bit crowded!

probably not the most relaxing place in the world...
but so far I've loved it.

The Shankill

2008-02-01T14:15:00.000Z

So I'm now living just off the top of the Shankill road, in West Belfast.
The house I'm living on is actually divided by the 'peacewall',
that is the front of the house is catholic and the back half is for prods!

I've got over my fear of people hearing my accent as I walk down the shankill everyday.
It's got a lovely village atmosphere, and real character.
That said my Irish jersey is staying safely in my drawer......

Belfast

2007-10-11T12:03:00.000+01:00

I thought seen as I was on the move again I would restart this blog of mine.
Well since I've last posted I've gotten engaged and moved to Belfast.

I'm living and working in the West inner-city
which has been described as divided and deprived.
This reputation does a disservice to the place though.
My first impressions are really positive,
it seems a place with alot of heart.

Where I live and work, although very close together, are divided by a "peace wall" which separates the Shankill and Falls communities.
Sound familiar?

Anyway, the blog is back.

palestine photos

2006-09-08T14:27:00.000+01:00

Hit the road Luke

2006-08-15T12:16:00.000+01:00

So I'm gone....

Flew into London yesterday. It's so cold here!

I had my final class on thursday last,
was alot of fun, they brought a cake and lots of sweets and stuff.
A really cool bunch of guys.

It was sad to leave I guess,
I hope to return sooner rather than later.
It really has been an amazing time in my life,
I'm now more aware than ever, how big the world is and how little I know!

I have come to love Palestine and the people there,
the situation here is so unique, same time beautiful and tragic.
There are injustices that the world really should care about more than it does,
but, the occupation and humanitarian crises aside, Palestine is a beautiful and intriguing place.

So I guess the travel blog is at an end,
maybe I'll put up a bunch of pictures in the next week or so,
thanks for all y'alls prayers and comments.
They meant alot. Keep in touch.

Peace, Luke.

Khalil's Cafe

2006-08-05T20:24:00.000+01:00

Khalil owns a cafe a 3 minute walk form where I'm living in Bethlehem.
His business has been suffering lately as the new extension of the Israeli "security fence" will literally encirle his cafe.
The wall cuts into the town of Bethlehem, cutting the town off from Jerusalem and making traveling, and consequently working, very difficult for the people there.

A particularly sinister aspect of the "security fence" is that it is built on Palestinian land in the West Bank. This land is "confiscated" from the owners.

In addition to the wall which already exists in Bethlehem, Israel has created a new extension which goes further into Bethlehem, including the historic site of Rachel's tomb.

Khalil's cafe is in this new zone.

There is a small gap by which he can gain access to his cafe. He is allowed access to it between 9 and 5, 6 days a week, for the time being. His primary customers are now Israeli solders, who have recently raised their flag on his roof.

Me and some friends have made a point of visiting Khalil alot these past few weeks. He is a desperate man these days, constantly awaiting the day when he is ejected from his land for the last time, and his Cafe is hidden behind the wall forever.

Housan Village

2006-07-23T16:13:00.000+01:00

Hey I've been helping out, creating a new blog recently. It's for a village called Housan just West of Bethlehem.

It looks like the village is gonna be surrounded by the Wall that Israel is building Around the West Bank. Anyway the aim of the blog is to give the villagers a voice.

A bunch of them have already started talking about telling the history of the village, and collecting old photos and stuff. I think it means alot to them to know that people in the outside world care about what's happening to them.

the link is on my blog there, or click on this link http://housanvillage.blogspot.com

I'll try to post properly in the next day or two, having a few internet problems out this way. Things continue to be pretty sever out here. My friend Phil went back to Gaza this week, electricity and water are only available a few hours everyday, and there is so much damage from the incursion that is continuing.

I went to church today in Bethlehem and I was really moved by the service. The people were praying really earnestly for an end to the crisis. Hearing Palestinians praying for Israeli's safety as well as there own was really powerful.

The news in brief.......

2006-07-10T13:26:00.000+01:00

So I guess it's been a while since I've blogged...
I'm in between English classes at the moment,
and I've been editing a new edition of a book about the conflict from the perspective of a Palestinian Christian. It's been really interesting.

The lovely Becky has arrived in this part of the world which has been really nice,
I've gotten to see more of her than I expected.

Elsewhere things continue to be pretty bad.
Gaza is being hit really hard in the past few weeks,
America is obsessing about this kidnapped Israeli soldier and seems relatively unmoved by the fact that over 60 Gazans are dead.
There was a story two days ago of where the Israeli Army bombed a house in the South of Gaza, killing a university professor, his wife and 7 of their 9 children.

The same seems to be true for Lebanon where 55 civilians have died this week,
in response to 8 soldiers being killed and 2 being kidnapped.
"Israel have the right to defend themselves" is the US line.

The EU is calling Israel's response disproportionate, and the Swiss Foreign Ministry (speaking as protectors of the Geneva convention) condemned Israel's actions in Gaza;

"A number of actions by the Israel Defense Forces in their offensive against the Gaza Strip have violated the principle of proportionality and are to be seen as forms of collective punishment, which is forbidden," the Swiss Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"There is no doubt that Israel has not taken the precautions required of it in international law to protect the civilian population and infrastructure."

It's crazy the justifications you can read in the news for the killing of so many people.

Just in time...

2006-06-29T09:10:00.000+01:00

I went to Gaza for a few days last weekend,
it was really nice to catch up with people.

Met a bunch of neighbours and students and friends.
Everything was seriously mellow, there was no shooting or shelling at all I don't think.
Anyway I left on Saturday evening to return to Bethlehem.

A few hours later some militants from Gaza dug under the wall and attacked a military post. They blew up a tank and killed two soldiers and kidnapped another.
Since then the place has been a bit of a mess.
As would be expected, the Israelis responded in a pretty hardcore fashion.
The took out Gaza's only powerstaion, a bunch of bridges and civil infrastructure.
Then they went in with tanks and helicopters.

The next day some militants in the West Bank kidnapped a teenage settler, who was found dead this morning. In response the Israelis just arrested 87 Hamas MP's and Elected officials. Hamas said this was an act "open war".

Seems like things are not looking so good in the short term for Gaza.
Needless to say my mother is a big fan of me being in Bethlehem.
Still tea by the beach was nice.

Bethlehem

2006-06-09T09:35:00.000+01:00

So I'm in Bethlehem now, been here for nearly two weeks i guess.
Things are going well,
I'm teaching English again and helping edit a new edition of a book,
so I've got plenty to keep me occupied.

Bethlehem is a different world to Gaza,
seems like a normal well-adjusted society in comparison!
You'd almost think you were living in a normal place if there wasn't an eight meter wall being built around you!

I dunno if it's been big news at home but there was a explosion on the beach in Gaza this week,
it upset me quite a bit, the tv images were horrific.
It looks like the israeli navy accidentally shelled a family picnic,
the tv showed a 12yr old girl screaming and running around the bodies of her six immediate family members.
The beach in Gaza had always seemed like such a refuge from the horrors of daily life, there were no guns or soldiers, just picnics and kids playing football and stuff, on fridays the whole of Gaza seems to go there.

I'm sure it was an accident but it does speak loudly about the disregard the Israeli Army have for Palestinian life, civilian or otherwise.

Manic Monday

2006-05-23T18:18:00.000+01:00

So dunno if most of you know this but there is a bit of a militia turf war going on in Gaza at the moment between the Fatah police force and the new Hamas security force. Well yesterday my Library building got caught in the crossfire.
The police station directly across from the library was shooting at a Hamas group 200 yards down the street, at a crossroads.

Only two of my students had arrived for the afternoon class when shooting started outside.
Me and the two guys went to my office (the room in the picture)to see what was happening, next thing shots were fired at our building. We all dropped to the floor instantly, a few seconds later a bullet came through the window about waist height just where I had been standing, I reckon it must have been a piece of glass that scratched my nose and not the bullet itself, but I guess I'll never know!

Me and the two guys ran to another room, before heading downstairs when there was a break in the shooting. There were about eight of us in the library bottom floor hiding behind bookshelves.
It turns out the Fatah police had used the empty floors above us as sniper positions and the Hamas guys were just shooting back at the building.

After about 15/20 mins more there was a break in the shooting and some of the guys started walking around, suddenly it started again the building was being hit,
suddenly there was some frenzied shouting. The caretaker Mohammad had been shot in the back.
I froze, lying on the ground, while the shooting continued to hit the building. When it stopped after a minute or so later I crawled across the floor to see what had happened.
Mohammad was lying on his stomach trying to make a phonecall, his back was drenched in blood and there were blood-marks showing how he had made his way, on the ground, to the phone.
He was trying to call an ambulance. I put my hand on his shoulder just to try to stop him from getting up, someone threw me a blanket but I didn't want to put pressure on his back in case his spine was damaged.
I just kept asking him to stay down. Others called the ambulance on their mobiles.

I spent the next ten minutes praying genuine prayers.

The Red Cresent guys, to their credit, were there in about ten minutes driving directly into the crossfire. They came in with a stretcher and asked me and another guy to carry him as they ran out of the building waving their hands in the air, trying to stop the shooting. We followed them out as quickly as humanly possible, but just as we got to the ambulance the shooting started right where we were. I nearly dropped the stretcher.
We crouched behind the ambulance, they pulled him in and I legged it back to the library.

All in all I reckon the shooting went on for around 70/80 minutes. I got home and tried to relax, stayed away from the windows for a while mind you!

The thing is I was just unlucky, wrong place at the wrong time. For most of Gaza it was a normal day. Went to visit Mohammad this morning, the bullet is still in his back, but it missed his spine and major organs. He lost a good bit of blood but is stable and relaxed. A Jordanian diplomatic worker however was killed in the crossfire by a stray bullet as he drove through the crossroads at the bottom of the road.

I visited the library today. It was open, the Palestinian people are ridiculously resilient. However the building was shot up pretty badly, maybe 10/12 broken windows.
My course was only meant to be a month long and it doesn't seem like it will be viable for me to finish it out. If I can't teach there isn't much I can do here, so I'm moving to Bethlehem in the next couple of days.
Said lots of goodbyes today, was pretty crap. I will visit this month.

The shootout was random, no real reason for it other than a natural result of the complicated, hazardous and crippling position Gaza has found itself in. I know families who lived like this for weeks during the intifada. I know children who are afraid of playing on the streets 5 years later. I had it for an hour and it scared the shit out of me.

So many of the "problems" in various regions of the world are man made. However here the solutions are easily available as well, the suffering in Gaza in recent times is not necessary. Gaza is not Africa. There is no famine or natural disaster, the people here are educated and industrious.

The crisis here persists because people choose to have it persist.

very big, very old

2006-05-16T11:09:00.000+01:00

'Very big and very old' is how a wiser man than me once described the pyrimads.
Giza was a bit of a zoo, lots and lots of people and cameras and maps.

Spent Four days in Cairo, really liked it.
The place is massive, crowded, and crazy busy.
The traffic lived up to the desciptions i'd heard. Completely mental. Completely.

I spent most of my time there just walking around for hours,
spent an hour and a half in the egyptian museum,
lonely planet suggests at least 2 full days.
Egypt has an overwhelmingly dense history,
there is just so much.
Pharonic, Islamic, Jewish, Coptic etc.

Went home via-Jordan, got a ferry across the red sea.
Parted it, I like to think.
I was on the ferry 7 1/2 hours before it left,
was a long day.

Back in Gaza now, new classes starting this week.
ohh and I have the runs!
Goodtimes.

My week

2006-05-06T19:48:00.001+01:00

Had a strange and busy week.

I dunno if I have mentioned this but I've been playing football on Monday and Wednesday nights for over a month now. It's been a really sweet way to break down the language barrier and really get to know people.
Anyway this week I played football as normal on Monday night.
There was this guy called Tamer playing, he is one of those annoying centre midfield players who never loses the ball. You know one of those small guys you try and kick but they're too fast!

Some of you might have read that on Tuesday morning two Palestinian police officers were killed when a shell exploded in a police station. The story goes that an unexploded shell was taken to the station to be diffused. Tamer was one of the guys who died. He was 27. He wasn't diffusing the shell or anything, he had just gone inside to get a glass of water when it went off.

I went to his funeral with the rest of the guys from football,
it was an odd experience.
People weren't as devastated as I thought they'd be,
I heard someone said that this was becoming normal.
Someone said they envied him,
another told me Tamer had the two most beautiful boys in all of Gaza.

W.B.Yeats called post-1916 rebellion Ireland a "terrible beauty".
If ever that were true for another place, it is true for Gaza.

In other less important news my English classes are finished.
Had a mini-party in the last class, got a bunch of presents off the students, was real nice.
I am in Jerusalem now, heading to Egypt and Jordan in the next couple of days to renew my visa.
I'll teach one more English class in Gaza before heading to Bethlehem for July and August to teach English and learn Arabic.

Normality, in inverted commas.

2006-04-28T10:21:00.000+01:00

It's strange the things that can become normal. The Gaza strip is roughly the size of Dublin and everyday, almost without exception, people die.
"1 Palestinian killed in a shell attack on Northern Gaza" or "2 militants killed in a shell attack in Northern Gaza" etc etc.
Some of these are innocent civilians, some of them are not, they are people nonetheless.
The other day I talked to a friend from home and she asked was everything alright there, sounding concerned.

"Why", I asked, "did you read something?"
"I heard in the news that there had been some people killed in the shelling in the North of Gaza"
"Oh", I said, relieved. I had thought for a minute it was something serious.
I thought it was something that affected me. I had spent half an hour reading the news that morning and hadn't bothered with that article.

Funny as it sounds I live in quite a safe place, in Gazan terms. The centre of Gaza city, 25 mins away from the shelling in the north, 40 mins away from the shelling in the South. Even here you can become detached.

I have a tendency to see things in the "big picture" or "long-term" or whatever, the downside being that I can often be unaffected by the smaller incidents around me. Like the fact that the doorman of my building Mohammed (who can't afford to live in this area) often sleeps in the same house as 70 of his relatives and neighbours when the shelling "gets bad". His house and those of his extended family become unsafe when the shelling intensifies. Or my local shopkeeper Saber, who I play cards with, who literally has no money despite the fact that practically everyone in the surrounding area owes him money and can't afford to pay him back, he continues to allow them to shop on credit.

Last week I sat with the family of Muhammad Abu Schmas, he is the guy in the photo outside the destroyed house a couple of posts ago. He and some of his extended family are living in the apartment of an distant relative. His two brothers who were seriously injured have recovered really well. The younger brother had just been released from ICU, he sat with us, his damaged hands wrapped up like mittens and the crown of his head literally sown together. His older brothers, in their 30's, doted on him, scratching his back when he couldn't and one had him rest his head on his lap. They thought he was gone forever.

Shells go off in the background, sometimes 2 or 3 a minute. Loud enough to force the conversation to stop.
Loud enough to make me shudder everytime.

Friday is a day for the beach

2006-04-21T19:07:00.000+01:00

Everything in Gaza closes on Fridays,
it's the one day weekend.
the people here really know how to chill out.

I decided to do a cultural experiment,
so I went to the beach for a couple of hours,
played some cards, smoked some pipe, paddled a little......all in the name of science you understand.
On Fridays when the weather is nice, which it tends to be, everyone heads to beach.
The beach is kind of an excepetion in Gaza, where you can't hear the shelling,
and everyone chills out and seems to be genuinely happy,
it's totally detached from ordinary life here.

Also people clean their donkeys.

Jerusalem last weekend was really sweet,
went to Bethlehem and Ramallah also.
Met up with some friends(Andy P.), made lots of new friends, went to church, drank some cans in a park with some Irish hipppies..... altogether a well rounded weekend.

BBQ

2006-04-13T19:44:00.000+01:00

I realise the last post was real heavy,
and I know it's important to talk about this stuff.
but also a large part of what people do here is just hang out.

I play football on Monday nights and some of the boys had me around for a BBQ.
This was a cracking night,
I learnt how to make kebabs, smoked some shesha (pipe) and played some cards.
Stayed there till nearly 3 on the morning just hanging out.

The situation in Beit Layha got alot press in the few days following our visit,
pity it had to the death of a 14yr old girl to get on the news though.

Turns out that the rockets were being fired into Israel from the immediate area around those houses that were destroyed,
I guess this makes the shelling by the Isareli army more understandable,
but the people whose houses were destroyed had nothing to do with the rockets.

In other news...
I'm going to Jerusalem for the weekend,
should be cool seen as it's Easter and all.

house and home

2006-04-08T13:27:00.000+01:00

Mohammed Abu Shmas is an accountant. This is odd because when I hear of people's houses being destroyed I always imagine they are really poor.

The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has been firing 300 shells a day into Northern Gaza in response to the rocket attacks on Israel. Mohammed's house was not a target or anything, he just lived in the wrong place.
When I asked him if I could take a picture of him and his house, he agreed and took me by the hand as we walked over. He told me about his week. He hasn't slept in the three days since the shell hit his house. He looked and talked and held himself like a broken man. He asked if I knew what it was like to know that your brother is dying and not to be able to do anythng about it. I said I couldn't and to be honest I don't want to.
He was visiting the house to see if there was anything of value he could pull from the rubble.
He was too terrified to stay there any length of time, he has no home for his wife and 5 kids. The kids can't attend school.
He asks where I'm from, I say Ireland. "So", he says, "You must know what it is like to live like this". "No", I said, "I have no idea what it is like to live like this".

This whole town, Beit Lahya, is dotted with small crators from tank shells. Talib got hit by shrapnel from a tank shell.

One of the men who showed us his shrapnel-ridden house said that no journalists had come to report on the incidents. These people were raging with the desire to be heard.

In the car on the way home they said that somone had been injured in shelling in Beit Layha. There was a lady crying on the radio. I couldn't understand what she was saying.
I don't mean to say anyone is right or anyone else is wrong, I guess that as soon as you take sides you become part of the problem. But injustice is still injustice.

the city sleeps not so quietly

2006-04-04T15:53:00.000+01:00

was reading the news just now about some airstrikes by the Israeli army in Gaza city,
as i read the desription I realised they were talking about the building at the end of my road,
i looked out the window,
ahhh.....that would explain the noises being that little bit louder than usual.

things have been kinda heating up here,
lots of internal gunfights
and external ginfights,
navy shelling, tank shelling, airstrikes etc.

was invited out for a meal with a bunch of ex-pats the other night,
mostly journalists and UN people,
was really cool,
even had some Irish stew and some wine.

tv is broken which sucks

emmm...
since I started writing this the power cut and I went out
when I came back I found out that things had kinda escalted here
3 people were killed in shelling today,
Hamas removed all the israeli cameras at the border and the israeli's have threatened to shoot the place up tonight if they're not replaced,
also found out an american friend of mine got deported
and an american family i spent some time here just got a personal threat and are leaving Gaza tonight.

by all accounts it'll be a messy few days.....

soul sisters

2006-03-27T21:09:00.000+01:00

I've been hanging out a bunch with the sisters of charity here doing some painting and helping out with the kids,
they are the coolest people in the world.
I've never met people before who's sole purpose on earth is love others,
they look after abandoned and handicapped kids,
many of whom aren't used to being touched or talked to.
pretty humbling stuff.

I'm perservering with my Arabic, but it's a bit of a painful process.
teaching is going well, i could get used to the power.

Witnessed my first Islamic Jihad funeral yesterday,
took place in the mosque just outside my house, twas mental.
A big crowd with flags carrying the corpse, chanting anti-israeli slogans and shooting machine guns in the air.

Bethlehem

2006-03-21T10:37:00.000Z

So after everything took off in Gaza I went to stay with friends in Bethlehem,
now that is an interesting place.
I was staying just a two minute walk inside the Israeli "security wall" which seperates Bethlehem form Jerusalem.
Spent a while watching the kids and the army play the "you might have stones but we've got tear gas" game.
Was pretty enertaining.

A rather odd outcome from my evacuation from Gaza was that I got invited to the Irish ambassador's house for a Paddy's day party. I left without any respectable clothes and went to the bash wearing runners and looking real scruffy,
but it was a really cool if odd night.
Met loads of really interesting people from the UN, BBC, Diplomats..etc,
and there was a free bar.

Also got to visit Jerusalem, Hebron and a couple of other places.
Back in Gaza now,
atmosphere has changed noticeably since last week.
Everyone now asks me if I am British and I get a couple more funny "what are you doing here, you mad egg" looks off people.
I have started carrying around my passport all the time,
just in case.

Turns out the secret police guys I met over the camera incident had sent armed guards to protect my building the day of the kidnappings!
It's funny how you make friends......

no you're not getting kidnapped...now get in the minbus

2006-03-15T07:16:00.000Z

man...
so yesterday was like the craziest day of my life.

Started out quite normal, went to visit the sisters of charity (my nun friends),
did some painting for them and stuff.
The day before I had walked to the British Council so I figured it was a nice day and all so I'd do the same today.
I got back to my apartment, cooked some noodles when I got a call from my friend telling me something about a kidnapping,
I couldn't really understand him but i reckoned i'd go to the internet cafe and check the news.
The news said something about an attack on the E.U. compound so decided walking was maybe not such a good idea, so I called my taxi-diver friend.

No, no taxi
you go home
outside is bad
inside is beautiful

I reckoned was probably solid advice.
A couple of hours later some of my friends arrived and organised an army escort for me,
so I get in this car with four blokes i've never met before.
I am in the middle of the backseat between two huge blokes with machine guns and we tear through gaza city.
The guys to my left and right lower their windows and sit their machine guns out the window as we approach a large croud carrying banners and burning stuff,

Should I hid my face?
the guy just smiles at me

The car meanders through the protest at a ridiculous speed and I am deposited at a huge military base where I am escorted into a large room which held all the remaining foreigners in Gaza.
They gave us coffee and stuff while the army cleared a path through all the road blocks on the way to the Eretz border.

They decide to send us out by convoy, so I get in a minibus with two american kids and a lady and two army guys.
We leave in convoy, the doors are open and the two soldiers block each door with their legs.
They lock and load their guns prepare to clear the path out of Gaza.
The convoy of about 8/9 cars proceeds to hightail it to the border,
driving a solid 80/90 miles an hour the whole way through side streets, packed streets, protests, and bonfire road blocks.
This part was alot of fun.

So we get to Eretz and a couple of hours later I'm in a car with my new friend Emilio, a spanish Associated Press photographer, and we're headed to Jerusalem.
This bloke was real cool although he did make me feel very insecure about my photography skills.
We grab a beer and a burger in Jerusalem and then he drops me to the Bethlehem border where I am met on the other side by friends who bring me to their home and more importantly to a pull out bed.
Where I slept.

The craziest day of my life.

A number of positives though,
One-If you borrow a book form a library (or a British council) and the following day the same library gets burned down, you may keep the book.
Two-I get to hang out in Bethlehem which is really cool.
Three-I had my first beer in a month.
Four-And most importantly....wait for it.......
I was on CNN.
how cool is that.