"We get shit from Jericho"

Just back now from three days at a conference in Jericho (which might officially “open” tomorrow, pending Israeli withdrawal) – it’s sad to see that the place claiming to be the oldest city in the world, where 2,000 year old trees have plaques explaining that “Jesus was here” and a monastery is carved high into the rock on the side of a mountain is now basically a ghost town.
We stayed at a hotel built for tourists back in the early 1990s, which has been maintained, but just, for the past few years (as the proprietor explained, you don’t let a $200 million investment lapse over a little conflict). We were able to come down and see their (closed) casino – it once catered to an average of 6,000 people per day, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. It was eerie to wander in – they had turned on all of the lights and the games, but the only sound other than tinkly slot machine music was the sound of our muffled footsteps on the rug. Luckily, we got a gift upon leaving – a folding beach chair . . . for a cell phone!

Fascinating to hear about the amount of security involved in running a casino – not, I mean, of the “don’t bring your Uzi in here” kind, but of the watching the tables sort. The hotel proprietor started telling us all about how they used to run the resort, and all of a sudden, while talking about the water purification system, his assistant blurts out, “We get shit from Jericho!” Um, what? Turns out the system uses manure for fuel. They used to buy it by the truckload from various farms in and around Jericho.

Meanwhile, my vocabulary of Arabic words is slowly expanding – can’t yet have a conversation (besides “Good morning. My name is Ri. How are you?” And such.), but I can pick out words and phrases from conversation, and can write and count numbers from 1-10. I’ve also become quite good at a game called tarnib, which is something a lot like spades, with a few little variations. Firas, my tarnib partner, is also going to take me to the gym, so I can do something other than sit on my couch after work. Fabulous.