The Road to Ramallah

The bus stop that takes passengers from East Jerusalem to all places in the West Bank looks a lot more chaotic than it actually is. Its surprisingly easy in fact.

They're not actually busses, but shared taxis that can range from a station wagon to a mini-bus. We found the mini bus to Ramallah, it filled up quickly and we were off.

Blazing through East Jerusalem we got to a road that ran the length of the Wall. It sort of came out of nowhere and I hadn't expected it to be as mundane. But maybe thats the point. It feels, at first, like a highway noise wall - the ones that run the length of the Queensway that shelter the neighbours from the sound of passing cars. But it's length and height are unsettling.

The new practice of the Israelis is to allow nearly uninterupted flow of traffic into the West Bank from Israel at the points in the Wall where traffic is allowed through. But are in turn extremely restrictive about vehicles and people heading from the West Bank into Israel (not to mention ANYONE heading from ANYWHERE into Israel! - but thats for a later story).

Ramallah is a lot bigger, and a lot busier than I had imagined. We met a guy on the bus from Jerusalem named Adam who we figured was also heading to Birzeit. Finding the cabs from Ramallah to the University proved impossible and the three of us ended up splitting the cab ($5 total!). It turns out that Adam has an MA from the Institute that Nora and I are from, and is starting at U of T Law school when we get back. Small world. In fact there are four Canadians here in total out of maybe 25? We're representing.