Journals

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My phone was recently blocked from making outgoing calls. I found it to be frustrating that although I could receive calls and text messages, I could send nothing. After a few non-responses from Pelephone’s customer service email address, I decided to call the toll-free number from a friend’s cell phone.

After waiting 10-minutes for a customer service representative, my call was acknowledged. I asked the reasoning behind my phone’s restriction, and the woman responded with the following: “We noted that your phone had dialed East Jerusalem numbers, and we assumed your phone was stolen.”

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Later that evening, I joined Jonah Seligman and Adam Ross at their apartment for Shabbat. I stopped at a store prior to my arrival, and purchased a bottle of wine and a bottle of vodka for our Shabbat consumption. Within ten minutes of arriving at the apartment, the entire bottle of vodka lay shattered on the linoleum floor sending waves of liquor in every direction. Another guest, who shall remain nameless, accidentally dropped the unopened bottle of vodka. My bad luck persisted. (I also forgot to mention that my toothbrush fell out of my backpack on my walk to the bus in West Jerusalem, a fact that I failed to realize until I needed to brush my teeth.)

This journal entry was originally posted on June 26, 2009.

Two days ago, I made my first trip across the checkpoints to visit some friends in Ramallah. I can’t say that I knew what to expect, although my experience was much more seamless than I anticipated. I boarded a bus at Damascus Gate in East Jerusalem which, for 6.50 NIS (about $1.60), carried me all the way to Ramallah.