Just saw "Sleepless in Seattle" for the umpteenth time.

I love it.

I shouldn't. I don't believe this sort of thing happens in real life, it's also not my usual type of escapism. On the other hand, it being so fantastic (in the "fantasy" sense, not the "amazing" sense) it really does enable one to transcend their own expectations from reality.

I just witnessed my parents being all kissy-face.
And I'm quoting:
Mother:"When we met on [the place where they first met] and I shook your hand"
Father:"It was magic"

I'd be all awwww, if I didn't know they weren't just acting because of the movie.
In this case it's just a bit gross.

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My nephew had a birthday party today, which was very nice. It was a beautiful day and practically the entire family came to spend an entire afternoon outside, lounging under a tree with freshly baked cup-cakes and watermelon (the boy's favourite food of all times, excellent choice in 35C degrees if you ask me).

Good day.

I woke up at an unspeakable hour this morning... looking at the time I'm updating it is still unspeakable.

I went with my uncle (to be known as Uncle D), Granny and Daddy to the air port to see him off, I'm staying in the Rainbow Nation for a few more days and staying with my other uncle (Uncle P) and his family, both are Daddies little brothers (is it still all right to call 50+ year old men "little"?)

In any event, yesterday being the last day of Daddy's holiday I got kind of weepy and annoying, I hope I didn't make things more difficult for him seeing as today is my birthday (yes, yes, many happy returns) I didn't want him to feel guilty.
Uncle P is taking out for a drive today to places called Kalks Bay (very pretty beach place), maybe Cape Point (where the two oceans meet) and it being the first clear day since I've arrived (remember I spoke of the mist and not being able to see a hundred meters ahead? It stayed that way from Friday until yesterday afternoon) I'll most likely be going up Table Mountain, which is my clearest memory of SA from when I was nine years old.

Will try and update again before I get home, but I make no promises.

I went to Bil'in today, as it was the three year anniversary for the struggle against the Separation Wall (which in that area is a fence) and to mark the half year mark since the Supreme High Court declared the path of the fence to be moved.
This hasn't happened and the weekly demonstrations have and will continue.

This was my first demo in the area so I stayed on the hill and didn't go into the wadi and as such avoided the actual "action" of being tear gassed and shot at with rubber bullets. Today twenty or so activists were injured (one had to be evacuated to hospital, thankfully there was Red Crescent presence) from the soldiers actions and one soldier was injured from a stone thrown at him.

I managed to take some pictures that weren't total crap with my obsolete Point & Shoot Digital Cam: ( Don't Miss Them )

We arrived there at about 11:30, began marching at 12:30, began disperding at around 15:00, I got home at 17:30.
Long, good and productive day, I feel.

23/02/08 10:25 - Edited to Add: Link to English Ha'aretz story.

Yesterday afternoon Mummy went to fetch the Jerusalem Kids, because they spent the weekend with us. I always love when they come here, it's great fun to be Auntie.

Today the 'rents came (sister and brother-in-law) and we all decided to go on a short hike at a really beautiful national park on the coast (Sharon Beach (Hebrew link), if you're interested). It was a beautiful day, sunny but not too warm with a gorgeous breeze moving the sea-air around. The view from the cliffs was amazing, if a bit nerve wracking with a three year and a six year old running around pretending to be Superheroes, Elephants and wrestling on the sand (yeah, they brought most of the beach home with us).
We weren't actually near the Sea (unless the ten second drop into the rocks counts as near), but the yellow sand and yellow/light brown calcareous rock were also breathtaking, especially with the sand flowers and plants which were lush and filled with juices (which the three year old managed to spread over his hand), there were also huge Aloe-Vera plants dotted around.

Robbie was also there and we all hiked together, it was a whole lot of fun, even though I didn't really want to go out, but Mummy mentioned that I only go out at night and am slowly getting the complexion of a vampire, which is worrying, seeing as my skin couldn't be whiter unless I was an albino (rosy cheeks and blush don't count, that's circulation).
Also, seeing as Robbie decided to forego a hat (who doesn't bring a hat to a hike at noon?!), Leigh fumbled in her bag and produced a silk scarf for him to wear as a bandanna; I took pity on him and took the scarf and let him wear my denim "Kova Tembel" (bucket hat), and I wore the silk scarf as a bandanna.
I don't usually wear scarves on my head, I feel I look silly in them, but Leigh assures me I looked like a Radical Religious Jewish lady, so it wasn't so bad :D

Oh! And Edited to Add - 20:21 I went to see Atonement with my friend Shira last night, excellent, highly recommended. Keira Knightly must eat something, dude! And James McAvoy is going to be a legend one day, if he doesn't die young like other we know *cough*HeathLedger*cough*.

Going to the movie again, this time with my siblings (and in-law).

Hey, it was free, plus time with the family. That's a good thing.

Olive picking was fun for the whole family, my folks didn't stay 'till the end, but that didn't matter, at least they came.
I picked, talked politics with a 20 year old anarchist and a 16 year old marxist... when did I turn into my parents where all I desire is to quietly live my life while trying my best not to opress anyone and make a little money to sustain myself, the other people were much the same as I... only significantly older - I felt very old around those two, and I'm only 22!

I thought I was going to go to the Teacher's Demo tonight, but I'm just too exhausted, I can barely look at the screen straight... though no doubt a piece of cake and a cup of coffee will make me feel better, getting on a bus and standing with a few thousand people complaining about our crappy education system doesn't seem to hot to me at the moment.

Next weekend there's a Take Back the Night March and that, no matter what I do that day, I will not be missing.

I'm not sure how to go about writing about the olive picking today.
I wanted to write something with meaning and stuff like that, but thinking about it, just writing about it most likely meaningful enough.

I didn't know anyone, but everyone was very nice and told me where to go and what to do. It was very sad, the olive grove is cut off from the villages beyond the Wall and only the land owners have permits to move into and onto the land with a donkey and a old tractor, so we were something like 30 Israelis and 6-10 Arabs.
There isn't any "modern" or "efficient" way to pick olives, you pick up a big stick and beat the tree branches until the olives fall down. Problem, the branches are so thick because no one can prune them... you need special permit to prune the trees.
So we hand picked almost all of the olives in the three groves we visited today.
The tarp we used was holey and so many olives fell through onto the ground, eventually we just used our sandwich bags to collect them and someone was smart and brought shopping bags with which we used as well.

The first grove we were in was just adjacent to the Wall and right next to a check-point, there wasn't anybody there except the soldiers on guard duty who pretty much ignored us, but border patrol came to see us in the late morning, they glared a little but gave no problem what so ever, so there were no clashes with authority thankfully.

Some of the trees were so full of fruit, but there was no way to shake them loose other than to climb up and put them in our bags, so up the trees I climbed like a monkey - I don't climb trees, I never liked to and I was never good at it, but these olive trees really liked me, I even sat on the canopy and accidentally hit the people below me as I dropped the fruit onto the tarp they used to collect the olives.

During our break, when I bumped my head on a low branch and fell on my ass (which was funny I'll admit, though a bit humiliating) the Arab man in charge of us, Osama, made us coffee, oh my GD it was so good and I was so caffeinated and energized after I was running around and climbing up trees like a crazy person!

I'm not sure how much we actually helped them, more than they would have gotten otherwise, but there were so few people and so many trees, I just feel horrible for the situation that Wall puts them through.

I came home dusty, dirty, brambled and feeling really, really good.
And tired.

Thought I'd give you a slice of life.

Had a very busy day, brother and I drove to Tel Meggido to be with my sister Leigh, her family (seeing as it was to celebrate my Nephew's third birthday)and walk around the archaeological ruins from the various Bronze and Iron Ages which litter that part of our fair country.
It being the end of Sukkot Holiday and just before the rains (we hope) start.

Tel Meggido is a.k.a Mount Meggido which is a.k.a Armageddon.
Needless to say, on top of regular families like ours walking around and enjoying the view and the History of the place there were also American tourists taking a closer look at where the Final Conflict Between Good and Evil is said to take place.
Personally, I'm far more inclined to believe the End will come via some Bureaucratic mishap... or somewhere in the English countryside... either way it would make more sense than taking the word of a brain addled, drug addict martyr who was being completely allegorical and was actually talking about ROME and the Emperor Nero and not the Devil and his workers so much.
And the world keeps turning anyway.

Tomorrow the parental units are returning from China, and normality will be restored in the Barron house-hold, I'd like to think my brother and I kept it together very well, after all there are no dirty dishes in the sink, and the washing machine is spinning mightily on.

I have to admit it's been a weird summer what with barely seeing my parents, me being away and them being away multiple times... it seems there's finally going to be a reprieve of traveling and everyone will be doing what they have to in their lives.

Mummy will go back to the teaching with no break until December.
Daddy will go back to the Pharmacy and work the hours he always does.
And me... I'm going to Uni...
Gah.

In addition, the genocide in Darfur must be stopped.