Za'tara (Tapuah)

,

Jurish

09:30  Departure from train station in Rosh HaAyin.

09:45  At the entrance to Jamma'in, the checkpoint is closed;  two military jeeps are parked on either side of the entrance.  Further down the road, there is a side checkpoint for the purpose of road work.  The workers are dissembling the fence on the side of the road.

10:00  Tapuah junction.  Two military vehicles in the area.  Two soldiers at the bus stop and another two at the guard tower.  Opposite Arakbah, an additional checkpoint. a large Palestinian truck overturned and is sprawled in a ditch at the side of the road.  Emergency vehicles are next to it and the engineering corps is supervising the work from the side.

10:15  Arrival in Jurish.  The substitute director of the club (the director is in Jordan) greets us, and two young women.  Gradually, another 4 young women arrive.  None of the adult women arrive.  According to the records we kept during the previous meetings, 4 of the young women  belong to the "advanced" group and 2 belong to the "beginners".  We decided to combine the groups and to give them all one lesson in English and one in yoga.  Since this is the first day of Ramadan, the English lesson is dedicated to the holiday theme. The women happily talk about their early waking in the morning, the "Suhor",  the early breakfast, the laws of the fast and the order of the prayers during the days of fasting, the "Ift'r" meal at its end and the social aspects of the month of Ramadan, while using the new vocabulary words connected to the topic.  The gap between the advanced students and the others is conspicuous:  the  4 advanced students have  a rich vocabulary as well as knowledge of tenses, and they quickly assimilate the new vocabulary.  The other two have a hard time.  They need more work on speaking confidently, even if they have a limited vocabulary.  After the English lesson, the women go to the yoga lesson and return in a good mood.

12:45 Departure from Jurish.

13:00  Tapuah junction.

Two soldiers are wandering around in the empty structure, two others are at the bus stop and another 2 at the guard tower.  The truck which had overturned opposite Arakba has been removed and workers are busy now with repairing the road and the fence which was knocked out of place.  At the entrance to Jamma'in, the checkpoint is open and the 2 jeeps have disappeared.  Mainly this was a meaningless show of "presence".

13:30  Return to Rosh Ha'Ayin.