the hiatus explained

Yousuf and I left Gaza rather suddenly at the end of December to join Yassine for the holidays. As with my arrival, it was extremely abrupt. My bags were packed and we just waited for a phonecall from the taxi driver, which he said could come at any moment.

It came at 1:30am two weeks ago, not at all unexpected when the Israelis inform the Palestinians side of Rafah's opening only a few hours ahead of time. So a very sleepy Yousuf and I took our bags and drudged off to the border, where we waited in the taxi in a very chilly Rafah from 2:30 am until 10 am, when the Europeans arrived and it officially opened. Only two busloads were allowed through before the border closed again, and we barely made it out (very barely-we nearly got left out of our bus had it not been for the bravery of one passenger, who whisked Yousuf away from my arms through the window of the bus, just as I jostled my way in amidst a few hundred others).

I then took it upon myself to take a holiday not only from work, but from blogging as well (that and was busy with Yousuf and his two cousins, 5 and 2).

Coming back, as usual, was very surreal, as if I have just dropped into some alternate universe, which, as Gaza, is in its own vaccum, but in an entirely different way.

There is so much to blog on, and I will continue to do that, and update you on my latest articles, of which there are a few.