sweet sweet generosity...

On a daily basis I am blown away and completely humbled by the generous nature of the Palestinians. Here is just one story: In a previous post I talked about a project I had been working on with staff and students from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the university. The first time I met with them, several months ago, they were so excited about the opportunity that had been given to them. To thank me for it, they presented me with a student-made ceramic plate that had been engraved with an ancient Palestinian cityscape and a symbolic old house key, representing Palestinian refugees' desire to return back to the homes that the Israelis expounded them from. It was completely unexpected and I felt that I was undeserving of such a gift, since I really hadn't done much at all other than coordinate between them and the organizers of the festival.

A couple of months ago I returned to the Faculty of Fine Arts for the annual student exhibition. It was amazing! The entire building had been turned into a big art gallery displaying various mediums of artwork -- ceramics, tiles, paintings, graphic design, architecture, etc. At the end of the day the dean of the faculty told me that I could choose something from the ceramic display for a gift. At first I said no because I felt bad taken home someone's piece of art that they had worked very hard on. After much insistence from the dean, I choose a beautiful muted turquoise plate with white Arabic script on it. The script was a quote from the Qur'an and if I remember right from O, the translation is a reminder to be kind and generous to others. How fitting!

While at the exhibition, I had also fallen in love with some of the paintings. There were a few that were of the old city of Nablus and were just beautiful. I thought of how nice it would be to have something like this as a keepsake of my time in Palestine. I asked one of the professors if they would ever consider selling the paintings. He said yes, but not until the exhibition was complete. I pointed out my favorite ones and asked that he keep an eye out for them and to let me know once they were on sale. A couple of weeks ago I hadn't heard from him so I thought I would drop him an e-mail to see if he had heard anything. He responded with the following (a direct quote from his message):

"Regarding the Painting that you like to have, I talked to a teacher who teaches landscape on this summer course. I told him to find the best student to make a new painting on the same style you like, inspired from the old city and will pay him just the materials. I want to make you a favor. I'll let you know when it is ready."

Needless to say, this was completely unexpected and entirely humbling. I am in awe. Period.