Welcome to my blog. If you’ve got this far then you’ve either succumbed to one of my thinly veiled pleas for attention on facebook or twitter or you’ve been waylaid in your search for a Palestinian hill-walking club. If you are amongst the latter, please hit backspace and resume your googlings. If you are one of the former allow me to attempt some kind of explanation for the self-indulgent wittering which will surely follow.
When living away from home it is always difficult to know how best to keep in touch with friends and family and to keep those who are interested, if such a special breed exist, informed of my comings and goings. In the past I’ve attempting group emails but I’m never sure how well they are received or who to send them to. By using the medium of blog I am able to say: "Read if you want, reply if you want but please don't feel obliged to do either." My hope is that those of you who are keen to know more about what I’m doing and would like to share their own news will get in touch via email (tpsamba(at)yahoo.com) or on skype (tpsamba) or even twitter (@tpsamba)
The title of the blog is intentionally vague (and intentionally alliterative, I’m sorry, I have an illness). This is because I don’t really know what I will write about. It will mostly be about me, which I admit would be exceedingly dull were it not for the fact that I live in such an interesting place. That place is Ramallah in the West Bank, home to tens of thousands reluctant exiles (the Palestinians) and a few hundred who have imposed exile on themselves (like me). In addition to relating some of my own experiences my intention is to use my photos to illustrate a few of the unusual aspects of life here. I will try to stay away from politics as I prefer to save my ill-informed ranting for skype and personal emails.
That’s more than enough blathering for now. I’ll leave you with these photos taken in April. in the centre of Ramallah, minutes after Barcelona beat Real Madrid in El Clasico. Forget Man United or Chelsea, in Palestine, in the absence of local sporting heroes, everyone is crazy for the teams of Ronaldo and Messi. When one triumphs over the other the celebrations are a marvellous sight. Who knows what they’ll do if Spain win the World Cup! Whatever happens you can be sure that, unlike in London, no one will be drunk on anything other than a love for a silly, wonderful game.
Here endeth the ramble.
(PS. Click on the photos to see bigger versions)
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