Olive Harvest

The olive harvest is in full swing and we have picked 12 of the last 14 days. We leave the house at 6:45 and return around 5ish if we are not invited home for supper. For seven of those days we were invited (it is very difficult to refuse such invitations) to the homes of families to eat supper. On such days we arrive home anywhere from 7 to 8 PM. They have been long, physically demanding days. It is understood that we do not come here to pick olives. We come to provide protection accompaniment. So the groves where we pick are near Israeli settlements for the most part. There have been reports of settler attacks, damage to trees, stolen olives, and military closures in some areas – but we have experienced none of these difficulties yet.

It is not clear how long the harvest will last. I am guessing it will begin to slow up in about 10 days. It is good to be busy but I am not sure how much of this my body can tolerate.

Eating in the olive groves is a daily activity. Palestinian families are very hospitable and provide coffee, tea, cola and generous amounts of traditional foods. The manner of presentation is considerably different than an American picnic. There are seldom any places to or attempts at cleaning up for lunch. (Sometimes they offer water to clean your hands – after the meal.) Hands that have been picking olives are the same hands that pass food around and dip bread into common dishes. Usually we sit around one of the drop clothes (used to catch the falling olives) and use it for a table cloth. One day was really unique as we used no ‘table cloth”. The big pieces of bread were tossed from side to side almost like Frisbees and laid directly on the ground, albeit touching various rocks for the most part. Food is dispensed to numerous communal dishes and we all dip in with our torn bread. Olive oil is also there in bowls ready for dipping also. Once a man near me repeatedly dipped his finger in the olive oil and spread the oil on his pruning sears. What a hoot ! And the answer is YES; we did continue to dip our bread in the same oil. “When is Rome, do as the Romans.”

Palestinians consume huge amounts of olive oil; they must think it grows on trees.

Thank for taking the time to read this. More news will appear on the team blog at www.mptinpalestine.blogspot.com

with Peace, Fred