D-8 Starting at Al-Mahawer in Hebron

This afternoon, we started our chess activities in the youth centre Al-Mahawer, when the children got back from school. Yes, a Sunday :) Their free days are actually Friday and Saturday.

I got a new translator who speaks very good English, and we brought all the chess boards, so we were ready. My translator plays a little bit already, and told me that in Arabic, the queen is not called the queen but something like the assistant of the King !!! It tells a lot about their society !

After a quick check-up, I was quite impressed by their level already as I realised almost all the kids were already knowing the position of the starting game, the figures' names and their way of moving. 

So this week will definitely not be similar as last week, as we will be going forward into some more complicated exercises and situations.

One of the animator at the centre was saying he was really good and absolutely wanted to play against me to beat me. It was very funny as I won very easily 6 or 7 times and all the kids (mostly girls) were around the table laughing... Our main target is the feminine population, so it was really a good example for them to see me winning against a man... They were impressed and it motivated them !

D-7 My new family in Hebron

Yesterday afternoon, I have been relocated to Hebron, where I will be giving my second week of chess training in another centre.

When arriving in the neighbourhood of my new family, I felt quite "impressed" by the situation: there are no proper streets, the place is full of junks, and kids are playing in the middle of it.

I felt better when entering the building as the flat was clean and the family is really nice.

They have 3 kids of 14, 12 and 5 years old, and I like them a lot already: they look very happy and full of energy.

The mom and dad are actually cousins (first degree cousins!)... and got married when she was 15 and he was 27... Once again, a cultural shock ...

The mom speaks a bit english and we had some interesting conversation. I explained her that a marriage between cousins is legal in my country but very rare and she was having a hard time understanding why.

Her oldest son is quite sick though, he has some real sight issues.

D-7 Emmanuel Monastery

Yesterday was my first day off this week so I decided to go visit my husband Timothee's cousin, Laure in her monastery. She has been living there for 10 years already and is really happy.
The monastery is located just in front of the wall between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, near by a check-point.
Laure, in her 10 years spent there, has learnt a lot and lived some very difficult situations; however, she would not like to be anywhere else, as she feels her and her sister's support is really important for the population.
The monastery is a very peaceful place, simple but beautiful, and as soon as you enter, you feel very welcomed.

D-6 The engagement party !

This late afternoon, the whole family was invited to an engagement party.

I was walking by Hussein when we arrived in front of the house and he told me "Ok, see you later, I am going with the men now". I was shocked and asked "Do you mean that men and women are having a separate celebration even for an engagement party?". He replied "Of course, this is our habit" as he likes to say :)

It was very difficult for me to understand: even if I knew they were often divided, I assumed they would share this moment all together, as a symbol of the union of a man with a woman.

I was thinking that maybe they prefer to wait to be married for the mixed party, but Hussein told me that it depends on the family: they could actually also be divided for the wedding.

So I went to the women's party... It was really nice, the bride-to-be was wearing a long black dress with many sparkling buttons, and everyone was all dressed up. I was surprised by the big amount of make-up used, even on the little girls, as well as the fancy dresses and hair cuts that we would define as "very kitsch" ;)

The bride-to-be was sitting on some kind of "throne" and all the women were dancing for her ! This time, there was some music on ... :)

I was glad to see the groom arriving at some point, for some dancing, but also for a little ceremony where he offered a necklace to his fiance.

They both looked really happy !

I met 2 of my little students there, with their very cute brother, as you can on the picture.

After the party, I asked Hussein how was the men's party like, and he told me they were just chatting and having coffee... So I was happy I was with the girls :) I noticed the future bride was not around for a moment, and thought maybe she also met her fiance at the other party, but Hussein explained me that only the man can go party with the women... ;)

D-6 Last day in Shiraa

Today was the last day at the Shiraa Association... Times flies !

As usual the children were happy to be here and participated actively in all the activities and exercises.

Once again, the boys beat the girls in the team match.

We then paired them by level for some real games, except 6 of them that I thought had still not assimilated every figure's movement. I don't want to make them play without knowing this absolutely perfectly, because then, the games would not make any sense.

Ahmed was here today again, so we were co-animating the class, which is much better when you have level differences. He will be the one keeping on with the class when I am gone, 4 hours per week. The idea is to create a chess club and a team which will then compete in tournaments.

Ahmed was explaining me he learnt how to play chess by himself when he was a teenager. He once saw two people playing and he caught the chess virus.There was not any centre like Shiraa in the past, and no tournament either to develop his skills. It was also (and still is) very difficult to get out of the country and compete with the rest of the world. Competition is important for the improvement though.

It reminded me how lucky I was to be travelling France and Europe for chess competitions at a very young age.

At the end of the class, I thanked all the children for their great participation and positive attitude.

I gave one chess medal to the best two boys and one for the best girl, they were really proud !

All the children gave me a kiss and told me I will be missed, that was soooo cute !

D-5 Checkmate at Shiraa

Back to Shiraa and its beautiful kids always eager to learn some more.

We repeated the whole thing all over again: each kid was coming to the board and giving all the information about one figure to the others: how many points it's worth, how it moves, how it eats, if it can go back / jump etc ...

There are always some kids saying it is too easy, and when arriving at the board, they get it wrong :)

Girl Power !

Check and checkmate in one move exercises were on the board today, and I was really impressed by one girl ! She found all the answers before the rest of the class, and the more she had it right, the more she wanted to keep on.

In the previous days, she was not specially above the others, so work definitely pays off !

Time to play

We got the chessboards out for the children to play some real games! Unfortunately, there are not enough tables, so we put them all directly on the floor... I thought it was not very practical to play but I have been told they are used to do activities on the floor :)

I could pair them by level, which was really interesting for them; I could stay more helping the one in difficulties whereas the others were happily playing. You always get some situation when they call you for some help, and you arrive and see both kings in check, or a king missing ;) They all speak a little bit of English, and Rabea (Hussein's son) is always helping me anyway.

As you can see on the picture, he has 2 bishops on the same diagonal ... However, almost all the girls lost against the boys, grrrrr :) Even the best girl ! I noticed she was very competitive though, as a boy ... it is definitely a big asset to play !

D-5 More celebration for the released prisoners

Today, Hussein took me to the University of Bethlehem where he was invited to represent his brother in a celebration organised by the Student Union.

There were many Palestinian flags in the uni, as well as peace posters.
The room was full, there were about 200 people, all very enthusiastic !
Two students introduced themselves and the ones following: associations for the prisoners, ministry... It was quite long and in Arabic so of course I was getting a bit bored... I felt better when Hussein told me he was falling asleep as well :)
The atmosphere was really nice though, people were happy, and there was some very loud traditional music on.
When the speeches finished, a group of singers arrived, and everyone one was singing with them... from the youngest to the oldest :)

Then, they called the 6 prisoners (3 women and 3 men) who were released and allowed to come back home to Bethlehem... and they gave them a special Hero Price. Among them, was the Russian girl Eliana, who just spent 6 years in prison... her daughter and mother were there as well. They also gave the name of the ones who were released but could not return to their home: Hussein went to pick the price for his brother.

Hussein explained me not everyone in the room has the chance to have a member of his family released: there was an old lady who is still waiting for her son, after 28 years in jail. As Hussein's brother, her son received a 100 years detention pain (it was definitely a surprise for Hussein's family to learn he was going to be free then!). All the returned prisoners were giving her a kiss on the head.