Jurish, Za'tara (Tapuah), Bruqin

On the way to Jurish things were quiet, except that there were more police and soldiers at the Tapuah checkpoint than usual. The road to Jurish is still blocked with large boulders. About 7 students came to the English class. Sarah, Marisol (a friend of Sarah's) and Iman joined our class. We started at about 11:00 because of Ramadan but the girls were very enthusiastic and participated fully. We worked on the past tense, practicing conversation and new vocabulary. I brought in a written exercise where the students had to write in their answers. Then they had to create their own sentences in the past. They really enjoyed this and promised to write sentences for homework using the past and the new words. Having the small board to show examples is very helpful. I asked Iman to get Microsoft Office disks so we can start working on the computers. At 12:15 Sarah took 6 students for Yoga class. The class went well. In the meantime, I worked individually with one girl, Sh. whose English is a lower level and I noticed a real improvement in her speaking ability. She's less shy and ready to ask questions and participate freely. On the way back, we went to Bruqin Village which seemed to be quiet with no visible actions going on.