Ramallah

When you are being your authentic self, when you are patient, the universe provides in ways you can’t expect. That’s what happened on my trip to Big Sur when I was invited to live with Park Aids for two days. Sharing songs and stories around the bonfire was a highlight of my time there.

Happy October! Six months have passed since I quit my job and started traveling. I owe many thanks to everyone who helped make the last six months possible. Thank you for your couches, spare rooms, homemade meals, and glasses of wine….for all your generosity that collectively made my adventure possible. I learned that life’s best pleasures are the simple ones: friends, authentic conversation, and the occasional circus trick 🙂

Thank you….

Who knew France also has a Grand Canyon? Julie and I spent a day exploring the turquoise waters of the Canyon with our gracious host, Brittany.

My trip started with four days in Istanbul, Turkey. I stayed with a young couple and their 9-month old baby. They fed me so well I hardly needed a second let alone third meal most days. I loved playing with their son, Şan, a pure delight.

Thank you, Amanda and Stefan for hosting me in Zurich, Switzerland where I received their full support both before and after sitting for 10 days in silence. Your love and support have always helped me through life’s challenges.

I shared a three-week French adventure with my college friend, Julie. We met another Gettysburg grad, Brittany, in southern France and had a wonderful stay with her and the family she works for as an au pair. In northern France we had delicious meals, plenty fleur de sel, and a crazy dance party with Cedric and Amelie. In Paris and Bordeaux we stayed with friends of friends who love to travel and gave great advice—thanks Hannah and Mahaut.

After France, I nested with my favorite people in Madrid, Spain: Carmen and Raquel. Days included siestas and nights of yoga followed by tapas, cañas, and live music. A perfect place to celebrate my birthday and the beginning of a 200 mile pilgrimage, Camino de Santiago!

Then I trekked for 14 days through Galicia, Spain and northern Portugal where I met dozens of new faces every day on the Camino de Santiago. To everyone I met: thank you for the company, conversations, Band-Aids, and encouragement.

What a nice mid-journey reunion with Cecilia, my wonderful communications and web coordinator. Cecilia and I share a love for dancer pose and Perugia, Italy!

After a few more cañas in Madrid I flew to Rome, Italy where I was met by friends and family including the lovely woman and friend who created and manages this site for me! I loved our endless wine and pasta nights Cecilia, Lyana, Mom, and Betsey.

Keeping in mind EU visa rules, I left Europe for Tel Aviv where I reunited with Marcela and Yair, friends I met in Guatemala. Though times were tense, they helped make sure I got to see both Israel and Palestine. In Israel I had the pleasure of spending a week at the kibbutz where Yair grew up. A huge thanks to Yair’s mom and brother who made me feel at home there.

A week in Jerusalem introduced me to even more people and places. I met a comedian/law-student and we tried a famous hummus shop. I shared conversation, a meal, and yoga with Yaara and her friends. I stayed with a family in the Old City’s Muslim Quarter where I learned new recipes and ate amazing food. I joined a group of travelers to hike Masada at sunrise and bathe in the Dead Sea at noon. I met many new friends during my time in Jerusalem which helped me see the city in different ways.

Then I went to Ramallah, Palestine for the last week of Ramadan. The first night my new housemates and I waited for the sun to set before making the biggest burger I’ve ever eaten! I have so many special memories from my time there including long conversations with Hadeel sharing experiences living in our respective countries, dating, and art and architecture.

I found my late-night friends at Ramzi’s house and even when he left for Europe his friends kept coming over, hanging out at La Grotta, and teaching me circus tricks. Thank you Maria for welcoming mi corazon latino to Ramallah. Thank you Marlane and Koaibah your enthusiasm for yoga and sharing it with your community. Thank you Jackson and Kevin, for trusting me and for coming to Ramallah to share the experience with me.

In Palestine I was constantly finding new ways to have fun. My last night there I found out that yoga and the circus have a lot in common with friends from the Palestinian Circus School.

Back in the USA, the gifts continued on couch after couch in northern California, Highway 1, southern California, Boston and NYC. Thank you Natalie, Dan, Lydia, Jacob, Brian, Carbone’s Bar and Kitchen, Trevor, Ali and housemates, Hilary, Binh, Sarah, Reza, Jamie, Erick, Danielle, and Sam for sharing this journey with me and making it possible.

I often ask my students to dedicate their practice to something they are grateful for. When we call on gratitude we remember all we already have is enough. When I remember what I’m grateful for whatever issues I brought to the mat are left there and replaced with thankfulness and a new desire to give back.

I will return to DC in mid-October and continue to share yoga with others, giving back what the practice has given me.

Proof you can practice yoga anywhere! Jackie chatting with her students from the olive orchard before class.

Palestine was the last stop of my five month itinerary. At first, I was nervous to visit Palestine because of the military operation underway in Gaza. However, my doubts and tensions from the previous three weeks in Israel quickly melted away when I crossed the Kalandia checkpoint to enter Ramallah and I found myself comfortable again despite how foreign everything was: language, culture, and customs. My first week in Ramallah coincided with the closing of Ramadan and first days of Eid. Most everyone was on holiday and the streets were packed with people, noises, smells, and lights all night long. Within twenty-four hours of being in Ramallah I met a solid group of Palestinians and expats who welcomed me to their dinner tables, lives, and homes.

In Ramallah I found the hospitality of a small village in a large, metropolitan hub city in the West Bank.

For various reasons, I decided to extend my stay in Palestine two weeks longer than originally planned. I easily settled into life in Ramallah and began making connections. I asked the municipality’s cultural center if they were interested in hosting yoga classes and they ecstatically welcomed me. I taught five public classes at the Ottoman Court which led to meeting more people and opening more doors to share yoga.

I learned yoga isn’t widely practiced in Palestine, but everyone is very open to its benefits. Before my first class in Ramallah, a student introduced herself and told me she self-taught herself yoga asana from reading books and that my class was her first time in a instructor-led, group setting — talk about added pressure on the teacher! After class the same student invited me to her village to share yoga with her friends.

One of my mantras is to try (most) anything once so I jumped at the opportunity to meet new friends and share yoga in her village. The experience was beautiful and one I will never forget.

The ladies from the village requested we practice in a private setting so we trekked up a hill into an olive orchard as the sun was setting. Once we reached a quiet place, we snapped some photos of the bright pink sunset and laid down our improvised yoga mats on red, sandy soil covered in thistles. Although the natural environment and prayer-rugs-turned-yoga-mats may have wanted to limit our practice, I quickly thought of a short sequence of stretches that focused on calming the mind by bringing attention to breath — the simple yet foundational element to all yogic practices. After a half hour of stretching, balancing, and opening the only light left was sparkling in the city below and the sky above so we packed our mats and held hands as we helped each other down a make-shift path towards the village where even more Palestinian hospitality awaited me.

I am so grateful to the women of this village for allowing me to lead them in meditation, forming shapes, and finding their breath. But moreover my gratitude is endless for all the adventures and stories I carry with me from my three weeks in the West Bank. Each day I spent there was better than the one before it, filled with surprises and multiple moments to learn and reflect on what it means to be a human. I hope to return soon, study Arabic, and continue to share yoga.

JACKIE SUE POWELL

GLOBAL YOGA

From Istanbul to Boston: Living My Passion and Making New Friends

Teaching Yoga in Palestine

In Ramallah I found the hospitality of a small village in a large, metropolitan hub city in the West Bank.

One of my mantras is to try (most) anything once so I jumped at the opportunity to meet new friends and share yoga in her village. The experience was beautiful and one I will never forget.