Barcelona

I see I´m next to be bumped off the Bloggers of Note list. Well it was really nice while it lasted! I´m having a bit of trouble replying to individual e-mails from the conference so hang in there and I´ll try and answer at a private NetCafe over the weekend.

That morning there was no electricity at the convent. The nuns lit candles around 6 am so we could make our way to the washrooms, and I felt transported back to another era.

Over at the Sikh lunch I spotted a tv crew. I went over to them and asked them if they would like to speak to a group of Israelis and Palestinians who work together. They asked three times - Israelis and Palestinians working together? I don´t think they believed me so I carted them off to meet and interview Ibrahim and Eliyahu and our group of women. Back over at the conference everything was so overwhelming - the people,the colours, the languges, the 250 page program guide and the Spanish keyboard, which I have to get used to. So I took in light stuff at the theatre like Japanese Shinto performances and dances of 4 cultures. I wandered around the Exhibitions which was like a marketplace for religions. There were Pagans and Zoroastrians and names I couldn´t pronounce. I felt I was in some sort of religious Disney World. We ended the evening with a workshop from the United Religions Initiative introducing ourselves and describing the work we do. I met people from Serbia, Palestinians living in Finland, a Kenyan priest, a Mufti from Rwanda - absolutely fascinating people with equally fascinating stories. At one point while an American Buddhist sang a folk song, we walked around in silence greeting each other with our eyes and hands and smile. The "eye-speak" was so strong, I ended up walking around with tears coming down. I´m such a wuss over these things. But it really was very powerful, as hokey as it sounds.
I feel us peaceworkers in the Middle East have a more difficult time than most in other places, but I feel we are in a place where thousands of like-minded people are giving us all their support, which strengthens our resolve to continue this work.