Goethe Way

 When not lounging in the bars of the world’s major airports, the German spirit of Goethe is busy bringing his special combination of culture, learning, progress and friendship to many cities of the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Wolfgang_von_Goethe

The Time Traveller only recently discovered that in Ramallah, the German Goethe Institute is combined with the Institut Francais. Their building in downtown Ramallah is an oasis of comfort and good German design within an otherwise stressed  urban environment.

http://www.goethe.de/ins/ps/prj/dfk/frindex.htm

  

  The library upstairs includes internet linked computers and the institute’s program is full of lectures, film, art displays, literature readings and discussion – not to mention the usual German and French language programs.

The gallery downstairs presents art shows which are part of ongoing programs. This exhibit was a complementary part of a program "The Image: The City", and included a photo exhibit from Cities around the world . .

 Including Detroit . . .


 The gallery design itself is a breath of fresh functional atmosphere - natural spectrum florescent in a bright white room . .

 Outside  . . . even the pigeons align themselves in orderly frames with their shadows lending art to the perch.

Water Waiting

In some parts of the world, houses received a constant supply of pressure – in areas of the world with few water resources, the water is typically delivered periodically, and to only certain parts of the city at one time - and it is up to the customers to maintain storage capacity to keep them supplied through the dry periods.

Above the street on the roofs of almost all the buildings of Ramallah are hundreds of water tanks. The tanks serve to store the drinking water which is delivered to houses in Ramallah only two or three days per week. In the older centre of town the tanks have been added in a haphazard way by individual apartment owners over the years.

 

On the newer buildings, all the tanks are installed in neat orderly rows

Since water is only sent through the City distribution system a couple times per week, less water is lost through leaks in the City Network – than if the entire network were constantly pressurized. The water is still metered however as it enters each property.

If the tanks are not regularly cleaned and dis-infected, and if they are not isolated from the atmosphere with air filters and securely fastened lids – the water can become contaminated.with micro-organisms.

The water tanks are also typically combined with solar water heaters. In the photo below - The cold stored water is in the black tank at a higher elevation – it provides the constant pressure to the combined insulated tank and solar heater. 

1. As the sun shines, water from the bottom of the hot water tank is drawn into the bottom of the solar heating panel.
2. The water heated in the solar collector rises and flows into the top of the hot water tank
3. Which pushes water from the bottom of the hot water tank –  into the bottom of the solar heater.

In this way, during the day the water slowly moves in a loop between the solar collector and the hot water tank - steadily increasing the water temperature in the insulated tank.

When the day ends, and the sunshine ends, the water in the solar collector will no longer be hot enough to displace the water in the insulated tank and the circulation automatically stops. The water heated during the day  is then piped from the top of the hot water tank into the house – and cooler water flows into the bottom of the hot water tank from the main water supply tank.

Although these are simple, effective systems – they are rare in countries with low-cost energy – such as Egypt – because electric water heaters have a lower initial cost.

Memory Lanes

The people of Palestine have experienced numerous dislocations, pressures, and assaults over recent generations which have destroyed and dispersed thousands of families and entire cities.

 

 For a population which had lived in a comparatively static and traditional culture for centuries, these shocks have not been easy to adapt to. One small ongoing strategy of national recovery is to remind themselves of the lives of preceding Palestinians in the region – in the form of mini-biographies of those for whom the local streets in Ramallah have been named.

 

 

These histories serve to remind pedestrians of the achievements of Palestinian and Arab era in this region . . .

 . . . . . and also as a reminder of the price in human lives which the conflict continues to impose.

 

Garden Progress

A small garden demonstrates the fertility and productive capability of the red soils high in the hills of Palestine.

Over a course of 9 weeks, this garden has produced a substantial bounty of produce.

The water tank provides the irrigation water. Perhaps in years to come, treated wastewater may provide a means bring agriculture to the more barren former goat pastures of the Palestinian hills.