Hello Everyone,

I hope all is well.   America House has moved!  We are now located at the U.S. Consulate building on Nablus Road.  Some of you may have been here before to apply for a visa. We’ve renovated and now the building houses a library, a program room, and most importantly during these summer months – a garden where people can enjoy a book, or an event.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, May 8, we will be holding an English conversation session here.  People can come and join us and work on thei rEnglish.  The Consulate’s English Language Fellow, Jesus will be here as well.  He is an expert on teaching English.  We hope to start offering this program every two weeks for different levels.  For right now, while the weather is nice, we’ll have it in the garden. All that you need in order to enter the building is an ID. 

One great thing about the garden is the lemon tree. It is amazing!  We made lemonade from the lemons last week, and it was really tasty.  There is a famous quote about lemons – “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”  Thankfully, life right now is very good, but we are also enjoying the lemons and the lemonade.

Today we had a fun quiz event.  We hope to repeat it next month as well.  We’ve go ta buzzer system, so playing the game is just like playing Jeopardy!

Finally, I wanted to let you all know that America House put out a call for grant proposals.  The proposals are due at the beginning of June.  If you would like more information, please visit the Consulate’s website at http://jerusalem.usconsulate.gov/americahouse2.html

Best of luck to all of the students who are about to start exams! 

Hello Everyone,

I hope all is well.   April has been a very busy month for all of us at America House.  We’ve been working behind the scenes to make some changes, and we are looking forward to seeing you all soon at our new location on Nablus Road, in the renovated Consulate building.

Starting May 1, we will be open at the new location.  We will have limited opening hours, so please contact us at JerusalemAmericaHouse@state.gov if you are interested in learning more. We’ll have an expanded library, with books that can be read either in the library or enjoyed outside in the garden. In addition, we’ll have a small art gallery where we will have different shows up and a room to hold meetings and digital video conferences.  We are very excited about this move, and hope to be able to meet lots of new neighbors in the area.

One new program that we will be part of after the move is EducationUSA - http://educationusa.state.gov/.  EducationUSA is the place to start researching if you are interested in studying in the U.S. It has information on how to choose a field of study, how to get financial aid and 5 steps to U.S.study.  As part of this, we’ll have books about the GMAT,GRE, SAT, courses of study and institutes of higher learning at our library.  We can also help you get in touch with advisors, who can help you through the process.

Let us know if you have any ideas for the new America House!  We hope you enjoy this photo of packing up and we look forward to seeing you soon.

Naomi Tutu, Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s daughter, arrived yesterday to Jerusalem.  This is her first time in the area since she was 6 years old.  Today she spoke with diverse Palestinian audiences in Jerusalem, Ramallah and at the campus of Al Quds University in Abu Dis about her experiences in Apartheid and post-Apartheid South Africa.  During her conversations, I could tell that she was really connecting with the students, NGO leaders and others. 

Our friends at Juzoor invited Naomi for lunch.  While we were there, they showed us a interesting video that I thought I would share with you.  It was created by members of the Jerusalem Youth Parliament and it is on gender equality.  Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLXgnUkUqr4.  This video seemed especially relevant today as Naomi discussed gender and the importance of standing together to reach goals.  I look forward to seeing some of you at events with Naomi tomorrow and Friday.

April is Environmental Month, and is a time for us all to reflect on how we treat the environment.  My goal this month is to walk to work once a week and leave my car in the garage.  I don’t know what the impact will be, but I’m sure that it will be positive for both the environment and for my health.  So that I could be more aware of my environmental impact, I took a look at a carbon footprint calculator like this one - http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx.  I found out that while my footprint is smaller than some, it is much larger than many.  If you have can share with me any ideas you have for ways to help the environment, please write me at JerusalemAmericaHouse@state.gov.  I’d really enjoy hearing from you!  We are looking forward to having some environmental project at America House - but in the meantime, if you are looking for some information on what the United States government is doing to help the environment not only in the U.S., but around the world, please see the page for the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs at http://www.state.gov/e/oes/index.htm.

I look forward to seeing you soon and hope all is well.

Hello Everyone,

I hope all is well and that the changes in weather haven’t been too hard on you. 

Last night, we had an excellent presentation on religion and politics by Mr. Terence Gilheany at America House.  Mr.  Gilheany has spent the last few months here learning more about the ways that civics are taught in schools.  More than that, he is a Fulbright Distinguished Teacher and a graduate of both the Harvard Divinity School, the Klingenstein Center for Independent School Leadership at Columbia University, and Amherst College.  Mr. Gilheany presented an overview of U.S. presidential elections and how religion is used both as a means to support candidates and also as a way to try to get people not to vote for a candidate.  From there, the conversation moved to a more general discussion of the role of religion and politics.  We hope to have more presentations like this starting again in the September.

Tonight, we’re showing ‘Little Women’ at America House at 5:00 PM in honor of Women’s History Month.  We will screen this film with Arabic subtitles.  If you would like to read more, the Internet Movie Database is a great resource.  Here is a link to the page on ‘Little Women’ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110367/.

April is just around the corner!  On April 4, Ms. Naomi Tutu, daughter of Desmond Tutu and human rights activist will be coming to America House for a lecture.  She has already said how excited she is to be coming here.  I hope you can join us to hear about her life and experiences.  April is Environmental Month and we’ll be announcing big changes at America House too! 

We hope all is well, and look forward to seeing you at America House events.

The America House Team

Hello Everyone,

Last week, astronaut Marsha Ivins visited Jerusalem and the West Bank.  She spoke with students at the Rosary Sisters School and answered questions about living in outer space and the future of space exploration.  She is really inspiring, because she is a pioneer for women in the U.S. space program.  I asked her how many women were in the space program before she joined.  Before she joined, less than 10 women had been part of the program. 

We continue our women’s history month programming next week with a screening of Little Women at America House.   This is a classic American story, and we were able to find it with Arabic subtitles.  We hope you can join us.

I wanted to mention that tomorrow is the closing date for a great exchange program sponsored by Coca- Cola.  This year, The Coca-Cola Company is sponsoring 100 university students from across North Africa and the Middle East to attend one of the top-ranked business programs in the USA at Indiana University’s prestigious Kelley School of Business for a Summer Internship Program beginning in June 2012.

This multi-faceted, immersion scholarship program is designed to give a group of students the opportunity to learn about business education through an accelerated curriculum.The program is fully funded including travel to and within the United States, accommodations, meals, fees and visa. To learn more and apply – please visit http://connectads.com/cokescholarship/website.  The application closes on March 23 (Friday).

Today, I went down to Nablus and saw the university.  I’m looking forward to my next visit there and having some more Nablisee Kanafa.  It was amazing!

Finally, next week, we’ll have Fulbright Distinguished Teacher Terence Gilheany delivering a lecture on religion and politics, as part of our U.S. presidential series.  The presentation will take place on Tuesday, March 27, at 5:00 PM.  Then, we’ll be taking a short break from the series, but will start again in May.

I’ll have some exciting news next week about the future of America House.  Until then, I hope you have a pleasant week, and leave you with this information on a performance by an American hip-hop group taking place in Nablus this Saturday.

Hello everyone, please take a look at the video from the Antigone Rising shows and workshops!

Ghaneeha 3 auditions taking place in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Nablus this week!  We hope to see you at the auditions in Jerusalem, 10:00 AM, March 15.

Hello Everyone,

I hope that everyone had a fantastic International Women’s Day last week!  Today, I was watching the movieLittle Womenin preparation for the America House screening of it on March 28 and I was struck at how far women have come - from a time where educating women was considered unnecessary - to a time when women are leading the way in many fields and equality between the genders goes without saying in many places.

This week, we’ve got a lot going on!  We’re starting on March 14 with Thomas (Taha) Culhane.  Mr. Culhane is an amazing environmentalist who is going to be working with Palestinians on a number of environmental projects which can help with low-cost energy production.  On March 14, at 3:30 PM, Mr. Culhane will speak at America House about the things that we can all do at home and in our communities to create energy, without pollution.  I’ve also heard that Taha has an electric guitar that he powers off of solar panels, so we all might be in for a musical surpise as well!

On Thursday, March 15, we will have the honor of hosting a digital video conference with Palestinian-American Michigan State Representative Rashida Tlaib.  She was the first Muslim-American woman elected to the Michigan State House of Representatives.  We are looking forward to hearing from her about the Arab-American voting block and how they influence government in the U.S., at the local, state and national levels.  The DVC will start at 2:30 PM, so we ask people to arrive by 2:15 so that everyone can get comfortable before the session begins.

Also on March 15, Ghaneeha 3 auditions will be taking place in Jerusalem.  If you are between the ages of 16 - 25 and love to sing, come on out and share your talent with us!  Auditions will be taking place at the Hekawati Theatre, starting at 10:00 AM.  We hope to see you there!

We at America House would love to hear from you - if you have ideas for programs, or would just like to be in touch, please e-mail us at JerusalemAmericaHouse@state.gov.

I hope you have a great weekend - we look forward to seeing you at some of our events.

Hello Everyone,

I hope all is well.  We had a great time with the ladies of Antigone Rising last week.  They worked with some of the girls at the Schmidt School on some of their songs, and then the choir performed with Antigone Rising for the school.  It was an amazing performance.  Then, at their performance at the YMCA, a number of young people in the audience came up on stage and sang with the group.  Please check the Consulate’s Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/USConGenJerusalem where we will be posting some photos and video from the events in Jerusalem and throughout the West Bank soon.

Tonight, I went over to the Yabous Cultural Center on Zahara St. for the opening of a photo exhibit there.  It is a really amazing space which is bringing a lot of life to Zahara Street in the evenings.  Good job to everyone who worked on the fantastic event!

Tomorrow is International Women’s Day.  You can learn more about the work of the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues to promote stability, peace, and development by empowering women politically, socially, and economically around the world by clicking on this link: http://www.state.gov/s/gwi/index.htm

Next week, we have an exciting program with Michigan State Representative Rashida Tlaib.  Rep. Tlaib, a Palestinian-American and the first Muslim woman to be elected to the Michigan Legislature, will be speaking via digital video conference with America House on March 15 about the Arab-American voting block and how they influence the political process in the U.S.  We’ll be sending out more information about this event tomorrow.

Also coming up, we’ll be screening the popular American film, “Little Women” as part of our Women’s History Month activities.  We’ll screen this movie on March 28, in English, and with Arabic subtitles.

I hope all is well with all of you.  I look forward to speaking with you again soon!

Antigone Rising - Live American Rock ‘n Roll Concert, Monday, February 27, 4:00 PM at the YMCA on Nablus Road

Come and join us after work or school for a funfilled, energetic concert!