Since a ceasefire is going into effect tomorrow at 10, we are receiving a barrage tonight.  They are drones and therefore hard to detect and disable, but if this ceasefire enables further movements toward peace, it will be very welcome.

So I decided to tell you about how we take showers – me and my friends – for the past 14 months.  First,you are dressed until the last possible moment.  You lay out your clean clothes in the order you will wear them. Then you undress and quickly soap up, rinse and dress. Shampoo rarely and only on safe nights.  Go to sleep in pajamas only if you can’t bear being dressed.  Be ready to run.

So we came back from a day in the desert with a great need to wash.  And we knew it would be dangerous tonight.  We agreed – no shower tonight.  We sat eating our soup and suddenly I ran into the bathroom and washed.

What a revelation! I would rather die than go to bed dirty.

In the desert we visited a Bedouin village named Rachma, after we saw how water is delivered to the families there –  rubber pipes with individual clocks.  The pipes go for miles along the desert sand and often get chomped by desert animals before they arrive at a home.  A family member has to come and turn off the water until the pipe gets fixed.  

Showers mean so much more in the desert.