A pre-trip post to give some context for this blog.  A classmate at Loyola (thanks Amy!) asked me if I was going to be blogging on this trip and the thought hadn't crossed my mind.  But then I thought about how I was going to be keeping a journal for this trip to count as an elective for my coursework at Loyola (thanks Susan!) and figured I might as well blog it!  So here it is...for better and probably mostly for worse.  My elective is going to focus on issues of justice and community in the West Bank so most of my noodling will center around those topics.  What I gather on the trip will serve as the fodder I use to write a paper upon my return.  So beware that my thoughts will be incomplete and often inconclusive!  Also, I plan on giving myself permission to throw grammar, punctuation, and spelling rules out the window.  Starting now i will type and not worry about sentence structure and how things sound and whether a sentence is too long or if my words are pithy and concise.  Can you tell that iv'e alreayd started/  Good.  Thanks for reading and hope to be posting ssoon.  Blessings.