December 6, 2000

Baby!

The French teachers have returned from Nazareth, new baby in tow (Mabrouk!). Mom can't leave the house for forty days after the birth, though - some kind of local tradition rooted in Levitical law (we won't tell the villagers that it's 40 for a girl and 80 for a boy - we'd like to see her again!).

Also, the afternoon was full of enjoyable sport. Elizabeth had the chance to play some basketball (as opposed to just shooting around). No mind that it was six on six (??!) and there were a few surprised looks from the other players (all male)--she's gotten that response before in Chicago, too. It was great. And Marthame began a little bit of soccer coaching today. Not surprisingly, the youth showed little interest in dribbling and passing drills. They wanted to play! Little by little...