April 12, 2001

A Blessed Maundy Thursday. Marthame tried to get the car fixed, once and for all, in Ramallah - to no avail. He left it with friends in the New City and rented a car instead to deal with the next week of shuttlings - a lot less stressful in the end. The Palestinian owner of the rental company had spent some time in New York and had picked up an accent along the way. ("You got ya' A/C ovah he-ah")

The Latin Church is filled to the brim.

Marthame's family headed off the Tel Aviv to enjoy a few days along the beach while Marthame headed back to Zababdeh, arriving just in time for the Latin Church's evening service (but too late for the Anglican one). The service begins with a full procession, including all of the grooms from the previous year's weddings. Following the homily, Abuna Louis washed the feet of these grooms. Why the grooms? Well, we're not really sure.

One thing that stood out in particular was the presence of three altar boys who had been studying at the Latin Seminary in Beit Jala. Their presence meant that the liturgical part of the service ran like clockwork. It was an impressive piece of work.