August 31, 2001 — Mudeif Productions

After a leisurely, lazy Friday morning, we headed down to Tubas to visit a friend and fellow teacher at the school. Several times we have been there before, but getting there on a Friday is tricky business - no taxis and not much traffic, being the Muslim holy day. We eventually hitched a ride (hitching is quite common here) with a man who works in Jenin and lives in Tubas. We chatted about the situation, about politics (surprise, surprise), and he dropped us off on his way.

Our lunch in Tubas was a traditional meal of Mansaaf - bread with rice, meat, almonds, and a yogurt sauce on top. And, we ate it traditionally - with our bare hands! It was quite delicious, but eating such HOT food like that makes you wonder if Palestinian fingers are made of asbestos. Now we know how folks here can hold those little glasses of boiling tea without a problem. He and his brother have found some ruins beneath their house, and one day we hope to go back and visit them (when we're wearing more appropriate clothes - not sure a clergy collar is appropriate attire for spelunking).

We returned to find folks sitting on our porch, a welcome sight - it is quite public, and it gives us the feeling of being very welcome here. There were many children, and so we took the opportunity to share gifts we picked up at the PCUSA offices in June - namely, pinwheels. They were a big hit at first, the kids standing still and quiet and watching the pinwheels spin in the wind. Very zen. But then word got out, and we were besieged by requests for pinwheels! Our reputation precedes us...