May 11, 2001

Raba, Palestine.

Playing soccer with our mechanic and his children.

As Elizabeth spent the day trying to wrap up things on her Master's Thesis, Marthame headed off for the nearby village of Raba (north of Zababdeh, east of the university) to visit a friend - correction, to visit our friend and mechanic. If we had kept the old car, he would've been a very, very wealthy mechanic and would've owned half of Raba. Raba is a small village of about 7000 (twice the size of Zababdeh), resting on a nearby mountain peak. Unlike the luxuries of Zababdeh, Raba's electricity is limited to eight hours a day (5 PM - 1 AM). Our mechanic surfs the web late into the night thanks to his solar panel. He and Marthame joined in with his kids (the ones we would've put through college with the Citroen) in playing soccer on the porch before Marthame headed back to Zababdeh for more Month of Mary.

Abuna Louis spends Fridays in Bethlehem teaching at Bethlehem University, so there was no priest. But the place was packed as everyone read and sang the prayers together. Something amazing about the dedication to this month of worship. The same folks come every day to pray the same words every day - worship and liturgy matter.

We've had several evening visits from friends over the past few days, always welcome and unexpected, but with all of the extra workload thrust upon us recently, we were hoping to be a little more antisocial for a few days!