July 14, 2001

Today was a relaxing day of reading, laundry, studying Arabic flashcards, and writing sermons (well, just one - Marthame is preaching tomorrow at St. Andrew's Church of Scotland). We took it very, very easy, not leaving the house until late into the evening. Our friends got a babysitter and we headed off the famed American Colony area of East Jerusalem. The evening weather this time of year is remarkable and wonderful, and we sat among the palm trees enjoying our tasty fancy drinks as we decompressed our past year here together - the frustrations, the stresses, the joys. It was, all in all, a good day, until Marthame got his wallet out to pay and discovered that about $600 (in dollars and shekels) had disappeared. As the initial shock wore off, we put together our plausible theories for the money's disappearance, none of them being to pleasant. The most likely is that someone snuck into our friend's house and took off with the money.

Crescent moon over Jerusalem’s Old City walls.

Earlier that evening, we had tried to find our camera bag, which had somehow mysteriously ended up covered in dirt in their backyard. The two events together made the petty theft theory more probable, but it still left us feeling violated and it contributed to the overall sense of loss this place can instill. However, in the grand scheme of losses, we know this was insignificant. The beautiful crescent moon over the walls of the Old City provided us some solace.