July 22, 2001

Birzeit’s Latin Church bears a mosaic of La Guadalupana.

We joined the Latin Church in Birzeit for worship this morning, mistakenly sitting in the choir section (we were assured that this was quite OK). The music and the level of energy the choir adds to the congregation was evident. Abuna (Father) Iyad made a point of introducing us to the community and welcoming us in their midst. The community was most warm, and we stayed after to chat for quite a while. Besides, it beat returning home to see how little water we have.

Stopping by the Palestine Media Center to visit with friends.

We drowned our parched sorrows by joining friends from Birzeit on a trip to Ramallah for sandwiches and knaffe (Nablus' dessert speciality). We also went to pick up a friend who works at the Palestine Media Center, the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Information office. He, a student at Birzeit, is in charge of helping with English-language translation. The Palestinians are beginning to learn (as the Israelis have known for years) that the PR battle must be fought on American soil.