January 27, 2003

Rehearsals for the Christmas pageant.

The worry is thick in the air these days. With elections in Israel and saber-rattling in the States, people are very nervous here, expecting the worst.

Surprisingly, today was rather normal, with all of the students able to come to school. The American kindergarten teacher arrived as well, coming to invite the school to participate in a multi-national peace quilt project, organized by a public junior high school in New Hampshire. Seventh and eighth grade students in seven countries (including Bosnia, El Salvador, USA and of course here) each design and color a quilt square. Seven quilts will be made, using squares from all seven countries, and when they are completed, they'll be sent to the participating schools. Cool! Fr. Aktham was excited, as was our school's art teacher, and we plan to do the project on Sunday.

Picnic celebrations in the midst of everything else.

Eighth graders enjoying a picnic in the hills.

Marthame spent most of the day at home, finishing up his syllabus for the course in Christian History in Ibillin. Class begins in about a month, and he just received the textbooks yesterday. Not the most auspicious beginning, but everything here is on the "punt" system.

Elizabeth chaperoned her eighth graders on their picnic - not exactly picnicking weather, but always fun. The kids, even in times like these, know how to have some fun. And they always enjoy each other's singing. Much was in Arabic, but one student showed off her knowledge of Western pop music.

In the evening, "production" began on the Christmas pageant. Unfortunately, Joseph was sick, so filming was done around his part. Hopefully he'll be better tomorrow.