February 26, 2003

While rain is always a welcome blessing, it makes already challenging Palestinian commutes nearly impossible.

School was canceled again because of the rain and flooded roads. People are talking about this rainfall as the biggest in 15 or 20 years. It certainly goes beyond anything we've seen in our time here. We expected Marthame'd be stuck in Nazareth another day. Travel plans were further complicated by the lack of any cellphone coverage in the Jenin area. The Palestinian telephone company has been operating on a shoe-string because of the military incursions. The historic levels of rainfall haven't helped matters.

We had planned to bring a friend who had volunteered to give a ballet workshop to the kids in Zababdeh. Mid-morning, Elizabeth checked with the taxi office, and the roads between Zababdeh and Jenin had opened. So Marthame and our friend Joanna got a ride to Jalame, where the soldiers at the checkpoint merely waved them through. There was a taxi in the center of town, willing to take us to Zababdeh. The first part of the road (usually barely passable) was not severely affected, except the puddles seemed a little deeper. We passed a half dozen trucks which had gotten stuck in the muddy road, spinning and turning in order to keep from the same fate.

We reached the recently-paved portion, expecting better travel, but newly-sprung rivers were running lengthwise along it. In other places, the water had washed out the soil beneath the road, and it had caved in in places. A couple more stuck cars decorated the side of the road.

Joanna, a Christian dancer from the States, has been teaching dancing classes in Nazareth for six months. We were glad she could come for a couple of days not only to teach, but to experience life on this side of the Green Line.

In the evening, we got a call from the Christian Peacemaker Team in Hebron. They are looking into sending a team to the Jenin area and wanted to check with us about possibilities. There are some exciting things converging here: local non-violence training, church solidarity, education actions...some historical times may be ahead.