May 6, 2003

The trip back was without incident as well, except for an exceptionally long wait for the driver in Nazareth. It turns out that he dropped his phone in a pool of water - thus rendering him unreachable. Hopefully that won't happen again!

Healthcare is critical work and ministry in Palestine.

It gave Marthame the chance to visit with friends who work as nurses in the French hospital in Nazareth. One is from Zababdeh, the other from Nablus, and they both have full permissions (24 hours/day, 7 days/week) to be in Israel due to their work. Even so, they sometimes face troubles entering the checkpoint at Jalame. The young man from Nablus, when he goes back home, has a minimum six-hour commute facing him due to road closures and checkpoints. And that's for about forty-five miles of travel. We joked that he could work as a nurse in the States and have a shorter commute back home!

In the evening, Marthame went by the Latin Convent to familiarize himself with the editing software that's just arrived. It's pretty cool. The village municipality is now interested in a half-hour film on Zababdeh itself, and Fr. Aktham wants some footage shot in time for graduation in June. It looks like our concern about not having enough to do once school finishes was completely unfounded!