July 26, 2002

It’s a treat to share Zababdeh with those who hold dear.

We got to spend some time with the extended family - aunts and uncles, cousins, even a cousin-in-law and a first cousin once-removed (we removed him twice, but he came back). The Sanders' side, Marthame's Dad's side, all came over to visit. Marthame's sister cooked a dramatic meal for us (if you want to know what we ate, and how to cook it, send her an email) of all kinds of tasties, and we watched the short video of the Zababdeh priests speaking and talked a lot about the situation. They all bring interesting questions and theologies - comparisons between the Palestinians and the Native Americans, questions about the place of women in Arab society (not an easy question to answer - it's far more varied than we thought before we first arrived), the role of the American government in it all...no intellectual slouches in this audience.