September 16, 2002

Marthame was hoping to head to Jenin again today to take care of our telephone as well as some other business, but was told that Jenin was closed. When he called the office in Jenin, he expected not to hear an answer, but someone picked up. Taxis were heading into the outskirts of Jenin, but there was a tight curfew in the middle of the city.

Smoke rises in the distance in Jenin.

Marthame was able to head up there with the few who wanted to brave the roads and took care of some unfinished business, but - alas - the phones'll have to wait. Paltel was within the curfew zone. Several streets away from the taxi stand, dark smoke was rising into the sky. No one was anxious to venture a guess, or to venture a few blocks away to see the cause.

In the evening, with no telephone to provide us with distractions like the internet, we went out on the town. People visit here incessantly once the cool of the evening comes, something we are often reluctant to do because of the overwhelming feeling of work left undone. But we are never disappointed when we do. As you walk through the streets, everyone invites you in for coffee, tea, snacks...you've never felt so welcome anywhere in your life. And the views of the village and the fields remind us that, for all of the chaos of this place, we'll miss it when we leave. Well, OK, this part of it.