September 8, 2002

Thank God for Orthodoxy. So we said as we rolled out of bed at 9:00 and headed to St. George's 9AM services - rolling admission is par for the course in the Eastern tradition. It's been a while since we've worshiped at the Anglican Church, but with the priest under constant curfew in Nablus, there's little chance that the congregation'll be able to worship there anytime soon. It's locked up, and the parishioners are slowly drifting to the other communities - one church opens, another as good as closed...At St. George's, we found ourselves on the congregation side of the iconostasis. Watching communion is always wonderful - the children line up (the Orthodox answer to the children's sermon - we'll take the eucharist over puppet shows any day) ready to receive, many of them weren't even able to walk when we first arrived. After worship, we went to visit with one of our dear friends - her son lives in Chicago and is a friend of ours from our time there. She had been in Ramallah for a long time with another of her sons, but missed Zababdeh (and couldn't stand the near-constant curfews). When she came back, she had to cross out of Ramallah at the Qalandia checkpoint, but the soldiers were forbidding her. Her son argued her way across, but then the soldiers wouldn't let her son help her (she can barely walk, let alone carry/transport luggage). Finally, he handed his ID to the soldier and said, "I'll get this when I come back." And so they went. We sat on her porch and slowly watched the world go by - a favorite Arab past-time. All we need is a rocking chair. In the afternoon, as we prepared for school tomorrow, we heard shooting - a strange sound, since the military camp has been abandoned. We looked out the window to see two Israeli tanks on the road from what used to be the camp, up through what used to be the shooting range, towards the two settlements up over the hills. They must've come out of Jenin by way of Qabatia.