July 13, 2003

Marthame assists Fr. Fadi in worship at the Anglican Church of Ramallah.

Marthame awoke early to work on his sermon, while Elizabeth enjoyed sleeping in. We rode with Sister Najah down to the Anglican church for their 10:30 service. Marthame and Fr. Fadi co-officiated the service, assisted by three altar-girls. The text for the morning included the parables of the lost sheep and coin, and Marthame preached about how they illustrate the economy of heaven as something very different from the economy of earth - not bad for last minute.

After the service we split up, Marthame off to pay the cell phone bill and Elizabeth to do a bit of shopping in the open air vegetable market. She was happy to wander among the carts, absorbing the hubbub, eying the deep luscious color of young eggplants and breathing in the scent of fresh peaches, and picking up a kilo of fresh okra.

We returned separately, both pleased that the walk at Surda was actually shortened during our absence. We both saw soldiers force a boy to remove the goods he was hawking from between the two roadblocks - lines of all kinds of cheap plastic goods. We met up back at our summer accommodation, where Elizabeth stayed to tend her sunburn and enjoy some recreational reading (Barbara Kingsolver's Prodigal Summer - a feast of a read).

The cooling waters of the pool in Jifna, Palestine.

Jifna’s Rosary Sisters engaged in a rollicking game of dominoes.

Marthame went out again to meet our friend Deacon Humam, who served in Zababdeh this past year. He was relaxing at the new swimming pool (an entrepreneurial enterprise of a local family) in Jifna, a small town not far from Birzeit. After a dip with the deacon, Marthame relaxed in the shade amid a flock of Rosary Sisters who came not to swim, but to play dominoes and chat.

Cooled and refreshed Marthame returned home for an evening of working on a webpage for Star Mountain Rehabilitation Center.