September 22, 2003 — Mudeif Productions

After spending the day working at home, Marthame went out in the evening to meet up with Fr. Thomas. After following him for three straight days, we realized we need some great Orthodox hymns in the film. Several members of his church came early to afternoon prayers to sing Eastern hymns. Haunting and perfect. We also need to interview Fr. Thomas to get some perspective on all that we've seen. Again, his tremendous energy and faith show forth in his dedication.

While Marthame was with Fr. Thomas, Elizabeth was out visiting. Good friends of ours from Jenin are staying with family in Zababdeh these days because of that city's frequent closures and curfews. Today is his birthday, and so Elizabeth went to see them, sing Happy Birthday, and eat cake.

After a nice visit, she stopped in with another friend she hadn't seen in a long time. She works in Jenin, but these days that's an on-and-off proposition. We caught up with each other over a light supper of fresh flatbread, cucumbers, yogurt cheese, pickled eggplant, goat cheese, and tea. Delicious.