October 19, 2001

Elizabeth gets some cooking lessons.

Today, Friday, is half of our weekend - the other half being Sunday. That's what happens when the students and teachers are split 50-50 Muslim-Christian. We were invited for lunch with one of the teachers and her family. They live in Zababdeh, and she teaches Islam to the Muslim students from grades 4-12. Elizabeth went early to learn how to cook a new dish, stuffed squash in yogurt sauce. Marthame arrived at lunchtime, after a busy morning at home, running scientific experiments studying the effects of sleep on a mattress. We spent the better part of the day there with them. Her brother, who is married to a woman from Akka, has Israeli citizenship. Her whole family was in Akka in 1948, but part of them fled and settled in Zababdeh eventually. The same brother had just had a new son, and so they were splitting up the meat of a goat to deliver to friends and neighbors to share the celebration. This seems to be an old Muslim custom, like what we saw in Gaza during 'Eid al-Adha last March.

Other news? We had phone access today, after waiting since yesterday for service to be restored.