October 5, 2001

Scenes from a colleague’s wedding.

Elizabeth headed south with some of the teachers from the school to the village of Maithalun. There, one of the teachers at the school was having her farewell party - not from the school, but from the village. She was getting married that evening in her husband's village and this was her symbolic farewell from home. This was the first Muslim wedding party either of us has attended. The big party, as is traditional for both Christians and Muslims here, was the previous day.

Today, there was a small farewell party for the women to send the bride off with best wishes and gifts. We teachers pooled our shekels and got her a very nice wall tapestry of al-Aqsa Mosque. The marriage itself, we are told, is often a small affair of signing documents only attended by immediate family. Like most parties, this was full of music and dancing. The room was full of women and children; as we left, we saw where the men were gathered nearby, drinking coffee and chatting.