November 15, 2001

One of many carved crosses at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

We started the day with great anxiety, not really feeling up to another day of fighting and yelling. We were smiled upon today, and the blessing of Window 2 came to our rescue, in the form of the lovely Nina - she helped us slay the beast, and we danced down the stairs, visas in hand and passports intact! Marthame packed for the return trip while Elizabeth went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to give thanks for small blessings and light a candle for Zababdeh in the Sepulchre. On the way back, she bought a small cactus and brought it as a gift to the Latin Patriarchate. The word in Arabic for "cactus" and "patience" is the same, so the gift was somehow fitting.

We shared our joy with our friends and their Palestinian housekeeper who lives in East Jerusalem. When she asked, "how many months did they give you," we realized that the Israeli Ministry of the Interior for Palestinians is a whole other demon. And that's for people born here...

We headed off to Haifa and met up with friends who gave us a ride back to Zababdeh straight across the Green Line through the northern Jalame checkpoint - the roads are indeed closed, except for one "bypass" around a pile of dirt - come winter, that'll be closed. But we're home.

We celebrated our small victory with Abuna Aktham, who was delighted to finally see his passport again!