December 18, 2001

PCR Christmas Party

I had a decision to make today. I could either go to Ramallah with the International peace marchers to protest tanks in the West Bank and meet Yasser Arafat or I could stay in Beit Sahour, help man a small media center, AND GO TO THE PALESTINIAN CENTER FOR RAPPROCHEMENT (PCR) CHRISTMAS PARTY!

I didn't deliberate long over this one. Yes, I suppose it would have been nice to lie down in the road in front of a tank (check Reuters photos), but if I did that, then who would have sent out the pager information this morning? And who would have faxed a bunch of folks who didn't want to receive early morning faxes? And who would have answered phones and set up the websites?

And indeed it would have been nice to meet Nobel Peace Prize winner, Yasser Arafat. Everyone there got to shake his hand, and I have a line ready for him when I do get the chance -- "anna baheb Falesteen." Sure, that would have been good. But how many times a year does a person get to attend the PCR Christmas party? And hang out with all the PCR volunteers?

So this time I chose wisely. I spent the day in a (largely self-induced) stress mode, publicizing the peace event in one form or another. I have to admit that I'm not at my best when I'm juggling ten things that all need immediate attention. I had to make some apologies at the end of the day.

For a break, I started toward a new coffeshop in the area. Before I arrived, I ran into a PCR volunteer who invited me into his home for some special Eids treats. (Eids is the period of celebration after the Ramadan fasting.) I did not hesitate to accept the plate of food and special fig pastries afterwards. And we even had a cup of Arabic coffee which must have been better than the ones at the coffeeshop. The time spent relaxing there calmed me down a bit.

Then we spent the late afternoon/early evening at PCR for some traditional music by some of the volunteers. Excellent music. Had a few cokes. Had some singing. It was all very good. I enjoyed it very much.

And this evening we had our "Internet for Activists" class. We're working on Photoshop now. I invited a guest lecturer these past two nights, but he didn't show either evening. If anyone sees Muhannad, let me know. I ran into his close buddies but neither of them had seen him for a while. Last night it was OK that he didn't show, because the Internet cafe got hit by a serious virus, and it shut the entire place down. Class canceled. But tonight the show went on.

We had a bit of a class scheduling problem. This is perhaps the first time in the history of world events that had EIGHT holidays on the next eight scheduled classes -- Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, Orthodox Christmas Eve, Orthodox Christmas Day, Orthodox New Year's Eve, and Orthodox New Year's Day. We decided to meet again on January 14, Orthodox New Year's Day. Each of these holidays fell on my scheduled class meeting times! That's got to be some sort of a record.