February 20, 2002

Good-bye Rica, Hello Ryo

[West Bank, Palestine] Rica has been in Palestine seven years, but tonight we said our good-byes to her. She will be returning to Japan to go back to school. Rica is a nurse and worked most recently with the residents of the Dheisheh Refugee Camp in Bethlehem. She also worked with Idja and Nobo who both left last month. Every time I hear Rica's name mentioned, someone is always speaking very highly of her. And I can vouch that she is one of the finest cooks in Bethlehem. I've been over to her place several times, and she makes great food. I think she is a good one, and she will be missed.

Tonight her good-bye party was held in the Ibdaa Cultural Center in the Dheisheh Camp. It's a nice new building in the camp that has a computer lab with Internet access, a guesthouse, a multipurpose room, and a restaurant on the top floor. If you are visiting Bethlehem in the future, you may want to stay at the guesthouse. It is reasonably priced and provides visitors with the opportunity to (sort of) stay in the refugee camp.

There was a collection of her friends and colleagues from the area. I met some new folks and some old friends. It was great. The evening also provided the opportunity to introduce Ryo (REE-oh) into the community. Ryo is returning to Palestine for the fifth time. He will be taking over the position vacated by Nobo. Ryo stood and gave a little speech. He is very happy to be here, and he also hopes to recover from a back ailment while in Palestine.

I sat near Shoom and Marc and Kareem and JZ and a fellow who didn't speak a whole lot of English. This fellow didn't say much except "I am a communist" over and over and over. I told him I understood, but really I didn't.