November 22, 2001

Thanksgiving in Palestine

Palestine has a Thanksgiving day, but it's not celebrated today. We've already celebrated it a month or two ago. However, since I like holidays, I took the day off to celebrate again. No harm in that, right? I had two things planned for the day: (1) a meal at Bethlehem Bible College and (2) traditional Arabic music concert at the Bethlehem Peace Center.

I gave my good neighbor a call to find out the time of the meal, 5:30. That means that I have all day to relax. I decided to go to Jerusalem Mall to see a movie.

Jerusalem Mall is like an oasis for me. Not much in Palestine reminds me of home. It's a different world. Palestine is not worse than my home in America. It also is not better. But it is different. So Jerusalem Mall is like my little "America". I can go there for a break from everything else. It's my cure for culture shock. They have a Pizza Hut (with only vegetarian pizzas -- kosher issues). They have a Tower Records. And it's a good place for me to go when I want to disappear for a while. The demands for my time are pretty darn high. Every time I turn around here, someone is asking me to do something. It ranges from every possible computer related area (training, websites, software, installation, repairs, etc.) to teaching and tutoring English and proofreading documents to writing letters of requests for funds. It truly is not unusual for me to start the day at 7am and finish at 1 or 2am that night. And some of these folks are relentless. I explain that I just don't have time to spend on yet another project, but they continue to ask, day after day. I'd love to serve in any way that I can, but I can only do so much. Once I reach saturation, then I won't be able to do anything. I'll just crash.

I had the same problem in the past, so my agency instituted a policy to stop this problem before it started. But that sort of went out the window, when I agreed to do some things on the side. I'm going to start it again though. From now on, all projects will be approved by my supervisors here. That's the only way I'm going to survive.

People are pretty good about not asking me for money. I have a couple of people who continue to ask, but mostly everyone has stopped now. One thing I learned in my missionary training classes is that when any money is involved, Kwasay said "red flags should be flying everywhere". I don't have extra cash to give anyway. I took a slight pay cut when I stepped down as a software engineer to be a missionary servant. Haha. And it's expensive to live here in Palestine. I guessed that it would be a lot cheaper than it is. A lot of things here are more expensive than they are back home.

I had not seen "Shrek", so I thought today would be a good day for some funny computer animation. About the time I was leaving, a friend called early to wish me "Happy Thanksgiving". That was nice. So I carried on a conversation with her as I made my way to the checkpoint. I shared a taxi with a couple of Islamic women who were carrying tasty treats for Ramadan. I described the scenes around Dehatia Refugee camp, the road blocks, the overturned buses, the dirt road to El Khadar. She was even on the phone when I went through the checkpoint and the guard asked about my nonexistent visa. It was maybe a virtual tour without all the cool sights.

Even with all the detours, the checkpoints, the walking, the various taxis, I managed to make it to the mall by 11:30am, first show of the day. The theater was the most crowded I have ever seen it -- six other people watched Shrek with me. (People are discouraged from attending movies since they would be places for potential acts of terrorism. Of course we have to walk through a metal detector before we enter the mall. Then there is another search at the theater. But since no one attends, I figure a terrorist could pick a better target.) Good movie. I had attempted to watch it once before, but it was on a crowded 737 and I slept through it.

After the movie, I had a traditional Thanksgiving lunch -- Burger King Whopper, french fries, and diet coke. I poked around a few bookstores and the Office Depot. Technology is expensive here. Office Depot had nice Palm Pilots for $900. $900 for a Palm Pilot! (N and J gave me one last year. They are an incredibly generous couple, but I don't think it cost them quite that much.)

I picked up my guitar, but it's so cold in here now that my fingers are too slow to work. Did you know it got cold in Palestine? I didn't. I had no idea it got this cold and rainy. I had to buy winter clothes. The homes do a great job at keeping the cold in. It's really chilly here now. I'm totally layered indoors. At work, we all wear our heavy coats indoors.

I eventually made it to the dinner at the Bethlehem Bible College. It was excellent. Just like home with a few extras. Turkey, sweet potatoes, rice, pumpkin pie, pita bread, mashed potatoes, ... Very nice indeed. There were about 25 people there, I guess. A handful of Americans, but not many. There were quite a few from Europe. In places I've gone around the world, Europeans are very well represented in service organizations. Most of them were from the House of Hope. It is an agency that cares for disabled and blind elderly Palestinians. We sang a couple of songs like "Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart". Then the head of the agency told me that I might like to attend a special English contemporary service in Jerusalem on Sunday evenings. I think I would like to try it. "King of Kings" or something like that.

I left while everyone else was cleaning. I wanted to hear my students and fellow volunteers at their concert. It was the same lineup of musicians that I had heard last month, but this time they were even better. They were tighter. The songs were a little better rehearsed. I was quite proud of the guys I knew on the stage. They played great -- and too a packed house. I don't think there were many empty chairs in the Peace Center Tonight. Great going Bisher, Osama, Mohammad, and Abraheim!

I do have a lot to be thankful for -- the opportunity to serve, the opportunity to share, great friends, good food, nice family.

No photos today. Loaned my camera to the folks at Katholische Messe.