The Land of Living Stones

The war is over, for now. My attention has been diverted for sometime by the ongoing offensive in Gaza, which required my contributions to our MCC Palestine blog, which you can read here:
Christmas Canceled in Bethlehem
Gazan Christians Stranded in Bethlehem
The Aftermath

So I apologize for my delay in updating about the momentous and monumental shift in my personal situation here…I have moved to another apartment, I have another roommate, and I have another position at another school. Due to a variety of circumstances (if you want the hairy details, email me) I have become an administrative assistant at the Bethlehem Bible College(BBC)–with the President and with the humanitarian aid department, the Shepherd Society. This is a position that will be open for next year’s SALT program. Check out the BBC’s website. I have been volunteering with BBC for quite a while on Fridays and taking Arabic lessons there, so the transition to full time work was smooth and pleasant.

There is a great community of local staff, students, and foreign volunteers that makes every day something to look forward to, if just for the conversations! We have devotions at 8 am and tea altogether at 10:30. Then we gather for a delicious hot lunch at 1 pm cooked by a couple great women who take care of all of us. Work then convenes for another two hours and we finish at 4 pm. A full day of things to do but plenty of rest for socializing and building relationships.

As for my new place, I’ve relocated out of the apartment owned by Hope Flowers School’s director and about a kilometer north near the Bible College to an amazing apartment owned by the finance guy at BBC. He is a very nice and obliging landlord. I get my own room which contains more than enough wardrobe space, twin beds and a bookshelf/desk. It’s so comfortable and warm. We have a hot water boiler, a kitchen table and a dining room table. Also, a microwave.

My British roommate who wishes to remain unnamed (for obvious reason–any association with me could damage her reputation!) is a hoot. She teaches me new “correct” vocabulary and pronunciation daily. Also, she is crazy about cleaning and she loves/needs to sweep, scrub and tidy every second it seems. A great compliment to my mess of a personality. I like to cook and bake so we form halves of a whole! We have tea all the time and it’s quite lovely. Now we both have someone to hang out with and walk around with more easily.

Highlights of the last few weeks have been seeing an Armenian Christmas Eve service, hosting a housewarming party, meeting lots of new volunteers at BBC, and welcoming a friend from home who works here and who I haven’t seen in a long time. Also, Justine came to the area on her holiday and I got to see her and her roommate.