Bishops, Bishops Everywhere

So.... the bishops are here. ELCA, ELCC, and ELCJHL, all cavorting and frolicking through the holy lands
I was able to attend service at Our Redeemer (the Lutheran church in Bethlehem) yesterday, for a joint English-Arabic service. It was heartening to hear Bishop Hanson (presiding Bishop, ELCA) speak so passionately on behalf of Palestine and peace, and inspiring to receive communion from Bishop Younan (Bishop, ELCJHL).

Still settling into the apartment. Still working on the internet issue, although Dar Annadwa seems to have capitulated and no longer asks me to leave. I think it has to do with me being in the cafe now rather than the lobby. (Have I mentioned Taybeh yet? It's delicious.)

There are 38 students in the 5th grade class at Beit Sahour. Ahhhhhhhhhh.

Is it sad that the 3rd graders there speak better English than I do Arabic?

I seem to have made a friend. Josef, a cab driver, who now insists on driving me from the 21 bus to my apartment. This would be, keep in mind, all of about a fifteen minute walk. Yesterday he took me to meet his friend who runs a gift shop downtown. Oh, the joys of being an American in an impoverished country. I can't seem to explain to them that I'm in debt up to my eyeballs and can't afford to prop up the Bethlehem economy on my own, try as I might (and they need it...Gaza is keeping tourists away. Which is stupid.)

I am accepting gifts of TV on DVD. I'm almost done with season 1 of the IT Crowd, and if I don't replenish my supply soon I will be forced to watch whatever tripe is on one of the FOX stations (although I have now officially caught up on all those Ben Stiller movies I missed. I was right. I wasn't missing much.)

Last night a child positioned himself so that I couldn't shut my outer door while he repeatedly begged for change. Unfortunately, there's no one around from whom I could find out if he actually needs it. He hangs around the corner store by my alley, and the lady inside has told me not to give to him, but there's always motivations apart from the obvious. I figure a shekel a day, times about 170, divided by 3.5 would come out to about fifty bucks for the duration, but I'm afraid of starting something that could snowball.

Hopefully, when I acquire internet in my home, I'll be able to post these things when I'm being introspective, and not just when I'm listening to Al-Jazeera in Arabic while typing on a tiny laptop. (and I mean tiny. This thing is awesome, but typing is a bit of a learning experience.)

Peace.