1. We are having a girl. Or at least, there is a 99.9% chance we are having a girl. She will be here in April, inshalla.
2. Our memory chip for our PS2 is corrupted and won't save or load games. This means any time I want to play Dance Dance Revolution (which has been pretty often lately), I have to start a whole new game and all of my awesome stats are lost. Sad day.
3. Work is going well for both of us. Or at least for me it is, and I think it is for Jason as well.
4. Yesterday, it was hot and sunny. Today, it is cool, cloudy, and smells like rain. This may mean it will be difficult to find ice cream in the near future.
5. We've been having kids from the House of Hope over each week for dinner. Week 1 was Sheda and Kais, week 2 was Hiba and Aya. This week we're taking a break and probably having Nabil and Mhammad next week. It's so fun to hang out with them again and they love it.
Showing posts with label house of hope. Show all posts
Showing posts with label house of hope. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 7
Wednesday, May 30
becoming real people
yesterday while the girls were playing, aya made me some "tea". we have play dishes for the girls and aya loves them. and she was so cute when she was making it and serving it. she was like a little person. she carried everything over on a tray, stacked carefully and then laid it all out, one thing at a time, just like the women do here. then she served me tea, put some food on my little plate, served herself and told me to eat. it was just like a grownup.
it made me think about what these girls will be like in five or ten years. aya, asma, razan, and hiba come from families who love them a lot and treat them basically like a normal kid. i'm sure that when aya lives at home, she'll learn how to really make tea and serving it to guests might be one of her jobs. and she'll be good at it. asma loves to clean and i bet when she's older, her mom will help her learn how to clean the house and asma will be able to help out. razan will do anything to please adults. i can see her doing laundry or the dishes...probably not very well, because she gets distracted, but i think her family is the kind of family who will let her try to help. hiba is teated like any other of the girls when she goes home. she loves doing dishes and helping in the kitchen. it's fun to think they they will all be adults one day and i think they will have the chance to contribute to their family. it's fun to see how they play now and think of how that will help them in the future.
i don't know about sheda and baraa. baraa is pretty physically disabled, so she can't walk or even stand still without someone right next to her or she'll fall down. her parents love her, but they're really overwhelmed. sheda is just crazy and i don't if she'll ever calm down. her three sisters are almost as crazy and her parents are completely overwhelmed and don't know what to do with them. it makes me think of the importance of teaching them little things that will lead to a little independence, like how to really wash their hands, how to shower themselves, how to get dressed and put their clothes away. i don't know how much sheda and baraa will ever be able to contribute to their families (especially in the eyes of this culture), but at least i can help them to not be as much of a burden.
sometimes i feel like we the kids haven't changed that much over the year. but then i think of how they really were. sheda was crazier, wouldn't sit still, peed in her pants almost every day, spit inside, wouldn't share toys. now she sits through most meals, goes to the bathroom really well, and this morning she was actually playing with aya. happily. hiba didn't talk, she didn't play with the girls a lot, she didn't do much of anything. now she's at least trying to talk all the time, she makes all the beds every morning, she prays at night, she loves to help us take care of baraa. aya was like a turtle in a shell when she got here. she still doesn't talk to the house-parents a lot, but she loves to play with the other girls, she makes me tea, she plays outside, she dresses herself every day without hardly any prompting. asma was such a brat and wouldn't listen to anything i said, she just did her own thing, she grabbed toys and threw lots of fits. now i just look at her and she listens and she's way better at sharing. baraa wouldn't listen to anything anyone said when she came. she fell all the time because she wouldn't pay attention to what was going on, she would get out of her bed during nap time. now she loves to play with the other girls, she's getting better at waiting for us to help her walk or get up, she lets hiba help her. razan didn't talk much and was really selfish with toys or anything when she got here. now she's great at playing with the girls, she'll share things, sometimes without being told to. she loves to help hiba make the bed or help fold laundry, things she didn't do when she came.
it seems like little improvements that may not seem to matter. but i can see them becoming more like "real people", not just little kids. even if aya is just making fake tea, it means she's paying attention to life, watching carefully, and wanting to be like an adult. even is sheda is just barely sharing toys, it means less fights with her siblings for her parents to deal with. even if hiba is just learning how to wash dishes and still isn't very great at it, it means she is willing to help and will be able to be a part of her family. when i think of how far the girls have come it makes all the late nights, all the fights, all the putting them in time-outs and feeling awful for it, all the peed beds, all the headaches worth it.
it made me think about what these girls will be like in five or ten years. aya, asma, razan, and hiba come from families who love them a lot and treat them basically like a normal kid. i'm sure that when aya lives at home, she'll learn how to really make tea and serving it to guests might be one of her jobs. and she'll be good at it. asma loves to clean and i bet when she's older, her mom will help her learn how to clean the house and asma will be able to help out. razan will do anything to please adults. i can see her doing laundry or the dishes...probably not very well, because she gets distracted, but i think her family is the kind of family who will let her try to help. hiba is teated like any other of the girls when she goes home. she loves doing dishes and helping in the kitchen. it's fun to think they they will all be adults one day and i think they will have the chance to contribute to their family. it's fun to see how they play now and think of how that will help them in the future.
i don't know about sheda and baraa. baraa is pretty physically disabled, so she can't walk or even stand still without someone right next to her or she'll fall down. her parents love her, but they're really overwhelmed. sheda is just crazy and i don't if she'll ever calm down. her three sisters are almost as crazy and her parents are completely overwhelmed and don't know what to do with them. it makes me think of the importance of teaching them little things that will lead to a little independence, like how to really wash their hands, how to shower themselves, how to get dressed and put their clothes away. i don't know how much sheda and baraa will ever be able to contribute to their families (especially in the eyes of this culture), but at least i can help them to not be as much of a burden.
sometimes i feel like we the kids haven't changed that much over the year. but then i think of how they really were. sheda was crazier, wouldn't sit still, peed in her pants almost every day, spit inside, wouldn't share toys. now she sits through most meals, goes to the bathroom really well, and this morning she was actually playing with aya. happily. hiba didn't talk, she didn't play with the girls a lot, she didn't do much of anything. now she's at least trying to talk all the time, she makes all the beds every morning, she prays at night, she loves to help us take care of baraa. aya was like a turtle in a shell when she got here. she still doesn't talk to the house-parents a lot, but she loves to play with the other girls, she makes me tea, she plays outside, she dresses herself every day without hardly any prompting. asma was such a brat and wouldn't listen to anything i said, she just did her own thing, she grabbed toys and threw lots of fits. now i just look at her and she listens and she's way better at sharing. baraa wouldn't listen to anything anyone said when she came. she fell all the time because she wouldn't pay attention to what was going on, she would get out of her bed during nap time. now she loves to play with the other girls, she's getting better at waiting for us to help her walk or get up, she lets hiba help her. razan didn't talk much and was really selfish with toys or anything when she got here. now she's great at playing with the girls, she'll share things, sometimes without being told to. she loves to help hiba make the bed or help fold laundry, things she didn't do when she came.
it seems like little improvements that may not seem to matter. but i can see them becoming more like "real people", not just little kids. even if aya is just making fake tea, it means she's paying attention to life, watching carefully, and wanting to be like an adult. even is sheda is just barely sharing toys, it means less fights with her siblings for her parents to deal with. even if hiba is just learning how to wash dishes and still isn't very great at it, it means she is willing to help and will be able to be a part of her family. when i think of how far the girls have come it makes all the late nights, all the fights, all the putting them in time-outs and feeling awful for it, all the peed beds, all the headaches worth it.
Wednesday, May 2
pics from ramalla
The park from the top of the ferris wheel
Fida, Razan, and Bara'a. this is the spinny ride i made nabil go on that made him cry. i have no heart.
Me, Ahmud, and Nabil on the spinny ride
Fida, Sheda, and Aya
Bumper Cars!
Bara'a, Razan, and Hiba
Lunch time!
The Party Bus
Monday, April 30
field trip!
today we went to ramalla with all of the kids from the school and the boarding section. i wasn't too excited about the day because i was told we're going to a park. and i really like a lot of the teachers, but when the kids are on the playground, they just sit around and talk to each other. so that's what i was picturing all day and the houseparents having to take care of all 30 or so kids. not fun.
but i was wrong. it was an amazing day. we actually went to a (sort of) amusement park. it was more carnival type rides, but the kids LOVED it. the houseparents just hung out with the kids from the boarding section, and we all kind of stayed in a group, which was really fun. most of the kids loved the rides, i think all except for nabil and sheda. i made nabil go on a spinney ride with me and he was terrified. then i made him go on the ferris wheel, which i thought would be less scary, but he was still scared. poor kid. i made sheda go on a different spinney ride and she wouldn't hang out with me the rest of the day near rides because she was afraid i would drag her onto one. although i did trick her into going on a "roller coaster" (a very small roller coaster) at the end of the day, which she didn't mind too much. the highlight was definitely the bumper cars. all of the kids and houseparents went at the same time and we were the only ones in at that time. it was great. all the kids loved it and i think all the houseparents got to take out some aggression on the kids. i slammed into sheda's car a lot.
the bus ride was also an adventure. the kids were surprisingly well behaved and sat most of the time. it was quite the party bus though. fida brought a drum so we could sing and clap and dance in our seats the whole way. and if she wasn't playing, the driver had music blaring. it was fun on the way there...annoying on the way back. no concept of sleeping after a long day like that.
i took a few pictures, but then our batteries died, so when i recharge them, i'll put the pictures up.
but i was wrong. it was an amazing day. we actually went to a (sort of) amusement park. it was more carnival type rides, but the kids LOVED it. the houseparents just hung out with the kids from the boarding section, and we all kind of stayed in a group, which was really fun. most of the kids loved the rides, i think all except for nabil and sheda. i made nabil go on a spinney ride with me and he was terrified. then i made him go on the ferris wheel, which i thought would be less scary, but he was still scared. poor kid. i made sheda go on a different spinney ride and she wouldn't hang out with me the rest of the day near rides because she was afraid i would drag her onto one. although i did trick her into going on a "roller coaster" (a very small roller coaster) at the end of the day, which she didn't mind too much. the highlight was definitely the bumper cars. all of the kids and houseparents went at the same time and we were the only ones in at that time. it was great. all the kids loved it and i think all the houseparents got to take out some aggression on the kids. i slammed into sheda's car a lot.
the bus ride was also an adventure. the kids were surprisingly well behaved and sat most of the time. it was quite the party bus though. fida brought a drum so we could sing and clap and dance in our seats the whole way. and if she wasn't playing, the driver had music blaring. it was fun on the way there...annoying on the way back. no concept of sleeping after a long day like that.
i took a few pictures, but then our batteries died, so when i recharge them, i'll put the pictures up.
Wednesday, November 15
Mine are cuter than yours
EDIT: I just wanted to say that I am very disapointed in you all. I left pictures of myself shaking like a Vegas showgirl, and we only get one comment. One!! Thanks, by the way, Spentsts.
Allright, here's the deal. I was over checking out John and Carol's blog and looking at some pictures of the kids they worked with in Ghana. There were some good lookin' kids on there. Cute as all get-out, as the saying goes. However, I think that the following pictures demonstrate the fact that our kids are cuter. Enjoy.
Shedha and Razan showin' some love
Allright, here's the deal. I was over checking out John and Carol's blog and looking at some pictures of the kids they worked with in Ghana. There were some good lookin' kids on there. Cute as all get-out, as the saying goes. However, I think that the following pictures demonstrate the fact that our kids are cuter. Enjoy.
Shedha and Razan showin' some love
Asma being Asma
No, this is not a child from an island tribe. It's Kais on Halloween.
We're still working on the nose-picking thing.
Yea, I'm pretty sure he knows he's cute at this point.
Ok, so he's 18 and doesn't qualify as a "kid" but he's still cute . . . and gansta.
Feel free to ignore the kid in the middle when evaluting cuteness
Wednesday, October 18
Yalla, eat the bread of life.
First off, it finally rained. That's right, after being here a mere 53 days, we got to see the skies open up for the first time. If I understand correctly, we only got the tail end of the lack of rain. I believe the last time it rained was in June. That means it went 4 1/2 months without raining here. Let me tell you something about the roads when it hasn't rained in 4.5 months. They are filthy. Sarah and I went for a walk after the rain on Sunday night, and the roads were so slick that it was like walking on ice. We saw 3 near accidents and 1 tractor-trailer going up a hill at about 5 mph because it couldn't get any traction. Sarah and I also almost fell over 3 or 4 times just walking down the sidewalk. Good times all around.
Bara'a is a new member of the House of Hope family. She is a very tiny, very soft-spoken girl who is living here for the first time. During devotion time on Saturday night, the kids were repeating memory verses. The verse that Hiba was saying was "I am the bread of life." Violet was leading the devotion time and said "Uli . . ." to prompt her to say the bible verse (uli means say).
Bara'a heard this and started to say very softly, "let's go Hiba, eat it, eat the bread of life." (The word for eat is culi). Everytime I hear bara'a saying something, I think of her sitting on the couch with her hands folded, gently encouraging Hiba to eat the bread of life.
Monday was an exciting day. Sarah and I went into the market in Bethlehem and did a good portion of our Christmas shopping. This sets a record for me, as previously the soonest I had started my Christmas shopping was December 18th. I want to talk about some of the cool things we found to buy, but that would ruin the surprise, so I won't.
I don't have a good way to end this post. So I guess I'll just stop writing now. Oh yea, I had a fun morning cleaning poop out of every crack in Ahmad's bedroom. He mad a magnificent work of art to greet me this morning. I love my job.
Bara'a is a new member of the House of Hope family. She is a very tiny, very soft-spoken girl who is living here for the first time. During devotion time on Saturday night, the kids were repeating memory verses. The verse that Hiba was saying was "I am the bread of life." Violet was leading the devotion time and said "Uli . . ." to prompt her to say the bible verse (uli means say).
Bara'a heard this and started to say very softly, "let's go Hiba, eat it, eat the bread of life." (The word for eat is culi). Everytime I hear bara'a saying something, I think of her sitting on the couch with her hands folded, gently encouraging Hiba to eat the bread of life.
Monday was an exciting day. Sarah and I went into the market in Bethlehem and did a good portion of our Christmas shopping. This sets a record for me, as previously the soonest I had started my Christmas shopping was December 18th. I want to talk about some of the cool things we found to buy, but that would ruin the surprise, so I won't.
I don't have a good way to end this post. So I guess I'll just stop writing now. Oh yea, I had a fun morning cleaning poop out of every crack in Ahmad's bedroom. He mad a magnificent work of art to greet me this morning. I love my job.
Thursday, October 12
Mish Ana!
As most people who have worked with groups of children know, you always have a favorite. Sometimes you can try to hide it and pretend you don't, but you always do. My favorite boy at Beit 'Araja is Muhammad. One of the things that he is famous for is his tendency to say "mish ana" (not me) anytime that he misbehaves or thinks that someone might possible think he misbehaved. Sometimes when the house parents sit around after the kids are in bed, we tell the same stories about the same kids over and over again. Muhammad's stories are often the favorite. We have all encountered Muhammad's "mish ana." Here are some of the highlights of his denials.
1: Muhammad is sitting on his bed during naptime. His sheet has a huge hole torn in it. I come in the room and ask in Arabic, "who did this."
All of the boys begin to point and say, "Muhammad, Muhammad."
Muhammad thinks for a moment then says incredulously, "Mish ana, Kais." I look at him with doubt in my eyes. "Mish ana, Eyad." More doubt. "Mish ana, Forest." He rotates through his roommates two or three more times, before he finally says. "Sorry, it was me."
2: Muhammad is on his bicycle in the middle of the road. Jesse is lecturing him about not leaving the playground and about never, ever going into the road. Muhammad starts to click his tongue at Jesse (this is a rude way to say no) and loudly exclaims: "mish ana! Mish ana!" This is despite the fact that he is in the road as he proclaims that it was someone else who ran away.
3. It's nighttime, and I open the door to check on the boys. Muhammad is sitting on the middle of the floor, playing with cars, and he isn't wearing any pants. As soon as I open the door he jumps up, runs to his bed and starts to point at all of the other boys. This time, he just uses body language to say mish ana, as if they are the ones half naked and in the middle of the room.
4. Early one morning, Jesse goes into the boys' bedroom to check on them. They aren't being too loud, but it is before the time to get up. Muhammad, is lounging on Nabil's bed, close to the door. Apparently thinking someone is going to be in trouble, but not overly concerned, lazily throws his arm over his head and nonchalantly points at whoever is on the next bed. Even though he was still half asleep and didn't know if there was trouble or not, he was going to start casting blame.
As an epilogue, he is starting to do this less as he is realizing it does not work. Now, in order to stay out of trouble, he will run to the person. Hug them and say "Sorry, sorry, I love you habibi." (Habibi is a term of endearment, usually used for people younger than you). I'm sure we'll have stories of those attempts later on.
Tuesday, September 26
I'm the Lady!! (How not to get to Tel Aviv)
Some of you may remember and earlier story about Aimaan, one in which he started calling me Uncle Almost, because he could not remember my name. Well, apparently he has a knack for misunderstanding me.
As we were playing futbol in the courtyard at the back of Beit 'Araja, Aimaan kept complaining that the other kids were getting in his way while he was trying to play. I was quite a ways away from him, and I yelled to him "Aimaan! Stop complaining!"
He yelled back, "What did you say, Amu Jason? You're the lady?" He then laughed maniacally and proceeded to yell "Amu Jason's the lady!" for the next forty minutes. In addition, he went to every adult that was working that afternoon and told them that I was the lady. I wish, by the end of the day he was literally hoarse from yelling that I was the lady over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.
If you are ever in Bethlehem and want to get a Visa from the Jordanian, do not ask Sarah and I for directions. Here is what we did yesterday.
Taxi from Beit 'Araja to the Wall for 12NIS
Arab bus from the Wall into Jerusalem 7NIS
Egged bus from Jaffa Rd in Jerusalem to the central bus station 11NIS
Egged bus from Jerusalem to Ramat Gan (a suburb of Tel Aviv) 34NIS
(by the way, we also got on the wrong bus, but the driver spoke English well enough and was kind enough to drop us near the Jordanian Embassy, where we were trying to go)
Walk to the Jordanian Embassy
Realize we need a picture for the visa application, walk around Ramat Gan trying to find a place to take it. 50NIS
Walk back to the Jordanian Embassy
Realize we don't have enough shekels on us, walk around Ramat Gan trying to find an ATM machine that accepts our American ATM card.
Walk back to the Jordanian Embassy
Acquire the visas!! (and pay for them, 370NIS)
Get directions to the central bus station from an Arabic speaking security guard.
Get lost.
Get directions from an English speaking banker.
Get lost.
Get directions to the train station from an English speaking security guard.
Find it! But have to ask two more people for directions to the bus station.
Find it! Board the bus for Jerusalem 30NIS
Arrive in Jerusalem, realize we're really not sure how to get back to the Old City to catch and Arab bus. Ask three security, guards in Arabic, one knows how to help us.
Get on the right bus!! Sit in traffic for 80 minutes in order to travel about 10 kilometers. 11NIS
Get on the Arab bus bound for the wall outside of Bethlehem. 7NIS
Take our place into the crush of people trying to get through the checkpoint. Make new friends and enemies.
One of our new friends offers us a ride back to Beit 'Araja in his 30 year old VW Beetle, we gladly accept and arrive safely at home. A mere 8 hours after leaving and only 45 minutes late for work.
Yes it was quite an adventure, and I am leaving out some of the oddities for the sake of brevity (I clearly failed). The point is, we now have our visas and on Thursday we will be visiting Dave and Susan Vila (and family) in Amman! Hopefully, our travel there will be less eventful and less expensive.
Jason and Sarah
As we were playing futbol in the courtyard at the back of Beit 'Araja, Aimaan kept complaining that the other kids were getting in his way while he was trying to play. I was quite a ways away from him, and I yelled to him "Aimaan! Stop complaining!"
He yelled back, "What did you say, Amu Jason? You're the lady?" He then laughed maniacally and proceeded to yell "Amu Jason's the lady!" for the next forty minutes. In addition, he went to every adult that was working that afternoon and told them that I was the lady. I wish, by the end of the day he was literally hoarse from yelling that I was the lady over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.
If you are ever in Bethlehem and want to get a Visa from the Jordanian, do not ask Sarah and I for directions. Here is what we did yesterday.
Taxi from Beit 'Araja to the Wall for 12NIS
Arab bus from the Wall into Jerusalem 7NIS
Egged bus from Jaffa Rd in Jerusalem to the central bus station 11NIS
Egged bus from Jerusalem to Ramat Gan (a suburb of Tel Aviv) 34NIS
(by the way, we also got on the wrong bus, but the driver spoke English well enough and was kind enough to drop us near the Jordanian Embassy, where we were trying to go)
Walk to the Jordanian Embassy
Realize we need a picture for the visa application, walk around Ramat Gan trying to find a place to take it. 50NIS
Walk back to the Jordanian Embassy
Realize we don't have enough shekels on us, walk around Ramat Gan trying to find an ATM machine that accepts our American ATM card.
Walk back to the Jordanian Embassy
Acquire the visas!! (and pay for them, 370NIS)
Get directions to the central bus station from an Arabic speaking security guard.
Get lost.
Get directions from an English speaking banker.
Get lost.
Get directions to the train station from an English speaking security guard.
Find it! But have to ask two more people for directions to the bus station.
Find it! Board the bus for Jerusalem 30NIS
Arrive in Jerusalem, realize we're really not sure how to get back to the Old City to catch and Arab bus. Ask three security, guards in Arabic, one knows how to help us.
Get on the right bus!! Sit in traffic for 80 minutes in order to travel about 10 kilometers. 11NIS
Get on the Arab bus bound for the wall outside of Bethlehem. 7NIS
Take our place into the crush of people trying to get through the checkpoint. Make new friends and enemies.
One of our new friends offers us a ride back to Beit 'Araja in his 30 year old VW Beetle, we gladly accept and arrive safely at home. A mere 8 hours after leaving and only 45 minutes late for work.
Yes it was quite an adventure, and I am leaving out some of the oddities for the sake of brevity (I clearly failed). The point is, we now have our visas and on Thursday we will be visiting Dave and Susan Vila (and family) in Amman! Hopefully, our travel there will be less eventful and less expensive.
Jason and Sarah
Monday, September 18
story of the week
i think i will start to post my favorite story from each week. this week, there were a lot of funny things that have happened, but one stands out to me.
so saturday morning, i was so excited when i woke up at 7:45 (needing to be to work at 8), because the girls were still asleep/playing quietly. this had never happened before, so i was really excited that the night had gone so well. however, when i went downstairs to the boys flat, i realized that i had finally gotten the easy kids and the boys were the naughty ones. when jason went to get the boys up, he found that they were all up and laughing about something. one of the boys said something about muhammad and kais eating some snacks. jason found kais with crumbs from cookies all over his shirt. he asked where muhammad was, and the kids replied, laughing of course, that he was outside. sure enough, muhammad was out there, talking to some of the guys around, also with crumbs all over his shirt.
so as it turned out, kais and muhammad had gotten up during the early morning and gotten into the zakee (sweet snacks) and had eaten an entire box of wafer cookies. they also made themselves some coffee, by pouring tons of nescaf and sugar into a teapot of cold water. when we found it, we thought it was arabic coffee because it was so thick. the best part was that both of the boys tried to say it wasn't them. when we asked them about it, they just replied "mish ana" (not me) and said it was the other one. this may have worked if they both didn't have smug grins and crumbs all over them. i don't know if they ever actually fessed up to the crime, but they spent the morning walking around with huge grins on their faces, as if they had just accomplished the greatest feat ever.
on another note, guess what i have? the taste of coffee in my mouth. and not nescaf. real coffee. today, jason and i found a drip coffee maker and made some coffee after dinner. it was wonderful. i have gotten used to just drinking tea instead of coffee, because the instant coffee just isn't the same, but i had not realized how much i missed drinking coffee. it was wonderful. so now, we have in our room a coffee pot and can make real coffee whenever we want. finding a coffee pot was not as easy as it might sound, as no one really drinks drip coffee here. we walked all through the market and only saw three. and the market is huge. it probably has litteraly hundreds of shops. so we bought the cheapest one. the hunt took about an hour and half and when we were walking back to beit araja we saw that there were at least three different kinds of coffee pots in a store that is a block down the street. oh well, the adventure was fun. and the main thing is, we have a coffee pot. it was quite the successful day.
so saturday morning, i was so excited when i woke up at 7:45 (needing to be to work at 8), because the girls were still asleep/playing quietly. this had never happened before, so i was really excited that the night had gone so well. however, when i went downstairs to the boys flat, i realized that i had finally gotten the easy kids and the boys were the naughty ones. when jason went to get the boys up, he found that they were all up and laughing about something. one of the boys said something about muhammad and kais eating some snacks. jason found kais with crumbs from cookies all over his shirt. he asked where muhammad was, and the kids replied, laughing of course, that he was outside. sure enough, muhammad was out there, talking to some of the guys around, also with crumbs all over his shirt.
so as it turned out, kais and muhammad had gotten up during the early morning and gotten into the zakee (sweet snacks) and had eaten an entire box of wafer cookies. they also made themselves some coffee, by pouring tons of nescaf and sugar into a teapot of cold water. when we found it, we thought it was arabic coffee because it was so thick. the best part was that both of the boys tried to say it wasn't them. when we asked them about it, they just replied "mish ana" (not me) and said it was the other one. this may have worked if they both didn't have smug grins and crumbs all over them. i don't know if they ever actually fessed up to the crime, but they spent the morning walking around with huge grins on their faces, as if they had just accomplished the greatest feat ever.
on another note, guess what i have? the taste of coffee in my mouth. and not nescaf. real coffee. today, jason and i found a drip coffee maker and made some coffee after dinner. it was wonderful. i have gotten used to just drinking tea instead of coffee, because the instant coffee just isn't the same, but i had not realized how much i missed drinking coffee. it was wonderful. so now, we have in our room a coffee pot and can make real coffee whenever we want. finding a coffee pot was not as easy as it might sound, as no one really drinks drip coffee here. we walked all through the market and only saw three. and the market is huge. it probably has litteraly hundreds of shops. so we bought the cheapest one. the hunt took about an hour and half and when we were walking back to beit araja we saw that there were at least three different kinds of coffee pots in a store that is a block down the street. oh well, the adventure was fun. and the main thing is, we have a coffee pot. it was quite the successful day.
Thursday, September 14
An Arab Proverb
Notice that the title of this post is not "An Old Arab Proverb" as most proverbs are considered old. However, I made one up this week. It goes like this "One must watch where he is walking or his baboush may end up covered in someone else's vomit." I happen to know that this proverb is true because Kais (the taller boy, on the left in the picture) discovered it. Kais is not what you would call attentive. It often takes 4 or 5 times of saying his name before he realizes you are talking to him. As we were walking back from Church last Sunday, he had his head firmly in the clouds and was looking every direction instead of in front of him. As a resuly, his eventually had his sandal firmly in a pile of someone's vomit. Just thought you needed to know that.
Please pray for a little boy who lives here named Ahmed. He is having a very difficult time, and is in danger of having to go home. He also has a very rough family life. When you read this, please take a moment to pray for him and if you can remember to do so at other times, please do.
I went to a funeral yesterday of a boy who was killed in Bethlehem by the Israeli Army. If you want to read a description of it, I have posted one here.
Thursday, September 7
Uncle Almost and a hint about Arab culture
Here at the House of Hope, all of the house parents are referred to as "Amu _" or "Auntie _" with "_" being the first name. For example I am Amu Jason. (Amu is a term of affection that literally means Uncle, but can be used by children for adults). My name has generated quite a bit of confusion for two reasons: First, it is unfamiliar to Arab people, the name that is Jason in English is Yusoon, in Arabic, not all that close. Second, there is already another volunteer here named Jesse. Half of the children simply think that I am named Jesse, as well as do many adults when I first introduce myself.
Because of this confusion, one of the first boys that I have met here, Aiman, has often resorted to calling me "Amu" without a name attached. When he did that yesterday afternoon, I started to try and get him to remember my name. He looked at me and shouted, "Amu Jesse!"
I said, "no, no, almost . . ."
Before I could finish describing how to pronounce my name, he started jumping up and down and shouting, "Amu Almost! Amu Almost!" A name which Kais also picked up and called me for the rest of the day. I am once again granted with a new name, Uncle Almost. Hopefully they excitement of yesterday's discover will have warn off this afternoon, and the boys will remember my real name. We'll see.
Ahhh yes, a hint about Arab culture has also been promised by the title. Here it is: When you have been invited over to someone's house for a meal, scoop a very small amount of food on your plate, so that when they offer you more, you can say "yes." If you refuse, many will look at you with shock and dismay, as if you had just announced your intention to convert to cannibalism . . . and that you were starting with their children.
Because of this confusion, one of the first boys that I have met here, Aiman, has often resorted to calling me "Amu" without a name attached. When he did that yesterday afternoon, I started to try and get him to remember my name. He looked at me and shouted, "Amu Jesse!"
I said, "no, no, almost . . ."
Before I could finish describing how to pronounce my name, he started jumping up and down and shouting, "Amu Almost! Amu Almost!" A name which Kais also picked up and called me for the rest of the day. I am once again granted with a new name, Uncle Almost. Hopefully they excitement of yesterday's discover will have warn off this afternoon, and the boys will remember my real name. We'll see.
Ahhh yes, a hint about Arab culture has also been promised by the title. Here it is: When you have been invited over to someone's house for a meal, scoop a very small amount of food on your plate, so that when they offer you more, you can say "yes." If you refuse, many will look at you with shock and dismay, as if you had just announced your intention to convert to cannibalism . . . and that you were starting with their children.
Tuesday, September 5
Lullaad Hoon!!!
Yesterday, the children who live in the House of Hope arrived for the semester, at least some of them did. There are actually one 4 boys and 1 girl here now, though eventually there will be 7 boys and 5 girls. Apparently the kids just kind of show up as the semester continues. Welcome to Palestine. It is really nice how laid-back everyone is here.
Both Sarah and I have been progressing in our Arabic, I don't know if we've mentioned this before, but it is a difficult language to learn. Even the native Arabic speakers here tell us that Arabic is more difficult than English. Think about that.
Ok, you can stop thinking about it now.
We've had the chance to visiting a number of families in the last few days. On Saturday we went to Hebron, where we sat on the roof, looked over the city, and drank tea with a Muslim family. One of the brothers from the family lives at the House of Hope part-time. We discussed the different opinions about marriage, adoption, and things of that nature between Muslims, Palestinian Christians, and American Christians. One of brothers, who was about 35 and had 2 wives and 7 children, kept trying to get Sammi to ask us to help him visit America. I have noticed that many Palestinians think that Sarah and I have some sort of sway with the INS, as if we can get people into the country. I try to explain that we do not, but it does not seem to convince anyone.
On Wednesday, Sarah and I have been invited over for Lunch by a family who we met Saturday night. The grandmother speaks some English, though it is difficult to understand her, and our Arabic is not quite at a functioning level. Please pray that we will be able to be friends with this family, despite the language barrier.
Tonight, I am leading the devotion for the children. I have never actually seen anyone lead a devotion here, so I don't know exactly what is expected . . . but maybe that's a good thing. I plan on telling a story about Noah's Ark, finding some coloring pages of the story, and then using stuffed animals to allow the children to act the story out. I'm a bit nervous. Most people probably won't read this before 7pm (or 11am cst) when I give the devotion, but if you do please pray that I at least will not embarras myself too badly.
Thanks all of you for your interest in our lives, by the way. Oh yeah, the title of today's entry means. The Children are Here!!!
Both Sarah and I have been progressing in our Arabic, I don't know if we've mentioned this before, but it is a difficult language to learn. Even the native Arabic speakers here tell us that Arabic is more difficult than English. Think about that.
Ok, you can stop thinking about it now.
We've had the chance to visiting a number of families in the last few days. On Saturday we went to Hebron, where we sat on the roof, looked over the city, and drank tea with a Muslim family. One of the brothers from the family lives at the House of Hope part-time. We discussed the different opinions about marriage, adoption, and things of that nature between Muslims, Palestinian Christians, and American Christians. One of brothers, who was about 35 and had 2 wives and 7 children, kept trying to get Sammi to ask us to help him visit America. I have noticed that many Palestinians think that Sarah and I have some sort of sway with the INS, as if we can get people into the country. I try to explain that we do not, but it does not seem to convince anyone.
On Wednesday, Sarah and I have been invited over for Lunch by a family who we met Saturday night. The grandmother speaks some English, though it is difficult to understand her, and our Arabic is not quite at a functioning level. Please pray that we will be able to be friends with this family, despite the language barrier.
Tonight, I am leading the devotion for the children. I have never actually seen anyone lead a devotion here, so I don't know exactly what is expected . . . but maybe that's a good thing. I plan on telling a story about Noah's Ark, finding some coloring pages of the story, and then using stuffed animals to allow the children to act the story out. I'm a bit nervous. Most people probably won't read this before 7pm (or 11am cst) when I give the devotion, but if you do please pray that I at least will not embarras myself too badly.
Thanks all of you for your interest in our lives, by the way. Oh yeah, the title of today's entry means. The Children are Here!!!
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