One reason I'm here

Well, I must say that this past Friday was a good day. I have a dear Arab friend here, Fadia, and I believe that she's part of the reason I've come back to Palestine for another year of teaching school. Friday was her birthday and I felt very ill-prepared for it when the day arrived. I had wanted to buy some perfume for her that I had heard her say she loved. I looked at the prices earlier in the week and I found the perfume for 489 shekels (about $122) - way more than I had planned on spending. So, if you know me, you will know that once I make up my mind about what birthday present to get someone, it's very difficult for me to change my mind. What was I to do? I decided to wait and try to find it somewhere else. On Friday, I hadn't had the chance to go shopping again, and so I had to find something that day. Erin and I went shopping and went to a department store to check the prices there. God is so good. I found the perfume there on sale for 245 shekels! And split between Wilma, Erin, and myself, that came to about 82 shekels (about $20) each. So, I made the purchase and Erin bought some flowers and we made plans for the evening. Fadia, Ameer (Fadia's 8 year-old son), Rula, Erin, and I had a wonderful dinner at Azkedinya (very nice), and at the table I heard the most exciting thing: Fadia and Ameer were talking about the day and how Fadia had asked Ameer to make a birthday wish for her. His wish was that she would get J'adore - the very perfume that we had gotten her that day! I was so excited; I couldn't wait to give her the present. We left and came back to our apartment for dessert and the presentation of the gift. It was so nice - the flowers were beautiful, the birthday cards were great (Erin hand-made hers - really cute), and then it was time to open the gift, which was very beautifully wrapped, I must say. (Another display of Erin's craftiness). The perfume was inside a cute little make-up bag with a matching scarf and mirror case. When she opened up the bag, her mouth dropped opened and she was in shock. Rula and Ameer were too, actually. Rula kept asking Ameer if he had said anything to us about the perfume, and he hadn't, of course. His birthday wish for his mom had come true. How awesome is that? I LOVE when God does things like that. The best part was when I took Fadia and Ameer home and she was almost in tears because she was so happy. She said that this had been the best birthday she had ever had. She also said that her birthday prayer for this next year had been that she would have a new beginning, and she truly felt like it was happening. I am so awed that God uses His children the way that He does. He absolutely loves us and so many times we have the priviledge of being the vessels of His love and provision for each other. Little things like a birthday present can be a reminder of His presence and His total knowledge of our needs and even our seemingly insignificant desires. He must take such delight in showing His heart for us.
Fadia had the best birthday of her life, and I had one of the best days of mine.

Some things I like about Palestinian culture

There are some really great qualities about the culture here. One is the love of family. Even teenage guys can't wait until they get married and have families. It's so refreshing to see high school kids holding babies, babies not even related to them. They just love children and the idea of family, and it shows in their faces.
Another great thing is that if there is an occasion to celebrate, no one does it like the Arabs. I had the priviledge of going to a wedding reception this past spring & it was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. There was a huge hydraulic studio camera filming the whole event and there was non-stop dancing and feasting. It was a really great time. Just yesterday, our whole road was blocked off for what I can only guess was some sort of block party or wedding celebration. Our neighbors were kind enough to let us know that we would need to move our vehicles before they closed the street. It was very odd to see our street so bare - there were no cars to be seen, which before would have been completely unimaginable. Can you believe that people would actually comply with letting their street be closed off for someone else's party? Not just for a couple of hours - it's been going on for the last two nights, and it was only just a couple of hours ago that cars have been back on the street. Whatever the celebration was about, there was a stage stretching across the whole street with a live band (a really good one, I must say), a street full of people, and of course, fireworks. Erin and I walked up to it, but there was a tent surrounding three sides, so we couldn't see very much. We did peek in through the seams of the tarps and saw the band and lots of men dancing up front.
Speaking of men dancing, that would be another thing I like. I love to see men actually dancing; you know, lively, fun, traditional dancing, not nasty bump & grind junk. (I have an appreciation of hip-hop and break dancing as well.) Guys are much more openly affectionate with each other here - kisses on the cheeks, warm hugs - and it's all very natural and genuine. I love to see the interaction.
Now, there are some things that aren't so nice about the culture, which of course is true for any culture. But, I'll save that for another time.

Where do I begin?

Okay so, I've never blogged before, so this may be a little awkward at first. I decided to start blogging because I have recently begun to have an urge to write about some of the daily occurences of my life these days. I'm not exactly sure where this urge has come from because I'm not normally the type of person who writes for others to read. And so with that being said, let's just see where this goes...