The Easter activities have ended and it was a wonderful time. I attended Palm Sunday in the Orthodox Church to specifically see the unique plm decoartions that were made. Usually children carry them and they contain fresh flowers.Orthodox Easter was celebrated one week after the Catholic Easter (as it is called here)and there were services every evening leading up to Easter. On the Saturday before Easter the Orthodox Patriarch from Jerusalem brought a flame from the Holy Sepulcher Church, the Holiest of Holy churches for Christians in the Middle East. He was accompanied by a parade during which all of Beit Jala came out in their finest clothes. When he reached the church he carried the light through the church several times and people could light their own candles, (which were sometimes decorated with artificial Easter eggs) or small lanterns which they had brought in order to carry the light home and share with neighbours. This is a beautiful tradition and people were quite excited about receiving the light. The Orthodox Church here is not large but elaborately decorated and has the largest congregation of all the churches. Usually there isn't a sermon but a lot of chanting and people come and go as children are allowed to wander around. I was invited to some friends' home on Orthodox Easter Sunday and it was unexpectedly low key. However, after dinner we visited three different families and this was a lot of fun. During the visit you can be served Turkish coffee, or a small glass of pina colada, a chocolate egg or freh fruit. Before you leave you are presented with a colored Easter egg, and all self respecting christian women make "mahmul", a very heavy date filled cookie, decorated in a special way. I don't find them very tasty but had the privelege of being able to help make them one evening. The festivites here in Beit Jala are quite unique and I decided to stay here rather than fight the crowds in Al-Quds, Jerusalem. The day ended as only a day in Palestine can end. As I was walking home in the dark I was stopped at the checkpoint, which is no more that 100 ft. from the school. There had been a shooting in Bethlehem and all car and pedestrain traffic was stopped. So I had to wait in the hope that it would not be hours. Fortunately after a short half an hour, I was let through, but it was a threatening kind of expereince.
Spring is beautiful and I will be going North to Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee with my sister tomorrow. She will be with me for 10 days and it will be nice to be able to understand and speak Dutch with her. Not knowing the language can be very isolating and stressful at times. I am now learning the past tense and it has not become any easier. I still prefer doing it this way though, than trying to connect with Americans from this area. I have learned much from my friends and treasure their friendship. Sending you my love, yvonne Salam.