Arabic Hospitality and Succot

We have been spending quite a bit of time with my students’ families. Last week Thursday night, we joined a family birthday party at Mariana’s. She lives across the street from us. It was a nice, three- bedroom apartment that opened out onto a balcony off the side (if you are familiar with our Uxbridge apartment, it was very similar to that, only a bit bigger-higher ceilings). They have a terrific view of Beit Jala! We enjoyed the night view and their olive trees below. Mariana’s Mom had prepared about 4 different cakes (for a two-year-old’s party)! Mariana is cousin to another student in my class, Johnny, so he and his family were there as well. It was nice to see the children interact outside of class, and enjoy some yummy cake and hot tea.
Last Sunday we went to Majd’s house. He lives with his family in Beit Sahour (where most of the shepherd’s fields are), a town in a valley below Bethlehem. His family lives in a basement apartment. It was very small for a family of 5, yet cozy. It’s polite to bring a toy or treat when you are invited to dinner, so our friend Lily (the first grade teacher at our school) had picked up the game Rummikub. The kids played it all afternoon! I was amazed with their ability to sit! We had rice with chicken and beef, both of which were cooked in an olive wood oven. All of the food was delicious! Majd’s Mom does not speak much English, so she and Lily conversed in Arabic for most of the meal while Doug and I talked with his father, who is also a teacher. (The kids were playing the game) We moved outside for fruit, which was followed by ice cream and tea. Surprisingly, they had many trees in their backyard. It was very nice. Majd’s mom kept asking me how he was doing, and how he could pull certain grades up. Lily and I were bombarded with questions about the children for most of the afternoon! I kept trying to steer her away from conferencing about her child, but she didn’t give up. Oh well, we had a nice time. I have to get used to thinking about school and grades all the time when spending time with families from school.
Yesterday we(the American teachers) went over to Nadine’s house, a student in my fifth grade class. Her Mom is also our school’s landlord (evidently we own a parcel of land next to the building, but not the building). Their house is a castle. It overlooks Beit Jala, Bethlehem, and with binoculars the wall outside the Old City of Jerusalem. We enjoyed a yummy chicken and rice meal, which was served by the family. I felt like Nadine was my servant. The Mom didn’t eat with us at all, but was busy serving us. She must have thrown 7 chickens at us, at least! Our favorite was a small chicken stuffed with rice. We thought that was a great idea. After tea, Hiba (Nadine’s older sister) took us to the roof to check out the spectacular view. I just love the stone building landscape here. However, there is a huge wall being built right outside Beit Jala. It is an eye sore. It is going up right next to their house. There are always reminders of where we live. I wonder if it will cut into their land. We had a great time, and enjoy looking at the castle every time we pass it going out the DCO (border crossing).
We celebrated Shabbat with Josh and Lauren last night. It was a harvest moon, so we took a drive out to the Mount of Olives to catch a phenomenal view. We were looking East towards Jordan and the Dead Sea. It was a perfectly clear night. Then we went back to their place for dinner. It is Succot now, the Feast of Tabernacles, so Jews were camping out in their Succas. It’s a celebration of the harvest (as explained further in Deuteronomy 4) They make a hut out of lumber and then cover it with palm fronds. Most succas we’ve seen have cloth draped all over it. They place the succa wherever they can find room outside the house. They put lights in it because they spend 7 evenings out in it. A table and chairs is put in the succa and the families enjoy time in there, praising God for His providence. Josh and Lauren’s landlords had made a succa which was fun to see. We took a picture of the inside so you all could enjoy too. It is a neat tradition! On our way home to Bethlehem we saw many succas outside apartments and houses. It was so cool to see them illuminated in the dark. The Bible commands the people to rejoice; it was neat to think that those succas inhabited joyful people!