Everything is twenty, really.

Yesterday Jiries brought me along to his appointment with the eye doctor. Before we left he joked that he is such a big deal here that HE gives the doctor the eye test and not the other way around. He needs the test results to get a new Ohio state drivers license since his is almost expired. When we got to the doctor's office, I sat in a chair in the corner of the room and watched Jiries and the doctor shout at each other in Arabic with some English phrases thrown in there (like "visual field"- shouts out to everyone at Professional Eyecare!). All the while Jiries was dictating what the doctor should write down on a form he needed filled out, and a few minutes and no test later he said "Okay yalla Allison." We left and I was confused.

We got in the car and Jiries was mumbling about paying 40 shekels something something grumble grumble, and I said "So you paid 40 shekels for the test and you didn't even take it?" He said to me, completely serious, "Look Allison, because I don't need it. I am good." A few minutes later he added, "Besides, everything is twenty, really."

Later in the night many of the women from the Atrash family met at Bombay Burger for dinner. Maureen asked where Lina was, Amal's daughter (Amal being Jiries' sister- Celine I gave her your email address!), and Amal told her that since Lina is married she has a different last name and therefore is no longer part of the Atrash family, so she isn't invited to these kinds of events. Maureen and I were appalled. I'm not sure how serious Amal was being, because that is pretty harsh, and as we were leaving Lina showed up anyways with her baby just to say hi. The food was alright, but Jiries' nephew owns the restaurant though so if anyone asks it is delicious and highly recommended. Loai, Niveen's son/ Jiries' nephew, who is only 13, was our waiter for the night. His sister Nermeen has cruelly nicknamed him Lulu, and this name caught on quickly at dinner. From 6-8 p.m. Lulu was more like a slave than a waiter for his purposely high maintence female relatives. He was a good sport about it though, and we all had a great time and then walked home at the end, except Jiries came to pick up Tata Huda and drive her home.



Today I went to Tata Huda's senior citizens' home ("university") with her for the first time in a while, I have been working mostly at the Wildlife Society and spending time with Jiries jr and Maureen. At the university I watched Tata Huda and her friends play card games for an hour or so, then some women from another senior center in Bethlehemn were bussed in to hang out and socialize. One woman played a hand drum and everyone else sang along and clapped. Being at Tata Huda's university has definitely instilled within me a greater appreciation for the importance of culture and heritage. The women were singing songs about Beit Sahour and Palestine that they knew by heart, and even some of the oldest ladies got up to dance. You can see in the eyes of the elderly how much their history means to them. The women that work there all of a sudden seem to really like me a lot, today they were really nice and a few even patted me on the back. I guess either they like me- maybe because my Arabic has improved a lot- or they think I am "special" since I don't seem to know what is going on three quarters of the time (my Arabic isn't THAT good).

I took a lot of really great pictures but it is late and I am really, really tired so I will put them up tomorrow at some point. I will be working at the Wildlife Society, then we are going to Hebron I think to check it out. The next day I will be at the Wildlife Society again then I am visiting Jiries' cousin Maha at the Beit Sahour Municipality to learn about what she does as the mayor's assistant (I think that's her job). Okay pictures tomorrow, goodnight.