Fathiyeh and I lugged a propane canister down to our gas refill guy this morning, when we got a phone call from Paulette telling us that a delegation would shortly be at our apartment.  A weedy looking guy in the group looked very familiar, and then I realized it was Shane Claiborne, who had spoken at the Mennonite Convention in Columbus this summer.  Turned out that this group was largely composed of Christians from the Emergent Church movement.  We talked about the work in Hebron and I forget now the question that started me crying, but I essentially said that the happiest possible ending here is still going to be sad.  Orchards and vineyards that have been covered with asphalt are never going to grow again; those who have been brutalized will never be unbrutalized, blah blah blah.

At the end though, someone from the delegation named Jeff handed each of us a a little geode.  He said that we have a choice to look at the ugly, rough outer part or at the beauty within, and that we, were in fact, creating beauty within an ugly exterior--or something like that, and I have to say, it did make me feel better.

In the afternoon, Fathiyeh and I went out to al-Bweireh to talk to some teenage girls there.  We're hoping to create a "club" of sorts where teenage girls in the neighborhood can talk about the issues they're facing. 

As we were finishing dinner, some children from our neighborhood stopped in and said their mother wanted to see us.  The boys promptly sat down and ate our vegetable soup.  We couldn't quite figure out why we were supposed to go over.  When we asked if settlers had attacked the house again, the older daughter nodded casually.  Anyway, we went over and found out that the mother just wanted to feed us fresh, hot spinach pastries. 

Tonight here is a big party in the street outside our apartment for young men.  Really hoping the soldier patrols will decided it's not worth hassling so many of them.