Thursday 15 July

Finished SOS mural. Children wrote nice things like welcome, hello and thanks etc. in Arabic (at least that is what I hope they wrote) as a finishing touch to what I consider a happy mural.

I wanted to get the day done and dusted as I had to get home and clean myself and my shoes for a Rishmawi family engagement party.

Managed to disguise the state of my shoes with copious amounts of polish, threw all my work clothes in the bin, (it seems the bin strike has come to the end) and I slipped into clean clothes, previously donated to me by the Rishmawis

The engagement party filled a large hall, with the Rishmawi's of Beit sahour, the bride's family from Ramallah and Pol, from Ireland, Nathen from Illinois and me, feeling very much part of the family.

'If all the Rishmawi's were invited, we wouldn't all fit in this hall' George explained. 'When I got married we had to have three engagement parties, our wedding party was during the siege of the Nativity Church, it cost me 100 dollars to get four taxis to drive through the Israeli curfew to get to the hall on the other side of Bethlehem'

The Greek Orthodox priest gave the blessing and the bride and groom were hoisted above the crowd on what looked like a giant plate to the sounds of 'congratulations' and Arabic equivalents.

Then salads of Humus, olives, spiced tomatoes, chicken and other Arabic delights were brought in along with araq and beer to wash it all down.

Women shouted poems followed by the typically Arabic 'zaghrooda' - a trilling noise:

'Milk and rice are better when cold,
All of us are relatives,
No one between us, are strangers'

(It sounds better in Arabic!)

We three westerners soon felt merry enough to dance stupidly to Arabic pop and disco with the neighbourhood girls, when the lights came on and the dance floor cleared.

I thought it might have been caused by my dancing, but George explained the party was over because the Ramallah family had to return before the Ramallah checkpoint closed. 'Normally the party would just get going at this time'

Paul Gent