Dear family and friends, I want to give you all a brief update about my life. I am getting married!!! Yippie!! Mohammed's family has said that they are happy to take me into their family (hopefully teach how to cook Palestinian meals!). The wedding will be February 19-20 in Qalqilia, the city where Mohammed is from. We will also have two parties, one in Ramallah and one in Budrus (the village I lived in before) to celebrate with our friends. Mohammed and I are extremely happy and cannot wait to start our lives together after a year of trying to decide if we should get married or not. The more time we spend together, the more certain we are that we need to be together and hopefully in the near future raise a family together. Being in love is a truly beautiful feeling. I am living in Al Bireh, a town within walking distance to Ramallah. Mohammed will move in with me after the wedding. The house is a wonderful, quaint abode…a sunroom, living room, kitchen, and bedroom with a beautiful porch area and 1/4 acre that I can garden!! I have never felt at peace in the West Bank, but now that I am in our home and gardening, I can forget about the occupation for a little while with seeds and weeds. I have already planted lots of flowers, onions, cucumbers, and I will plant many other vegetables in the coming days. Mohammed and I found a source for free compost, as long as you garden organically PARC (the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee) will give you some compost. Hilary and I worked with this organization a little bit on our previous trip. We live in a peaceful neighborhood. The only noise is at 7:45 am sharp when the girls' school starts its morning ritual: the national anthem, announcements from the head mistress, and selected writings from the girls. At 7:45 it sounds like the loud speaker is pointed into our window, I guess I will not need an alarm clock. When I am in the garden, it seems that I might be interrupting class because the girls by the window start yelling at me, "What's your name? How old are you? Do you have a husband?" I am still working with the International Solidarity Movement, but now going to demonstrations. I am doing the more behind the scenes work, helping to write press releases, editing reports and giving nonviolence trainings. My Arabic is coming slowly, but at least it is coming. I am still trying to secure a job here but I think I have a couple of options. After the wedding I will email everyone. Mohammed is making a website so that we can post photos to the web, so everyone can see them. I hope everyone is well. Soon I will write a more political take on the situation in the West Bank and send it out. Love, S'ra ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/_OLuKD/8WnJAA/cUmLAA/MknplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VTJP/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
