Entry from 10/3
We have now made more musical connections. The Christmas Lutheran music director has invited us help plan and to share our music in worship for next Sunday's "Thanksgiving" service (and to participate in their Arab/English choir--which is proving to be a great source of musical material for David's composition project). On Monday evening, September 29, we attended a community choir rehearsal at Bethlehem Lutheran University and sang Christmas music (Adel Nasser, the calligrapher we commissioned, is also singing in the choir). On Tuesday we met with Dr. Nouha Khoury, VP for Academic Affairs at Dar al-Kalima and Nujwa Raheb (piano instructor there and Mitri Raheb's spouse) and we made more plans, found resources in the library, and practiced our music for the next day's presentation. David also taught a piano lesson as Prof. Raheb was double-booked with make-up lessons! David also is continuing to connect with the Dar al-Kalima students who, interestingly enough, call him "Dr. David." (a twist on the "Dr. Dave" moniker he has with CSP students).
On Wednesday, we attended a celebration of Canadian Thanksgiving at the home of Mark and Susanne Brown, joining about fifty other English speakers--mostly ex-pats, and including a couple of travelers who had been St. Olaf classmates with David. After this next Sunday's (October 5) service at Christmas Lutheran, we'll be treated to another Thanksgiving feast with the community. (This also happens to coincide this year with the major Islamic feast of Eid al-Adha, so Bethlehem and Jerusalem have been really busy--along with the build up to Yom Kippur this weekend, too) Each of these events celebrate a real feast (even Yom Kippur at the end of it)--which is a real treat for those of us on a somewhat "restricted" diet; i.e., our cooking facilities are limited.
Unexpectedly, David and I offered to put together a lecture presentation on short notice on Wednesday (October 1); we did a "Brief Overview of Western Classical Music in Vocal Song" with me playing, David singing and talking, and Prof. Raheb translating along the way. We found out on Tuesday that Dr. Adileh's house had been demolished by the Israeli occupation authorities--some issue with building permits. Understandably, Dr. Mutasem needed to take time to deal with the displacement of his young family, so David taught this once a week class for him.
Many are discouraged by the difficulty of living in this place. It is encouraging, though, to see hope in the young people--particularly those that are given opportunities like what Dar al-Kalima affords. Please pray for the people here
We are grateful for your prayers for us and thankful for each of you and your support.
Dar al-Kalima is on holiday break right now, so we'll resume teaching there again next Friday (their school week is Tuesday-Saturday). We will be in Galilee for three days during this break, meeting with Israeli and Palestinian choral directors; David will work with some choirs, and also gather more musical material for his choral composition.) We have also checked in with the Jerusalem Lutheran Church, where we'll offer some music for worship, as well as meet again with choral conductors in that city. The web of contacts grows each day.
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