Saturday, January 9th

WOW! Whadda week!!! We have certainly been baptised by fire, as Tim warned us (fortunately not a kitchen fire)!

We have been cooking breakfast early in the mornings for 102, followed by lunch for 133! It's been great and the students are so appreciative! There are students from various colleges. A lot from Australia, a few from New Zealand, many from various parts of America. A precious young couple who are JUC students, Justin & Mandy Kelley, are helping us out this month. It also earns them a little money. We are having so much fun with them! We laugh a lot, and get the job done. Yechye stays on top of all of the dishes and wanders through smiling. He periodically hands Nat his tea cup, and always wants me to see the new vegetable/fruit delivery. He also got me a HUGE roll of paper towels. Either he has observed how much I use them, or he sees how messy I can be :) Everyone's happy! Interestingly, Mandy & we have mutual friends in Durango, CO. Small, wonderful world, huh?

Nat & I are functioning well as a team, and our individual tasks seem to be falling to each of us naturally. We discuss the menus, and then alter depending on what supply is on hand and what the dinner cook prepares. Online recipes are a wonderful resource! We have made vegetable soup from scratch served with sandwiches (pita bread fresh from the market and meat/cheese that Nat & Justin sliced on the industrial slicer), spaghetti with garlic bread, and hot dogs with french fries (chips).

Yesterday & today we prepared early breakfast at 6am because the students were going on a field trip (hurray . . . no lunch). Nat has become the expert egg scrambler & server, while I set up & monitor the dining room with cereals, fresh yogurt, walnuts/raisins, brie cheese, bread, hot beverages. The weather has allowed us to open the big push out windows that open to the flower garden, full of butterflies, for fresh air . . . Oh man!!!

We get up at 3:45am for this early breakfast. This gives us plenty of time to leisurely cook and set everything out. We wake up ready to go, but I fade as my duties end. We won't be back on duty 'til Monday morning, so we want to get out in the city again. We haven't had time, or energy, since last Saturday. We're hopeful to go out at some point today . . . or perhaps tonight because the weather is so nice.

Yesterday afternoon after we finished up the early breakfast, I went to do my laundry since the campus was empty of students on their field trip to Mount of Olives, Bethlehem (Nat made 'Christmas' eggs to commemorate-#150 scrambled eggs, with potatoes, onion, and red & green bell peppers...they were well received), Garden of Gethsemane, and other locales. I used the washer, then chose to use the clothesline to dry (as most of the folks do). So nice, since it was 72 degrees here (sorry for you folks back home in Texas right now dealing with a hard freeze)! Anyway, the garden is lush here and there are secluded spots. I climbed up to a high point, turned a chair toward the sun . . . and promptly fell asleep to the sounds of this city . . . people, church bells, the Muslim minaret call to prayer (that begins at 4:30am and continues regularly throughout the day- 5 times I think). Fortunately, a fly woke me up or I would have burned myself! As it is, I have a nice glow. And my clothes are clean & fresh! Nat used the afternoon to get in a work out in the little "gym"/weight room they have here.

Speaking of the Muslim call to prayer . . . I was passing through the dishwashing room the other day to find Yechye kneeling on a piece of cardboard facing the back wall. In a hurry, I thought he was looking for something on the floor! I came so close to asking him if I could be of assistance (which he wouldn't have understood anyway) . . . fortunately, I realized he was praying before I interrupted him. Thanks for covering my rear again, Lord . . . and draw him to Yourself with Your goodness.

We are organizing and cleaning the kitchen as we go along. It is an old institution and lots of people pass through it. I only hope what we are all striving to accomplish can be maintained. What do they say about too many cooks in the kitchen? I always thought it meant too much input into the cooking, but it can also mean a very messy kitchen! And some of the cleaning is by "Mt Zion standards". Now we know what Dr. Wright meant when he said this!

Nat is repairing water sprayers, de-greasing the stove, cleaning out drawers that haven't been opened in who knows when! And he's cleaning up the contents, repairing things along the way. When he fixed the industrial water sprayer for the deep sink (duct taped and leaking for a long, long time obviously), William (facilities/kitchen manager) smiled and said in Arabic, "You are very clever, Nat." Indeed he is! We're each finding our niche and partnering for the rest. Thank you all for your faithful prayers!

William alluded yesterday that "they" hope our stay is longer than the end of July. We don't know who "they" are, or exactly what he means, but it makes us feel as though we are doing a good job after our first week! It really is fun . . . hard work . . . but extremely satisfying. I told Nat yesterday while on my knees cleaning the stove trays, "You know, a year ago I prayed that God would give me hard work to do. Not that I necessarily wanted it, but I felt I needed it. Life was getting a little too "cush". Then I said, "Obviously that prayer didn't return void!"

Tomorrow is our first bonafide full day off! We are going to church, perhaps with Tim & Abby ("Tibby" as they are known by the family). They worship regularly at Christ Church in the Old City. Tibby popped into the dining room last night for a short visit. They are still traveling with Abby's family, but were back on campus for a few things and wanted to say hi. We are looking very forward to our extended family time with them soon.

Later that same day . . .

Nat was doing laundry while I was cutting my hair outside in the garden (I figure, with the cut I've had for years . . . why not try). It actually turned out pretty good, with Nat's help on the back. Facilities/kitchen Mgr William and his wife, Shakura, and their two daughters Luna & Lamara were returning from the city and invited us to their home (here on campus) for tea before dinner. Such a nice family who have lived here at JUC for four years. William, whose ethnicity is Egyptian (Coptic Christian), is from Nazareth. They have lived in Jerusalem for quite a few years, the girls were born here in Jerusalem, and I don't believe we learned where Shakura is from. All of them are gifted artists, with several of their pieces displayed in their home. Really good!

We've been slack in taking photos this week. Just too busy. But we did post a photo of Nat & Justin at the slicer . . . and one of the Copty family, for viewing pleasure. We'll try to take more tomorrow.

Now, we're heading to the Old City for an evening stroll before bedtime . . .

Shabot shalom y'all