Babies, babies everywhere

The weekend here is Friday-Saturday, so today was a nice de-stressing day. I went to my friend Yusra's house for a barbecue - it's kind of interesting to see a totally different version of what I think of as "barbecue." But some things were definitely the same - there's still meat, and chicken, and sauce, there's definitely a grill, and a lot of food. Unfortunately, our plans to eat outside were foiled by yet more cold, gray weather, so we had a picnic in the kitchen. Kind of fun, actually.

I've finally begun to understand what all the hapless fiances and significant others feel when they come to our house for the first time - her family is just as big and loud and crazy as mine, and just as full of children. In fact, everywhere I go lately, I wind up holding someone's baby - it's kind of nice, since I don't get too much time with my (gigantic) extended family. Except then they all ask me if I'm married, to which I've developed a lovely, simple stock answer of "Oh, not yet," and then play the "I'm foreign" card. Boy, am I not ready for that...

It's always interesting to walk through Qalandia at night...you'd think that, if they're going to funnel us all through a checkpoint, they'd at least put up a light or two. No such luck, if you're coming back INTO Ramallah...but you should see the line of cars coming out. Even longer tonight than usual...I'd wager at least a few of them won't get out again before the border closes at 10. At least there are dozens of overzealous taxi drivers to take you wherever you want to go - and going all the way across town runs about $2. Pretty nice.

Off to Jericho for the next few days - I'll let you all know what the lowest elevation on Earth is like, when I come back with a desert-induced tan. Lovely.