In my previous blog I was ready to return to home to Indiana from Rome. I was then reminded of song lyrics like "Homeward Bound" and "Indiana Wants Me." What popped into my head now is "I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane." I will be leaving on Monday, Sept. 15th to live in Bethlehem for three months (but my bags are not packed and I'm not quite ready to go).

I've had to adjust my plans somewhat due to the increased cost of everything. I had planned to stay at the Tantur Ecumenical Study Centre in Bethlehem. To do that would have taken all of the rest of my sabbatical funds plus hundreds of dollars of my own money, which we can't afford. I wouldn't have had any money to do much of anything else. I even tried to sell my exercise bike just to get some extra cash to have on hand, in case I wanted to buy a falafel or something. We've had a very tense week trying to figure out how I was going to do this. Then a few days ago Bethlehem Bible College (BBC) offered me a small apartment to live in for free. That's just an incredible blessing. I feel bad for not being able to follow through on my plans with Tantur.  But this other opportunity will allow me to experience much more of the local culture, while still being able to do research and writing. Plus my apartment will have internet access. I've been scanning books for several days to make sure I have with me the most important resources I need and which are the most unlikely to find in libraries there -- not to mention the heaviest ones I don't want to bring with me.

 Munther Isaac at BBC (the college, not the UK media giant) has been extremely helpful. He works with the BBC choir, which has toured the US several times recently. I know who my interpreter is going to be for my class and am looking forward to working with him. I've found video clips and images of BBC students on the internet. They look like a great group of people, many of whom are doing incredible things while living under great duress.

I haven't made a great deal of advances in Arabic lately it seems. I've been listening to Pimsleur recordings for Eastern Arabic. What I've found most frustrating is trying to figure out what to learn. Trying to learn Modern Standard Arabic, classical Arabic, and colloquial Arabic at the same time is very confusing. Not only is the vocabulary and grammar different, books on colloquial Arabic always seem to be written in transliteration. I've spent a great deal of time learning to read Arabic script, so I hate having to read transliteration. I keep trying to figure out what the Arabic letters are. So not only am I trying to translate the Arabic into English -- so to speak -- I'm also first translating the transliteration into Arabic script. Fortunately there is a Jerusalem dialect Arabic class starting now and running for the next 15 weeks. A professor at Bethlehem University, Dr. Moin Halloun, has written a series of books on the Jerusalem dialect for foreign speakers. I've signed up for the class and will start on the 22nd. I really hope I know enough to be able to be in the intermediate level. I don't want to start from scratch, although it's always best to have a firm basis for starting a language. I'm also trying to arrange for someone to tutor me and maybe that person can help me more with reading classical and Modern Standard Arabic.

Soon I will have my bags packed and will be leaving on a jet plane. I do know when I'll be back, however, Dec. 15th. I'll be home in time to bring with me Christmas cheer from Bethlehem.