Something to Drink?

Aaron and I finished our indoor painting projects yesterday so Jihad moved us out to repaint the front gate of BBC this morning.  We'd been washing dirt from the grille work for about 30 minutes when a man ambled over from the direction of the refugee camp across the street.  He held something in plastic and started talking to Aaron about "drink" and "college in America."  Aaron interpreted that the man was inviting him to go out for a drink, which he wasn't about to do, but the man kept persisting, motioning for him to imbibe something.  Aaron kept smiling but refusing, not sure what this "drink" would contain, exactly.  The man left after a few minutes, and Aaron and I just shrugged our shoulders and got back to scrubbing our canvas, wondering how the man could have studied in the States when he could hardly piece together a complete sentence in English.  About 5 minutes later, the man returned, carrying three 330 ml plastic bottles of strawberry juice.  The first had already been partially consumed.  He unscrewed the cap off of the second one and set it on the ledge in front of me, then handed the third bottle to Aaron.  We still couldn't understand his words and Aaron was wondering if we should be concerned about the contents of the bottles, but the man kept smiling and motioning for Aaron to drink.  We thanked him, "Shukran, shukran," and he walked away, apparently satisfied.  I sampled my strawberry juice while Aaron twisted the seal off of his. 

I can't say for sure what just happened, but here's a possibility: Bethlehem is a small town; it wouldn't take long for word to get out that there's a group from a college in America doing some work at BBC.  The man lives in Bethlehem, probably across the street.  I think this was simply his way of saying thank you for helping in his village, and we at the front gate were the most convenient to approach.  Painting a gate doesn't seem a very noble task, but for a community living under occupation, a fresh coat of paint - and a raked garden, some new rose bushes, and freshly poured concrete - can serve to raise a person's spirits.  I'll never look at a bottle of strawberry juice the same way again.