Bethlehem

Bethlehem

This past Monday (March 8) I had a field trip in Bethlehem. Bethlehem is in the West Bank (where the Palestinians live apart from the State of Israel) and so we had the chance to see/go through the separation wall. We have gone into the West Bank before when we went to Jericho, but the check point process wasn't as intense as it was going to Bethlehem. Going to Bethlehem we got through fairly easily, but on the way back to Jerusalem we were held up in line for about an hour a half to get home. We couldn't take pictures of the wall, but on it is a ton of graffiti put on by the Palestinians. There is also other graffiti around the whole city that clearly show how the Palestinians feel about being contained in the West Bank.

A picture I pulled off the internet of the Separation Wall in Bethlehem

So to start out our day in Bethlehem we first went to the an institute where they research the political geography of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. I'm sure it would've been interesting normally, but I was so tired and struggled during the presentation. It was something about all of the border changes and land mass of Palestine and such.

After that we went to Bethlehem University. Our Palestinian teacher hosted us there, he also teaches at this university. We first went into a Christian chapel that they had on campus...The campus varies from Muslim students to Christian students. The Pope was the person who first inspired the idea to start a university in Bethlehem. After the we saw the chapel (it was beautiful!) we went and had a question and answer session with three students who attended Bethlehem University. It was interesting to see their outlook on education and to see the struggles they have to face to obtain it. One of the girls lives in Jerusalem, therefore every day she has class she has to leave far in advanced to make sure she has plenty of time to get through the check points into Bethlehem. I think my favorite part of this was watching my Palestinian teacher, Dr. Musallam. He is so cute and you could tell that he has pride in Bethlehem University and he was thrilled to show it to us. While we were walking around we all stuck out like a sore thumb. I don't think I've ever been the minority before, it was an interesting phenomenon.

Bethlehem University

Students at Bethlehem University

Michael, me and Katie on the roof top of Bethlehem University

After Bethlehem University we went to a Bedouin restaurant called The Tent. At first when I heard we were going here I thought it was going to be kind of a dump, but boy was I wrong. It literally was in a tent, it was so fun. The food was so good, at first they brought out warm wheat pitas with all kinds of dips and salads and then they brought out meat kabobs with lamb, beef, and chicken. And french fries? That was kind of weird, but they were so good. Also, we got Coke and Sprite--all that we wanted!

My group in The Tent restaurant

My yummy food. Apparently this is my "excited to eat" face

Once we were all full and happy we got on the bus and headed over to Manger Square to see the Church of the Nativity which marks where Christ may or may not have been born. Once again, like most churches here it was very dark and not anything I correlate with feeling the spirit. But it was very beautiful and there were a lot of pilgrims there who came to worship and come closer to Christ.

Descending into the cave where Jesus may of may not have been born in the Church of the Nativity

Marcus and me touching the manger where Jesus may or may not have been laid in the Church of the Nativity

Steven and me touching the star that marks where Jesus Christ may or may not have been born in the Church of the Nativity

We also went to the church of St. Katherine which also marks the site of the Nativity for other religions.

Taeler and me in the Church of St. Katherine
(Many people think Taeler and I look alike, we used to get mixed up a lot and still sometimes do. We like to dress alike to throw off our teachers--and it works!)

After visiting these two churches we sang Christmas hymns in the courtyard. Suddenly we became the tourist attraction, people were taking pictures of us and video taping us. Some were picking up on the chorus and would even sing with us. One guy even had an official looking camera and was filming us. I'm interested to know what that was for. When we were done singing we had free time to go shopping. I bought blankets that I will use as gifts/use for my babies when they are blessed.

Found some newborn puppies on the street while we were shopping. Cute little things, don't know what will happen to them though.

While everyone else was shopping I made one last stop at a called the Milk Grotto (I honestly thought this place was weird, it had a shrine of Mary breast feeding Christ [which I got a picture of but don't want to be disrespectful/graphic and include it in this blog]), which apparently has baby bones in it and signifies John the Baptist and Jesus' flight from Herod's edict to kill all male babies.

John and me in the Milk Grotto

So overall my opinion of Bethlehem--> Great! I loved it, absolutely loved it. It has great people, great culture, and a great history. I would love to go back again but unfortunately I don't think that can happen. And that is a shame.