meredith: O Little Town of Bethlehem

Last Monday we went to Bethlehem! Jerusalem and Bethlehem are much closer than I realized; in fact, over the years the cities have expanded to the point that they actually meet. Actually, they would almost blend together if not for the separation barrier that divides Israel from the West Bank. Getting into Palestinian Authority territories is no big deal, but getting out can be. We're all Americans (okay, plus a couple Canadians) and have passports, so we didn't even have to get off the bus on the way back to Jerusalem; Israeli border guards just walked through to check us out. For a lot of people, those checkpoints can mean a couple of hours of detainment and harassment.
Anyway.... I thought the wall itself was fascinating. I hope this picture at least gives you an idea!

So- Bethlehem itself was fascinating :) We spent some time at Bethlehem University with our Islam teacher, who is also a professor there, and got to talk to some of the students there; it was great to get to talk to locals who are actually around my age, college students themselves--it helped me make more of a connection!

We had lunch at a restaurant designed to feel like you're in a kind of biblical tent-- the tent roof, low tables, wool blankets on all the seating, plates of pita, hummus, olives, cheese, etc... with a bunch of hookahs in the corner ;)

Then to the Church of the Nativity, the oldest functioning Christian church in the world, which contains the cave (stable) where the Savior is believed to have been born :) The church itself was actually undergoing renovations, and it was inexplicably crowded (it's tourist season, apparently especially for old people from Germany and England) so it took about two hours of waiting in line to actually get to the little cave room (called the Grotto of the Nativity) where the manger supposedly stood... but it was okay. :) I loved singing Christmas songs in the chapel of the adjoining Church of St. Catherine just as it got dark; it may have been 2 months out (to the day!) but it still felt like Christmas :)