Finally in Bethlehem, I met up with some of my friends from Amman that had travelled there the day before. Without cell phone service, it’s always fun trying to find people but we managed and found our hotel, the Alexander Hotel. The couple that owns the hotel is a wonderful Palestinian couple that was so excited to have us stay there – wonderful stories, got a Christmas hug from the husband, Joseph, and great breakfast the next day. Meanwhile, on Christmas Eve, Joe and I headed up to the church of the Nativity which was amazing. I would like to go back when there are less people but just to be there, see the place was great. I managed to get down into the grotto where they say Jesus was born, touched the star and took a few pictures. Then, as we were getting ready to leave, the Franciscan friars began chanting and performing part of the service into the grotto – I filmed just a small clip of that because their voices were so beautiful echoing through the church. The church of the Nativity is connected to St. Catherine’s which is home for the friars. After fighting some of the crowds some more, we navigated the windy streets of Bethlehem, following a cross in the sky, to find Christmas Lutheran Church and went to the 5 pm Christmas Eve service there. The service was a combination of Arabic/English/German and was powerful to hear, the sermon was wonderful, focusing on the shepherds journey and the impact the birth of Christ had on them, then the letdown they felt as they returned to their fields and tried to tell people what had happened – the experience that they held onto throughout their lives and how it affected the rest of their lives in a powerful way. At the end of the service, we lit candles and exited the church singing Silent Night in our respective languages and as we reached the door to the outside, the Muslim prayer call began, what a weird feeling, but everyone kept singing – focusing on the moment. Then, after the service, headed down to Manger Square where the first ever rock concert was happening. Bethlehem at Christmas was more like New York City on New Year’s Eve, the excitement level was so high and it was beautiful to see all different types of people mixing together. I had some cotton candy, yum! And then stood to wait and see if we could hear the mass at the Church of the Nativity. While standing and waiting, a soldier was standing directly in front of me on the other side of the small gate. His huge gun hit my leg a few times but he had a gentle smile and was enjoying the evening as much as everyone else. The military presence throughout my trip was shocking – everyone is required to be in the military at age 18 for at least 2 years, women and men, and then you can be called to duty at any time until you are 40 years old. A quiet Christmas Eve dinner of hummus, mutabbal, and chicken followed and then Joe and I read the Christmas story from the book of Luke :o)
I woke up on Christmas day VERY sick but I was determined to continue with my trip so I slowly walked up to the Church of the Nativity in the morning to find a Greek folk music group playing and singing in the square. People began to crowd around and then began to dance in a circle around the group – I dragged Joe in and we danced with everyone, feeling the same beat, such an awesome experience. After this, we sat in St. Catherine’s for a few so I could rest; my body was not happy with me, and listened to a choir practice which sounded great. From there, I wanted to see the Milk Grotto, the place where they say Mary and Joseph stopped with the baby Jesus and spent the night. Took a long walk back through the town of Bethlehem on the small back roads and ended up back at the hotel to say goodbye to Joseph and his wife and son, then caught crazy bus “21” to Jerusalem – back through one of the checkpoints, and found the Hebron Hostel in the Old City of Jerusalem, right in the Muslim quarter. I promptly took an hour nap, didn’t feel any better, but needed to go find dinner. We found an AMAZING pizza place, go figure, and bought 2 slices each with some fresh squeezed orange juice and enjoyed our little Christmas Dinner. Took it easy the rest of the night and I went to bed early early to try and get healthy for the rest of the trip.
On the morning of the 26th, I woke up feeling slightly better and decided to explore the Old City. Joe still with me and being a good sport, explored with me. We tried to do the Ramparts Walk on top of the wall but could not buy tickets on Shabbat – the Jewish holy day, so we went to the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) which was extremely powerful. We could not take pictures that day but could watch and pray. I went back later in the week to get a few pictures but at the same time, it is a holy, sacred place for the Jewish faith, I didn’t want to stand around taking a million pictures while they are trying to pray. The tiny slips of paper shoved into the wall hold thousand of prayers that people bring everyday from all over the world. I found out that you can e-mail the Western Wall and they will print your prayers and put it on the wall for you. Mark, my good friend from home, brought prayers from his family and put them on the wall, called his grandmother and told her he was there, she was so excited. After seeing the Western Wall, Joe and I continued our trek to the Mount of Olives where we visited the Garden of Gethsemane (some of the trees are ones that were there during Jesus’ time), the Basilica of Agony, the grotto, Virgin Mary’s Tomb, and hiked up to the place of Ascension. On our way up the Mount, which was very high!, we saw the vast Jewish cemetery stretching across the east side of the hill. At the top of the Mount, I got some great pictures of the Jerusalem skyline and also found fantastic falafel for lunch. Probably not the best idea for my then uneasy stomach but it tasted wonderful! Took a picture for you, don’t worry :o) Continuing the day, we headed back to the city to enter at the Lion’s Gate. From there, you can follow the “Stations of the Cross” including 9 stations of where they think Jesus walked with the cross to the site of Calvary. I tried to document the entire trip with pictures so keep your eyes posted for when I put those up. Each step of the way was a spiritual journey – picturing Jesus finding his way through the small streets, crowded with people, carrying his heavy burden – falling, getting back up, having tears wiped away, seeing his earthly mother, being spit on, feeling the weight of the cross the whole way. The last 5 stations are located at/in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. There, they believe was the place where the cross stood, Jesus died, was washed, and put in the tomb. The church is ornate and filled with mosaics and shrines. I stood in line to see the tomb – then followed my way around the church at my own pace. As I was getting ready to leave, the Franciscan friars began their service throughout the church which echoed and was beautiful. At the end of their service, the Armenians began to sing, the melding of the voices and the differences in the music echoed together in the church, pretty cool. After the Stations of the Cross, Joe and I headed back to the hostel to relax, then had pizza and hot chocolate for dinner. On the way back to the hostel after dinner, this lady approached Joe with a sweet drink for free, her friend didn’t like it so Joe said “sure!”, how funny :o) To end the night, Joe and I played some cards, hehehe, we get intense with card games.
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