I've written a bit about the problems of living in the West Bank. Bethlehem, in the West Bank, considers Israel a different country. Indeed, you have to have legal papers to cross the checkpoint. We went last Sunday to Jerusalem, taking taxis to the checkpoint, crossing on foot, and then getting a public bus on the other side to get to Christ Church. It wasn't so difficult until Reilly realized he'd left his Bible on the bus. He was bummed about that, though convinced himself he'd just "given" it to the bus driver - and also convinced himself that the bus driver could read English. I'd say that's the appropriate attitude! (He was able to find an Arabic/English New Testament at BBC the next day, so now has learned how to read Matthew "backwards").
Yesterday morning we again tried to get in to Jerusalem. We'd been hearing a lot from the Palestinian view of biblical things, so it was time to balance with a more Jewish view via a Messianic shabbat service. We hailed taxis to take us to the wall, intending to go through on foot and find a public bus on the Israeli side again. We all arrived to the checkpoint to find a complete standstill leaving a growing line of people anxious to get to their jobs and business on the other side. It wasn't particularly tense, just annoying, though perhaps not totally unexpected. In fact, it was quiet until one man standing near Koob nonchalantly took his cigarette out of his mouth and suddenly exclaimed "Boo!" to the man next to him. I guess that's one way to deal with frustration!
We stood in place for probably 30 minutes, wondering if we'd make the shabbat service, waiting until the line
finally started to move. Some anxious Palestinians did worm their way into the middle of our group. We didn't mind - until the rotating gate locked, leaving about 10 of our group through with 8 still on this side waiting for the green light. I wondered if I would be taking half of the group back to Bethlehem for the day because the Israelis decided to close the checkpoint right then? Never fear, the light turned green, and one by one we stragglers made our way through the maze of passport checks and security x-rays.
Those of us who almost got stuck in Bethlehem for the day finally emerged on the Israeli side to find the rest of our group on the bus heading to Jaffa Gate and waving for us to jump on. Reilly, Jewel, and I literally jumped on as the bus was taking off. As we fumbled for our 4 1/2 shekel fare while balancing in the aisle, Reilly happened to look up - and lo, there was his bible on the shelf above the seats!! He grinned widely as he clutched the soft blue leather cover once again. I marveled at the blessing. The temporary closing of the checkpoint, annoying as it was, was the sole reason we ended up on the particular bus we were on. Had things gone as smoothly as they had last week, Reilly would still be reading Matthew from right to left.
Some of the group have been able to make friends during our short stay here and are finding it difficult to say good-bye. Jewel, Amy N, and others discovered the local Stars & Bucks coffee shop (seriously) and visit once or twice a day. Our new friend, Basaam, gives us the Palestinian prices on coffee drinks and hopes we'll all add him as friends on Facebook. He's invited us to his apartment for Arabic coffee, and we invited him to church to translate for us (not realizing that the church would provide wireless headphones for the guests who don't understand Arabic). If you're ever in the Bethlehem area, please be sure to stop by - it's near Manger Square, and Basaam would love to welcome you with a tasty white mocha or an icy frappo Chino!
Olives were a bit of a theme during the rest of the day as well as we walked to the Garden Tomb and the Garden of Gethsemane. Gethsemane is a real garden at the base of the Mount of Olives and contains some olive trees which are 2000 years old. You can see the new shoots which come up outside the older trunks. The garden is well maintained and fenced off with a sidewalk around the perimeter. From Gethsemane, we walked back to old Jerusalem and walked the first part of the way along the Via Dolorosa, the Way of the Cross (more famously known for containing the 14 Stations of the Cross). We walked as far as the bus station, NOT to be confused with the 14. The bus station IS, however, in front of a site which our students found to be quite interesting - Golgotha. It was "discovered" just over 100 years ago when a Brit was in Israel trying to figure out exactly where certain biblical activities would have taken place. He looked up from his reading one day to see the outline of a skull in the rock face across from his accommodations. The skull-shaped cliff happened to be next to what once was a garden containing a tomb cut out of rock. "At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid" (Jn 19:41). This particular tomb has been used once... though as we saw today, it was empty. And that's the whole reason we are on this internship!!
A highlight of the evening was climbing to the roof of the building, which was on a hill, to overlook Bethlehem at night. We could see a wedding dance going on in a courtyard at the bottom of the hill and learned that women and men dance separately at middle eastern weddings. After getting our fill of the Egyptian music wafting up the hill toward us, we headed back to the hotel. Bethlehem IS a rather quiet town at night.
