Bethlehem!

---

After Jerusalem, we hopped on the bus and went headed to the West Bank! We were met by and enthusiastic tour guide, Khalid, who in my opinion, was the best of the 3 we had so far. After we past the checkpoint, (which I was totally unaware of since I was asleep 😊) ), we headed to the Church of the Nativity where Jesus was born. We parked in a parking structure and it was probably a quarter mile walk to the church. On the walk there we got our first glances of Palestinian life. Despite all the media coverage, all we (or at least I saw) was a city of regular people living day to day trying to make a living. I really liked walking that quarter mile, and as we reached the church, we saw the door to enter. A little historical fact, the door was built very high at first, maybe around 16 feet, and was later reduced to around 8 feed, and now it stands at maybe around 5 feet. 5 feet?!?!? Isn't that pretty low clearance? Why yes, it is! They did this on purpose, since to enter such a sacred place, we have to bow our heads first in respect. When we went to the grotto where Jesus was born, I saw the 14 pointed star which marked the spot, I was first afraid to touch the star but Krista told me to and Rebecca caught a pretty cool picture of me doing so. I'm glad I was able to, I want to say it was one of the major turning points of my faith, well, the whole trip in general has. We went to the Armenian, Greek and Catholic sections of the church, which is pretty cool to see that 3 factions are able to share one church in peace. While we left and were walking back to the bus, a lady from a shop was selling scarves in a shop for 20 shekels, the same scarf a Jerusalem shopkeeper tried selling me for 180 shekels but I ended up paying 40 for in Jerusalem. I ended up buying the Palestinian scarf as well. Heh. It was supposed to be 100% cashmere. Somehow I doubt it really is. Heh.



Tiill then,


Conor

---

Photos

Me Touching the Star
Photo Credit: Rebecca Marquez

Church of the Nativity
Taken from the outside