December
24, Christmas Eve, we spent the day exploring the streets of Bethlehem
and attended Christmas Eve services at two different churches. |
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After
being awakened in the morning by the marching bands preparing for the
parade, we wandered around through the city and did some shopping.
The people of Bethlehem are very friendly and it was much more enjoyable
to walk in the streets of Bethlehem than in Cairo. Hmm... I wonder
if any volunteers are needed here. |
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| Writing
postcards to mail in Bethlehem (above) |
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For
lunch we had felafel, maybe the most common food in Israel
and Palestine. It is available on most street corners and is
very similar to the tamaya we eat here in Egypt. |
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| On
Christmas Eve day, there was a parade through Bethlehem, which culminated
in a religious procession outside the Church of the Nativity when the
patriarch of the church arrived. It was very cold, especially for
those of us who don't have many warm clothes here and it was hard to see
because of the crowds, but we stayed until the end. |
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Not
unlike a parade in the US, every school marching band, boy scout and girl
scout troop, military organization, and bagpipe player was proudly
marching through the streets of Bethlehem to celebrate the birth of Christ
in the land where he was born. |
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Warming
up with some coffee, tea, and hot chocolate at a coffee shop after the
parade |
| Christmas
Eve we attended worship at the Lutheran church in Bethlehem and then
enjoyed dinner at a nice restaurant. The electricity went out briefly during
dinner, so it's a good thing we got candles at church! |
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The
Christmas Eve service at the Lutheran church was a candlelight service in
English, Arabic, and German. We sang Christmas carols in all three
languages simultaneously! |
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After
dinner and a short nap, we walked over the St. Catherine's, the Catholic
part of the Church of the Nativity, for midnight mass. It was
extremely crowded, so we had to stand and still couldn't see well, but we
could hear the mass in various languages. |
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| On
Christmas
day we traveled from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, where we spent the afternoon
wandering around Jerusalem. It was cold and very rainy - we saw a
lot more rain on this trip than we have in 4 months in Cairo. |
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The streets
of Jerusalem are narrow and crowded, but very friendly and colorful.
I
was finally able to buy oregano - something I haven't found in Cairo yet!
(left) |
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| On
our first day in Jerusalem, it was so cold and wet outside that
sightseeing didn't last long. Instead we went back to the hostel (a
little dumpy, but well-priced for our missionary salaries) to get warm and
dry. |
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| Bunk
beds for seven! |
Matt
fell through the first bunk he tried - I guess you get what you pay for! |
Rachel
thawed my wet, frozen feet with a hairdryer - what a nice friend! |
