VC Acoids Lactating, Sees Bethlehem

So, after making my way home, indulging in Riff Raff for a second and second-to-last time, resting, and talking to the Moo, I decided (since it had been more than 3 hours since my late lunch) to have dinner. True to form, Lonely Planet was wrong about the location of ALL the restaurants I was interested in, but I did manage to find the pasta joint I was craving, called Spaghettim, and have a really nice three-cheese ravioli with, compared to what they had at Big Mama's in Tel Aviv, a pathetic excuse for focaccia. Since it was the end of Passover, there were Jews EVERYWHERE drunk off their asses (literally -- I saw a boy tending to his father COLLAPSED on a rock outside the Jaffa Gate). I have to say that the New York City JAP factor (and the equally-annoying male counterpart acronym) was kept to a minimum, and I was treated to seeing Jerusalem just really alive and booming (personally I liked it quiet with everyone inside hiding from yeast, but I can appreciate a dynamic city when I see one!). The streets were packed, my restaurant was stylish but nicely not crowded, and I had a nice night.

This morning, I checked out of my hotel and made my way to East Jerusalem's Arab bus station, where I got on a bus for Bethlehem (where I am now) and made the official (well, sort of official) cross into Palestine. OOPS! I forgot to say: I woke up, went to Riff Raff one last time *VC sheds a tear* and THEN got on the bus for Bethlehem lol.

I checked into the group's hotel (after all, I'm meeting 40+ AUC students led by Shakira tonight), Paradise Hotel, and proceeded to sight see!

First, the checkpoint: No. FIRST first: The wall.

I'd been waiting to see the ICJ-declared-illegal "security fence" for a long time, and I was also eager to see post-checkpoint Palestine, because even "Palestinian" East Jerusalem is still very much Israeli (Israeli police, no checkpoint, Hebrew everywhere, etc.).

The wall, which really does cut Bethlehem (picture gorgeous farmland and olive trees and then the people who work on that land divided by a really grey, and not in a good minimalist way, HUGE wall), and our hotel, on the very beginning of Manger Street (the name is awful, I know), is JUST beyond the wall. Unfortunately, this does not make it JUST beyond the checkpoint, and after a hassle-free rush through the checkpoint -- they didn't even look at my passport since they don't really care what goes IN to Palestine, so much as they care about what comes OUT into Israel -- I had to struggle a bit to find the hotel (vent about Sharkira's organizational execution elsewhere).

The hotel was a pleasant surprise, and I think Shakira and the crazy fez-wearing Japanese friend we'll be tripling with until I leave Sunday morning (they will stay for 5 days), will get along well. I hereby name crazy fez-wearing Japanese girl: Feziko.

Since they group isn't arriving until 9PM (and I actually just got a message from Shakira that they are stuck at the boarder -- with Egypt? But they left at 6:30AM and should have crossed 8 hours ago and been at the sea all day!?...I don't get it), and since we are supposed to be in government meetings tomorrow in Ramallah (yes: I came all the way from gorgeous Jerusalem south to poor Bethlehem just so that, in the morning, I could turn around and go back north THROUGH Jerusalem to Ramallah), and since Shakira couldn't give me, as of last night, any clear idea about what is happening, I decided to do the Bethlehem thing on my own.

Of course I first went to the Church of the Nativity (a LONG walk from the beginning of Manger Street, let me tell you!, I don't know how Mary did it with Jesus inside her...actually I should read the Bible on that one, because maybe they wheeled her in a cart or something), which was...I hate to say it (see later blog entry comparing paintings and holy sites) a BIT disappointing. Ok, so this is where Jesus was BORN. The most spiritual thing that I felt was the confusion I had when, for the second time on this trip, a weird light was flashing IN the LCD of my camera that, neither time, would show in the photo. This one lasted so long that I could physically track it with the LCD and see where the borders of its origin and termination were (it looked like a laser beam, steadily projecting across the room, with a clear stream in it). I will say this about the church: the columns are gorgeous, as they are actually painted (I don't think I've seen this directly on a column in that way, before). There is a really funny thing, though, where there is cross of finger impressions (five) in one of the columns that of course EVERYONE has to kiss and put their hands in and pray. What I found so humorous was that no one could quite figure out which finger when in which hole (you think about it! 4 points and one in the center and see how you'd put your fingers), and pushy believers would show other people how it was done, and then themselves struggle in their demonstrations (I got a photo of a poor guy being instructed by like 3 people how to stick his fingers in the holes). Personally, I have a hard time believing that a faith premised on the birth of a child without Joseph sticking anything anywhere would be SO focused on the technicality of where people should put their fingers.

I then took a bus from the Church of the Nativity (skipping the spot where Mary first lactated, scared that I might, myself, be so overcome with religiosity that I might lactate, too! and can you imagine all the Catholics who would try to kiss the miracle! YIKES!) to a nearby town called Beit Sahur, where I visited the Shepard's Fields (I don't know what shephards, though! I know Joshua was one!) and a really odd church with some pretty good mosaics.

All in all, Lonely Planet was right on when it described Bethlehem which is, unfortunately, a bit of a pit. I mean this is Palestine, so this is what I expected -- you can see why people compare this to apartheid...in fact that brings me back to the wall: the graffiti on the wall once you get to the Palestinian side is really interesting, mostly people from different cities saying: "We from City X support the Palestinians!" Two noteworthy comments (both of which I'd seen in photos before) were: "Jesus shed tears for Jerusalem...we shed tears for Palestine" and "End apartheid!" There were also a TON of slogans about walls vs. bridges to peace.

I'll skip-over my many cute encounters with people (needing to be given directions here or there or whatever) and just say that I was ENORMOUSLY helped by the bus driver to and from Beit Sahur, as well as a gas station guy (who is TO DIE FOR in terms of looks) near the wall, who helped me navigate and find my cyber cafe, tourist spots, etc. After coming back from Beit Sahur and attempting (but failing -- due to the Jewish holiday, as it's on the other side of the wall) to visit Rachel's Tomb (which I kept calling Rebekkah's Tomb, and which, as you would imagine, made no sense to anyone), I had dinner at a pretty nice Arabic restaurant across from my gas station lover (lol such a joke...I got ZERO vibe from him...which I'll blog about shortly, I hope...resisting all temptations to make jokes about the pump, of course), and had tahina (unfortunately with green things EVERYWHERE in it!) and then came here to this cafe.

Ok I'm hoping, depending on how my blog stamina is, to write about things I've thought about and not just update you about where I've been, so let's see how that goes...

VC