Christmas in Palestine

It was supposed to be Christmas in Bethlehem, but since Bethlehem is in the West Bank it really is the same thing. We did make it to Bethlehem but opted not to stay for the outdoor service since it was very crowded and a little cold. We still got to wander around the church and stick my hand in another holy hole. The first time was at where Jesus's cross was supposedly situated. There was no attempt to stop cameras inside the churches, so all of this is well documented by Pauline.

We then went back to Jerusalem to pick up our stuff. Pauline had sweet-talked a hostel she had stayed at previously to let us leave our backpacks there for the day. "No bombs, right?" the owner joked. He had remembered her from before, and wouldn't even let us pay for this service. We had spent the day wandering through the old city, the East side, the West side, and sipping mint tea at the American Colony hotel. The markets are awesome, filled with delicious bread goods and pomegranates the size of your head.

Once we had our bags, we made the trek back through the check point into Ramallah and hopped on another taxi to Birzeit. We stayed at Pauline's friend's apartment, which was across the street from a small Latin Orthodox church. We went to their service at 8:30pm, sang some unfamiliar Christmas carols, and laughed every few seconds as a loud explosion would go off from the back of the church. All the neighborhood kids were lighting noise fireworks in the parking lot. It sounded a bit like the 1812 overture was accompanying the priest.

Christmas morning was just like usual. Since we didn't have presents for our host, we wrapped up some fun household items for him to unwrap in the morning. A tradition in our family. Our tree was a fake potted rose plant that we decorated with some gold bracelets and cut out stars. After breakfast, we stopped by Pauline's host family so they could meet me. I wowed them with my ten words of Arabic Pauline had taught me, and they explained how Pauline was Um Nasser's tenth daughter. Her picture is framed on the window sill. We ate incredible olive oil and I tried pigeon for the first time. We also were sent off with a five pound bag of almonds. The family was incredibly kind, and totally in love with Pauline.

Pauline and I make it to the bus station only to realize there are no tickets left on the last bus to Eilat. Thankfully the bus driver lets us ride anyways, though I lost my seat half way to someone who actually purchased their ticket. Nothing like sitting on the floor with an AK-47 a foot from your face. I suppose that's better than when its barrel was bumping my leg. We had stopped along the way to pick up some members of the IDF who stood in the aisle for part of the ride.

But in the end, we made it to Cairo with no problems, if not with some stiff legs. Markell made it safely, and now the three of us are going to hit the town.