Visiting in another country is such an adventure! This morning, while attempting morning grooming rituals, we discovered we had no hot water. You see, the water is supposedly heated via solar panels on the roof. But, you may remember me saying it was pouring rain yesterday, a distinctive "fly" in the solar "ointment". There is a back-up plan in place, we rejoiced to see! However, the back-up hot water heater did not work well either. Hmm....the King David Hotel this flat is not. Well.
We departed with Jiries, our driver, a little after 10. First stop was a breakfast cafe within walking distance to the Mt. Scopa campus of Hebrew University. Breakfast featured omelets (including for me a chickpea omelet), a mixture of cukes and tomatoes (with a oil and lemon dressing), avocado, sauteed red peppers, mushrooms and delicious green olives (with pits, I discovered). That bountiful breakfast, with coffee and juice - - oh, and I forgot the fresh bread - - ran about $10 American dollars.
After breakfast, we went to an observation point between Mt. Scopa and the Mount of Olives (which is in the part of the city called the Mount of Olives). From there, we saw up close our first olive tree. It had no olives on it, as they ripen and are harvested in October. Looking north, we could see the Judean hills where tomorrow we'll visit Jericho and also way in the distance, Mt. Nebo.
Next we went to another observation point in front of the Intercontinental Hotel. As we exited the car we could hear the Muslim call to prayer, something I'd never heard in person before. Eerie... Debbie posted audio of it on Facebook and tagged me. I'll share it in a bit. Jiries pointed out a local man there with a camel, warning us to avoid the camel as it is a tourist trap. (He said there'd be camel opportunities later?) At any rate, he told us a story about a woman who inquired about climbing atop the camel and was told it was free. Up she got. The camel stood. After a couple of minutes she was ready to dismount. The owner then quoted her an insane price for dismounting the camel. The getting on it was free - - the dismounting costly. smh...We avoided the camel. Instead, we took in the beautiful panoramic view of the Eastern face of the Old City. Figuring prominently was the Eastern Gate, which I detailed in yesterday's post. The view we were seeing today was a perspective similar to the one Jesus would have seen. Fascinating! Just down the hill from where we stood is a huge cemetery where wealthy, religious Jews are buried. Jiries said it costs around $100k for a plot there. Wealthy Jews desire to be buried there so that when Messiah comes through the Eastern Gate they will be first to see him. From that point and down to our right, we could see the Church of the Garden of Gethsemane. We did not stop there today.
On our way to Area A, we passed through a newish (about 20 years old) settlement of repatriated Jews, from all over the world. Very clean and neat and beautiful. Previously, the settlement had been hilly farm land. You are wondering what Area A is? Israel has Areas A, B and C. Area A encompasses the city of Bethlehem, which is a Palestinian area. Jews are not welcome to enter. (Jiries is an Arab Christian, with Israeli citizenship.) . In fact, we saw a menacing sign proclaiming that for Jews to enter is a violation of Israeli law. Bethlehem has few Christians (only 10%), many fewer than 20 years ago. Dividing Bethlehem from Jerusalem is a huge wall with barbed wire at the top. It is covered in political graffiti, some by the famous graffiti artist, Banksy, from England (we think - - no one really knows where he's from). Would you believe there was graffiti featuring the likeness of Donald Trump?!
There is a gate in the wall that is opened when the two municipalities need to trade lawbreakers. It is also a place for political demonstrations that occur regularly, particularly on Friday nights. We saw in the alleyways, lots of street detritus (used tear gas containers, etc.,) which had been cleaned up after many demonstrations and just shoved aside. In some ways Palestinian-controlled Bethlehem looks like a 3rd-world country. It was fascinating to see the difference between territory controlled by one group, as opposed to another.
Leaving the wall, we went on to rendezvous with an official tour guide, who took us through the Church of the Nativity, there in Bethlehem, of course. Almost every "holy site" has a Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox church built over the top of it. There were too many fascinating things about this church to list, except for one. When we got to the supposed location of where the Baby Jesus was born, there is a star in the marble floor. Now, there was a huge press of people in front of us. You have to walk down some marble steps through a very narrow doorway, down into this grotto or cave. We Westerners usually picture the stable as an open-air, barn-like structure. In reality, his birthplace was more like a cave. Here is what really touched me, though. The tour group in front of us was Eastern European, Russian we think. Almost every one of them - - - when they got to that star in the floor? They knelt down and kissed it. Yep, they did. I don't know. That really got to me.
Sign on the doors to the large chapel of the church, where they broadcast from Bethlehem on Christmas Eve:
"If you enter here as a tourist, you would exit as a pilgrim.
If you enter here as a pilgrim, you would exit as a holier one."
We were forbade to speak or otherwise make any noise in the chapel. Sit, pray, slay, whatever . . . but do it in contemplative silence.
After visiting the church we went to a local souvenir shop to support the local Christian economy. Jiries knows the Arab Christian family that owns the shop. We had planned to purchase souvenirs anyway. So, we did our part.
I was designated to "ride shotgun" with Jiries today, while Debbie and Chris sat in the backseat. Jiries is a great driver, but I could not avoid a couple of yelps along the way. You can't ride around this area without hearing a cacophony of horns.
Lunch was next. We had something called shawarma. As we entered the small Bethlehem cafe that serves this Turkish treat, we saw chicken and beef roasting on vertical spits. The cook sheared off little pieces of beef (we all chose beef) in a way that made me think of Arby's for some weird reason. The meat was placed on a soft, moist tortilla-like wrap. We added a yogurt and dill sauce, as well as some fermented slaw. We had a side of fermented (hot pink) rutabaga and "fries" with that. The sandwich was delicious and huge! Both Deb and I brought half of ours home; we ate the rest for our dinner tonight. The hot pink rutabaga tasted sort of like a dill pickle, just not near as rubbery.
After our very late lunch (around 4:00 local time) we headed back to the flat with one more stop on the way: Shepherd's Field. This is a park-like area in Bethlehem with a church set near the middle. It commemorates the occasion of the shepherds on the hillside, "watching their flocks by night". The basilica on the top surface is shaped like a small rotunda, with frescos painted all round the interior, punctuated by the stations of the cross. Inside this smallish church we encountered another tour group, this one Italian. Leaving the little chapel, we went around to its back side and below to see an example of the caves where the shepherds lived and raised their families. Inside the cave meets a Christian church now. We saw the communion table and other elements present. The ceiling in the cave was very low. Jiries confirmed my spoken-aloud suspicions that the "stable" where Jesus was born was probably a cave very similar to this.
Back at the flat, the three of us sat at the table and talked politics, world views, current events, etc. over some hot tea for an hour or so. Then, we put on our coats and headed down the hill (about 1/3 of a mile) to the 24-hour market. We could see our breath....so cold and damp here, so far at least. Who'd have thought? To visualize the market, think "convenience store on steroids". It is fascinating to purchase food when you can't read the labels.
Note to all you future Southern Belle travelers to Israel: do NOT forget your hairspray! I have deduced there is none to be found in the entire country. Mousse? Yes. Foot powder? Yes. Suntan lotion? Yes. Hairspray. Nope. (Sigh!)
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