Last post for 2004

And only a few after at most. I'll be on a plane home early January 3. Happy New Year!

Clockwise from the top, Madi, me, and Ana at Jack's house. 

Still in Jerusalem, during our walk. 

Pretty-looking storm clouds that are about to dump their rain on us. 

Street in Bethlehem on the way to the Church. 

Church of the Nativity. 

Blurry photo of Nativity Square, all lit up and with people milling around. 

Pretty much the only picture I got of the Church of the Nativity, not being sure if we were allowed to take some. Unfortunately, it turned out blurry. The main altar is to the left. 

St. Catherine's Church. 

Inside of St. Catherine's. 

In the caves below St. Catherine's there are a lot of Latin inscriptions carved on the walls and columns. 

n/t 

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One of the random cave/grottoes that lead off from St. Catherine's Church. 

The mosque across from the Nativity Church, where Mahmoud Abbas drove up to. 

Been watching the news on this tsunami fallout

And the death toll keeps rising every day. 50,000 and counting. Unbelievable. I have friends who were in Sri Lanka a few months ago, and one of their friends has family there, I think. I hope she hasn't had to hear that someone she knows is dead, but it seems almost impossibe with the count that high. They say around a third were children.

It reminds me of that saying "you're more likely to die from a lightning strike than from a terrorist attack," or something like that. Even here I've heard people say "you're more likely to die in a car crash than a terrorist attack." Not just because Israelis are reckless drivers, but because it's kind of a general truth. We focus so much on outlandish deaths, the unusual deaths, and forget that it's the normal things and Mother Nature that'll get most of us.

Hafsakot

So I saw Phantom of the Opera (the movie) last night at what Leora and I thought had to be the most upscale movie theater in Israel. Until we found out it's actually a performing arts center. But for the twenty or so minutes before we actually read the Hebrew name of the place, or looked at our tickets, on which "The Jerusalem Center for the Performing Arts" was written in English, we thought this was the greatest movie theater ever. Double storied, with huge staircases and art exhibits off to the side, a little bookstore and cafe, and nice big rooms that were obviously stages but had been converted to a movie screen. Theater seating and red plush chairs, with plenty of space in between you and other people make for a great movie experience.

This was the worst run-in I've had so far with the infamous hafsaka (break) Israeli movie theaters put in the films, like an intermission in a classical concert. They invariably have no sense of when would be the best time for a break. For those of you who know the Phantom of the Opera, the break was right in the middle of the fallout from the hanging. Seriously, there were still women screaming and people confusedly running around on the screen when it went dark. I'm sure the break is just put at the midway point, but man, is that annoying.

Archaeology done with! Only Hebrew left to go. I'm not entirely sure what I'll be doing with my last weekend here, maybe just relaxing.

Foreign Policy down!

Turned in my paper and did my final early, battling other classes that wanted to take over my testing room and automatic lights that kept turning off the whole way. And came out so discombobulated afterwards that I actually started digging around in my backpack thinking I'd left my phone behind while I was talking to Leora on it. Sharp.

But it's done. Finito. And all the other tests should be relatively easier to prepare for in comparison, although the time I have for them will be limited considering how much time I spent on Foreign Policy. Whatever.

Going to see Phantom of the Opera tonight in celebration! :)

The mood in Bethlehem

I read some news pieces that reported a feeling of greater calm and joy in Bethlehem this Christmas, and more optimism for the future. I guess that's true. I felt the peace and sense of communion in the churches while there, and it's always nice to settle in a cozy restaurant when it's cold outside. By and large, the people were nice, both tourists and locals, and there was no real politically-charged disruption beyond the arrival and presence of Abu Mazen, which was pretty mild.

But almost all the news pieces also mentioned the tough times businesses in Bethlehem have fallen on, despite the hightened sense of peace this Christmas. There were plenty of little kids selling trinkets on the streets, and stores that aren't well-kept. Tourists still don't all feel safe coming there for the holidays, or during the year, and more and more of those who have the opportunity to get out and move to some other country, largely Palestinian Christians, are taking it.

Still, the number of people there was supposedly encouraging. We'll see.

Christmas in Bethlehem

I really only got about a day of Christmassy feelings this year, and that was on Christmas Eve Day. Nari, Torin, Chris, and a few others I barely knew walked with me all the way from our dorms on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem to Bethlehem, about five or six miles south. It got rainy and cold at the end, but it was worth the trip just to say we did it. :)

Crossing the Bethlehem checkpoint was more of a breeze than I've ever seen it, which surprised me, but maybe our group simply didn't look threatening in any way. There were free buses to take you to the main square, which was nice, but we wanted to do our walking bit. At the Nativity Square, in front of the Church of the Nativity, there were lots of people gathered, lots of lights and Christmas caroling. Madi and I almost got locked into the Church of the Nativity when they closed it down for a few hours before midnight mass, but we got to see the grotto of the Nativity, kiss the star, see the mosaics and everything. In the next-door St. Catherine's church, we caught the tail-end of a service, lit some candles and heard enthusiastic organ-playing.

Since it was extremely cold (for me, anyway) outside, a few of us ducked into a restaurant to drink hot things while Madi and I waited for Anna to come pick us up for dinner at her fiance's house nearby. While waiting, we also browsed a few touristy stores, I got a Christmas tree ornament and Madi got one of those rings that have a cross on it, so that if your hand is flat on the table the cross is sticking straight up. She thought it was awesome that they were selling the popular symbol of women right next to the church, I pointed out that it was supposed to be a religious item, not a woman power sign, and she bought it anyway to wear upside down.

Back out in the square, the tourist population (which apparently included 12,000 Nigerians at one time, we saw a procession of them walking the other way from us earlier) had dwindled, since it was nighttime, and the now predominantly Arab crowd had migrated over to one particular side, with a lane between them as if there was going to be a parade going through. Madi asked one guy what was going on, and he said, rather excitedly, "Abu Mazen is come." This guy is also known as Mahmoud Abbas (yeah, I mixed that up in our talk last night pretty badly, didn't I, Mom?) and is the leading man in the PLO. The people in the streets ran with his car as it drove up to the mosque across from the Nativity Church, then crowded around it for a long time. At that point, Anna found us and took us away to help her with dinner. Apparently, Abbas also attended the midnight mass, which we were going to do but didn't, between dinner and being tired. But it was the first time in several years that a PLO chairman came, since Arafat was restricted from leaving Ramallah.

Dinner went well, and was definitely the most Middle Eastern Christmas Eve dinner I've had, what with the pita and hummus and Arabic salsa and barbequed meat. Not that I ate the meat. But still. We all sat around and talked for a while, I went to bed tired from having walked so much, and we mostly were lazy on Christmas, watching TV and talking. I watched You've Got Mail and Who Framed Roger Rabbit on the English channels they have, though. When I got back to the dorms I talked with my mom and missed Christmas at home for a while. But overall, it was a good weekend.

At least I was blissfully free of the kind of holiday-related stress that clearly drove the people at SaveMerryChristmas.org out of their minds.

Merry Christmas to all

It's pouring rain out right now, so I don't know if walking to Bethlehem will work out, but if not, we'll just take a taxi or something. Either way, I'll be there for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, then be back for my last week of school. I'm running low on time to finish all my school-related stuff.

Yesterday I went shopping in the Old City, and a few places were playing Christmas carols, which I hadn't heard at all yet, so I was thrilled. I also went to a Korean restaurant with Nari, Marnie, Chris and Torin, which was lots of fun. Nari spoke Korean with the waiters and clued us in on stuff we didn't understand or aren't supposed to do, and cracked up laughing at us when we all put soy sauce on our white rice, which you're apparently not supposed to do. Why not? we all asked. It tastes good.

I love all you guys, and hope you have a great Christmas Eve! :)

I admit it

I don't like felafel.

I just don't. And I love garbanzo beans, or as they're called in rest of the world, apparently, chick peas. We always called them garbanzo beans at home, but chick peas is a much less goofy name, and nobody here knows what I'm talking about when I say the word "garbanzo." Anyway, I love them. I used to eat them in piles on my plate when my family would go to Soup Plantation or something. I've been turned aroud on hummus, but felafel is a concoction I just can't get behind, and for the most part vegetarian Middle Eastern food is pretty good stuff. But they do love their felafel. I'll sooner eat almost anything else in a restaurant.

Now excuse me while I go hide from any random Israelis who may for some reason be reading this blog and come to kick me out of their country.

Early morning on a street near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Some places open getting the early business, which seemed to consist of me and Anna, but come midday everyone will have their stuff set out and would actually be out manning the shops. 

Entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Small little door for such a big place. 

Later in the day (this was still around 8 in the morning) all those green doors will be opened and merchandise hanging from the overhanging roofs. The large, less evened-out paving stones in the foreground of the picture are remnants from the Aelia Capitolina period of Roman times, I think. Just goes to show how you run across history everywhere in the Old City. 

Some Christmas spirit in the Christian Quarter of the Old City. :) 

No, that sign's not pointing the wrong way, the Eigth Station is a wall. The pictures of monks praying to this bare rock wall (sold nearby) might look kinda goofy, but we're talking about Jerusalem here. Walls are practically the holiest things of all.  

Ah-ha. Station 4, I know this one. Not just because it says IV on the door either. Like almost all the stations on Via Dolorosa, if you're not paying attention, you'll probably walk right by it. The shirts on the left are part of the huge souq (market) that was just beginning to open at this time. 

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The Ecce Homo arch, either the first, second or third Station of the Cross. (Five months and I can't keep them straight...) It's actually part of a triumphal arch, the rest of it is inside the building on the left, I think. 

Got my wish

Before I came here I think I remember telling someone that I hoped something historic and non-explosive happened while I was in Israel. Between Arafat's death and the disengagement from Gaza, I think I got my wish. Of course, there were some bombs, but you don't always get everything. It makes me sad to think of the people who died in attacks near me while I've been here.

I almost feel like I could have come here at any time and gotten that wish. For such a small country, things happen awfully fast, and awfully loudly.

I can barely believe Christmas is in only a few days. I should play some Christmas music at home or something to simulate the usual overdose of holiday season spirit we get at home. I miss seeing the Nutcracker and decorating the tree. Hopefully Christmas Eve in Bethlehem will make up for it, but I wonder how different the atmosphere will be there compared to a US Christmas.

My favorite picture from the day. 

Some kind of nice graffiti on one of the streets outside Temple Mount. 

View of the Mount of Olives, from the top of the eastern wall, Church of Mary Madgalene in the middle there, and the Church of all Nations and garden of Gethsemane in the lower left. Anna figured the presence of steps up to the top of the eastern wall were reason enough to assume we were allowed up there. :)