April 20 (Leah's)

 

We took a mini bus into Bethlehem today. Since it is in the West bank (which is Palestinian disturbed land) you can only get to the check point and then you have to walk through a heavily guarded and secure area to get out the exit where you catch another taxi into Bethlehem. It was the only time I felt somewhat uneasy since being in Israel. Nothing happened, but just to the fact that it was just so secure! Once we crossed into the West bank-basically Palestine- life changes. It is poorer, cheaper, dirtier, and very Arabic. Actually Jews are prohibited from entering. Anyways, after haggling with the taxi drivers we finally set on a price. Milan, our host told us it would cost 20-30 Sheckles from the checkpoint to Bethlehem (about 5 km) and the taxi drivers were trying to charge us 80! We settled on 25 one-way.

Our driver took us to a church, the Milky Grotto, which is where they believe Joseph, Mary and Jesus found refuge from Herod before they fled to Egypt. We also went to the Church of the Nativity, where they believe the stable was where Jesus was born. While we were in these places our taxi driver waited outside each place and took us to the next, despite us trying to tell him we would meet him back in 2 hours and then he could take us back to the checkpoint (he must have been desperate for clients if he waited for us all that time). We walked into the market/centre area where we bought cheap drinks and falafels (although the falafels weren’t quite as good, they were good for 5 sheckles (1.50$) since we normally have paid 12-15 sheckles!). We bought a coke for our taxi driver, which at first he tried to refuse, but when I showed him that we had some too, he gladly took it!

Once we got back to Jerusalem, we were going to gather our bags and go to a hostel. Our host family could only have us for 4 nights, and since we decided to stay 2 extra nights (because of the Sabbath we couldn’t travel) we booked a hostel in the Old City. Martina was making these Slovakian steamed sweet buns filled with plum jam and topped with butter and coca powder (I think it was actually hot chocolate). She told us to wait so we could try some- and she gave us three each! So delicious!

With our stomachs full and our heavy bags strapped to us, we walked to our hostel in the Old City. We weaved our way through the crowds and finally made it to the “New Swedish Hostel” where we would be spending the next two nights at $16/each/night! It was worth the price, not too nice, but not too bad either! We even got free tea, coffee, and hot chocolate!

We spent some more time at the Garden Tomb. It is such a peaceful, beautiful place. Especially because it shines with the light of Jesus and is filled with believers. We listened to about 4-5 different tour groups from all over the world as they sung different songs in their languages throughout the Garden. It was so nice! Later, since it was the start of Sabbath when we ventured off to find some food (around 7:30pm) mostly everything was closed. We stopped at the Wailing Wall first, to admire all the Jews gathered for the Sabbath. Some were dancing in groups (in a big circle), others were praying to the wall, and lost of people talked with one another. It is quite the spectacle! So we went in search of food outside the Old City walls and we ended up at a Chinese Restaurant. Basically the only thing open- since they are not Jewish! It was a bit pricy, but we had to eat!

While we were getting a meal I noticed a boy sitting by himself, I heard him talking to the waitress in English, so I told Spencer we should invite him to eat with us. So the boy (19 years old), Martin, from NY/Pennsylvania, came to join us when his food came. We had some good talks with him. He is studying in France for the year and decided to come to Israel for his 2-week break. We told him we were Christians, and he said his mom is a big believer, but he isn’t. He believes in “God” but nothing more than that. We were able to share some things with him. When we finished dinner, we walked part of the way back with him, went our separate ways, and we went back to the hostel. We thankfully got the only two “beds” that aren’t bunk beds, in the mixed dorm room, and they were even side-by-side, so that was nice! God has been so good to us though. This was the first night since our travels began (about one month now) that we had to be in a hostel- most of the time was with other believers in their houses, guesthouses or churches! So our first night in the hostel was finished with a somewhat good sleep.