Christmas in Bethlehem

This year was the 2nd Christmas I've spent away from my family. The first was in Hawaii. (Mele Kalikimaka !) In a tropical environment, it didn't feel like Christmas. This year, I figured if I was going to be gone for Xmas again, there's no better place to spend it than where it all began, Bethlehem! I made the decision and timed my trip accordingly. I felt tremendously blessed to be in the holy land during the celebration of Jesus's birth.
When I would tell people I was going to be in Bethlehem for Xmas, I had some people sneer at me "are you Jewish?" I would like to point out that Bethlehem has a whopping 40% Christian population. It was nice to be surrounded by so many Christians for the holiday.


My guesthouse was a 5 minute walk from Manger square, where all the festivities were happening. There was a cheerful hustle and bustle around the square on Christmas Eve. Christmas music came streaming from the little shops and Christmas lights decorated the streets and trees.


Palestinians dressed as Santa floated around the square, handing out fliers promoting the freedom of Palestinians. As I took a pic with this Santa, she was yelling "free Palestine, free free Palestine!" while throwing up the peace sign.

Manger Square, Christmas Eve

I'll address this issue the best I can. I'm going to tiptoe around this one. As we all know, there is a lot of animosity between the Palestinians and Israelis. To be truthful, I'm still confused about the whole thing, even though I've heard many stories from both sides. In conclusion, I feel like I'm getting in the middle of a fight between 2 siblings. "he did this to me!", "well he did THIS to me!" This is your deal, settle it like adults and don't get me involved. This unfortunate battle has raged for several years already. However, I think it's unfortunate how some of the Palestinians are forced to live. I received endless amounts of generosity from Palestinians, everything from a free orange to a free ride to a town 2 hours away. I was blown away by their friendliness.

Some estimate that there more than 3,000 different religions in the world. However, this number is unclear and debatable. Religion is such an influential aspect of the world. It amazes me how wars can be started over religion. If I was alive in the 60's, I would be the one wearing the "Make love, not war!" t-shirt. I believe the religion you chose is your prerogative. If you're a good person, you have my respect, regardless of your religion.
It goes without saying that religious beliefs are instilled into our heads from a young age, and it's only as we grow older that we have the opportunity to change our creed. Whether you call your God Allah, Krishna, Brahma or Joe, we all fundamentally believe in some sort of higher power.


Anyways, enough religious talk....


The guesthouse where I stayed was run by a lovely Christian Palestinian family. They kept the Christmas spirit alive by playing classic Christmas tunes in the dining room and had a festive Xmas tree decorated in the living room. It felt a little like home. I was still sad to be away from my family. I kept calculating what time it was back home, guessing what my family was doing at that moment. I thought "Now they're probably eating supper, now they're opening presents....."


I'll never forget the mom at the guesthouse, she was such a sweetheart. One morning when I woke up, she looked so excited to see me. She rubbed my back as she hugged me and said "I love you!" My heart melted. They were good people and I was glad I chose them to spend the holidays with.


Bethlehem was magical around Christmas time. Everyone was super friendly. Perhaps this is their usual mood, or maybe they were influenced by the holiday season. Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the holy land.

I had a list of holy sites I wanted to see. #1 was the Church of the Nativity, to see where Jesus was born. As you can imagine, this is a very popular place. At all hours of the day, you can find a long line of pilgrims waiting to touch the stone where it's believed Mary gave birth to Jesus. Christmas time only multiplied this crowd.


You would think this famous church would be filled with nice, angelic, church-going believers. It didn't take long to realize they were just a bunch of selfish tourists trying to cram all the sites into their 1 week vacation. Ugh. I was squeezed in between 2 large groups of Russian tourists. Their guide gave a loud commentary in Russian as I was nearly suffocated in the middle. I was like the white stuff of an Oreo. I wanted to yell out into the crowd "c'mon people, quit pushing, what would Jesus do?!"


Haha.


I was pushed around from all angles for an hour as we slowly shuffled our way through the ancient church, down the steps and through a deadly minuscule doorway. I learned a little more patience that day. Everyone absentmindedly shoved to get closer to the holy stone. (Merry Christmas to you too!)

inside the Church of the Nativity

There was a powerful vibe in this small room. After getting budged in front of countless times, I finally made it to the site, where you have to duck into a small cave-like area in order to touch the stone. I quickly said a prayer and snapped a picture, knowing my solitary time would soon be interrupted by the hoards of hungry tourists.

I felt goosebumps as I ran my fingers over the cold sacred stone. Before I knew it, I was forced away from the stone by the feisty crowd. I peeled my body from the other cantankerous tourists and made my escape, able to breath my own air once again.


Dazed and confused, I stumbled out of the church into the street, stopping at my favorite falafel stand that had the best hummus in town. I chatted it up with the owner like he was an old friend. He was a handsome middle age man with salt and pepper hair. George Clooney-ish, if you will. I was a familiar face to him by now, having ate nearly every meal here since I arrived. As I wondered around the small square throughout the week, he wouldn't allow me to pass by without shouting out a friendly hello while flashing his warm smile. Because of the small size of the community, it was easy to feel like a local after spending 5 days in Bethlehem.




My falafel man

I sighed, then bit into my scrumptious hummus sandwich.
It took me a while to wrap my head around the fact that I had just visited the site of Jesus's birth on Christmas Eve. Just another amazing experience in my surreal life.


Merry Christmas everyone!