Bethlehem

For those that don't know, Bethlehem is the city that was the birthplace to Jesus. It's just south of Jerusalem in the West Bank. I remember telling a girl that was staying in the hostel with me in Tel Aviv that I was going to Bethlehem, and she was like "By yourself, I heard it isn't safe." After going, that seems like a ridiculous statement. I took the West Bank bus to Bethlehem and got off a little over a kilometer (yep-I've been out the US for a while) from the Church of the Nativity. I didn't really have any idea where I was going, typical for me, so I asked around and everyone was helpful and nice. Any fear of the average Palestinian, at least in my experiences, appears to be completely unjustified. It is true that every once in a while someone does something bad, but middle school kids in the US shoot up a school every once in awhile too. I'm not going to be scared to go to a middle school anytime soon. But I digress once again.

So I get to the church. I have to duck down to get in the front door. The church is very beautiful. It's got some really good paintings on the walls - though my pictures of them do not do them justice. There's also a little place where you walk down to where Jesus was actually born. The first time I walked down I was unaware of what I was looking at. I was just wondering around the church. Then I got to talking to one of the priest and he told me how a little star marked where Jesus was born. I think to myself, "I've got to get a picture of it." Mainly for you guys. So I go back down to where it is, and there are two tour groups of like 30 people lined up to get their picture taken next to this little star. I stand to the side and wait. While I'm waiting, another tour group gets in line, and I resolve to the fact that I'm going to have to join the tour group line. I end up waiting in like like 30ish minutes, but finally get my picture and got to touch the place where Jesus was born.