Bethlehem & Korean Food

It's pretty late. I'm tired. Return of The King is on the TV and the common room here at the hostel is packed with Japanese, Aussies, Egyptians, etc. all engrossed in the movie.

Today was interesting. I awoke rather late, and said goodbye to Adele and Koo as they left for church. Janina and I decided to grab some breakfast from Damascus Gate, a few seconds walk away, while we waited for Jordan to shower. We had agreed to accompany him to Ramat Rachael kibbutz, to visit his friends on the way to Bethlehem.

Passing through the busy, untidy, arab streets, Janina and I ended up at a pastry vendor, where we bought some delicious arab dainties. Mine was a pastry stuffed with sweetened walnuts, and hers had sweet cheese. We had to use will power not to buy any more. Instead to curb our hunger, we bought a couple of freshly baked pitta breads to munch on our walk back to the hostel.

Finally when we were all ready, we cabbed it up to Ramat Rachael where we spent a good half hour or so at the home of his friends, who were very hospitable and insisted on giving us some pesach cakes to take away with us. We then ordered another cab to take us to the edge of Bethlehem (it would be difficult to get a taxi to take us right in as there is a cute cement wall and security check-point to pass through). 10 minutes and 40 shekels later, we reached the onimous fortress of Bethlehem. Security on the way in was not so tight. We had our passports ready, but they were not needed.

We were somewhat surprised at the ease in which we managed to pass through all the so-called 'security', and within moments found ourselves on the other side of the wall.

It was eerie. There we were hemmed into Bethlehem, and there wasn't a sound. All was still. We couldn't see a single person, nor car. We looked around uneasily, wondering whether we'd entered through the correct entrance, and all separately paranoid over being shot at.

Moments passed before we decided which direction to walk in, and trudged on our way...

A minute or so later, we came across a group of middle aged men drinking coffee. One appeared to be a taxidriver, and offered us his service. we turned down his inicial offer, but then as it seemed we wouldn't know where we were going otherwise, we accepted '5 shekels per person' and hit the road.

The streets were filled with litter, and it was strange not to see the usual olive green uniforms of the Israeli military - instead the navy uniformed officers of the Palestinians. The taxi driver offered us a deal to see a few other sights, but instead we opted just to be dropped off at the Church of the Nativity.

On arrival we headed straight for the church, took some cheesy snaps posing, and headed on inside. Not being a fan of churches, I was pretty cynical about all the decor. We saw where Jesus was allegedly born, although it's highly doubtful that it was that spot. It was amusing to see many people with self-righteous expressions, tearfully kissing the star-marked spot of his birth. Jordan and I made a few inappropriate comments (he's a Christian, but doesn't buy into all the Catholic crap either), and admist choked laughter, made a swift exit.

After seeing all the sights in the church, we decided to explore around. Jordan was offered 200 camels for my hand in marriage (guess the dude thought he was my bro or something) 'Right-o mate!' (cheers Jordo). Told the guy I'd think about his offer and give him an answer later.

We had some little Palestinian girl follow the 3 of us around while we pushed through the crowds of the markets, and became so much immersed in Bethlehem, that it was a while before we noticed that we were getting a lot of attention and we were quite obviously the only non-Palestinian people around. When we realised this, we inconspicuously made our way back into the centre.

There really wasn't a whole lot there. We found a wonderfully PC 'Tree Of Peace' where I had my photo taken, as I wiped away an invisable tear... Jordan commented how he wanted a photo of him peeing on the tree - 'Tree of Piss' I commented - had there not been police nearby. It made my stomach churn. However, not as much as the Milk Grotto we came across where allegedly Mary breastfed Jesus for the first time, and a couple of drops of her milk fell to the ground and made a chalk pillar?!??! Am I the only one who thinks that sounds a bit... erm... STUPID?

Janina (probably to wind us up) gushed about how she wanted to go on inside, so we followed her in, guffawing with laughter at the downright retardedness of it all. Ok, for anyone who knows me I am not a blaphemous person whatsoever. It just really annoys me the people worship anything that may possibly be attached to Jesus - they are THINGS! THINGS, dammit!

Ok, so I'd have more to this argument if I wasn't so tired, but you get the point (hopefully).

Another thing to make my stomach churn was the graffiti on the insides of the Bethlehem wall - beauties such as 'War makes walls, Peace builds bridges' Oh please...

Finally we got a cab back to the wall, where we made our way to the security checkpoints. The first one was simple enough. We showed our passports, and made our way through the metal turnstile. However, as we walked down the corridor and to the next room, we realised the doors were locked and there was noone around. By now we were quite some distance from the previous checkpoint, and so just tried to get through any door. All we could here were eerie sci-fi sounds echoing throughout the building. We couldn't get out! We could hear voices, but couldn't understand what they were saying. It sounded unreal..

It took a good few minutes before we found an exit which lead to the next checkpoint. It was a relief, and we were all a tad freaked out by what had just happened. We had to again show our passport and then put our belongings through a scanner. Then again a few feet later on.

It felt like we were just leaving a prison. It was a relief to be out of there.

Sherut back to Jerusalem, and we were all in a more positive frame of mind. We all grabbed jackets, and bought falafel, and went for a stroll in the Old City. I am looking for a hookah to buy myself. I want one - definitely - for when i return to England. That may not be for a while now, though.

Later on we grabbed Adele (Koo randomly had left the hostel with a guitar to busk) and went out for a late dinner at a Korean Restaurant in the New City. The food was superb, and it was a highly entertaining meal with Adele and I rubbing it in to the other two that we didn't have to return to Bar Am, and instead were going to be enjoying life in Jerusalem.

Seriously, though, we are going to miss these guys. Janina was a great roomie to have - it was so refreshing to have someone sarcastic and cynical, like myself, at the kibbutz, to vent to. And Jordo? Well, I'll miss having someone to take the piss out of everything with, and generally goof around with. I always seem to get on with Aussies well. I am glad Adele will be here to hang out with - she's a fun chick, and I like her a whole lot. Koo will be missed, as he returns to Korea soon. He is one of the kindest, most generous, wonderful people I have yet to meet. Always puts other people first.

Tomorrow everyone heads back to Bar Am. Tonight I just irritated everyone with tearing Return Of The King to shreds. Pete Jackson ruined the books!

Tomorrow: Temple Mount, History of Israel museum, and then???!?!? Who knows? I enjoy not knowing what will happen day to day. The hostel owners seem to want us to stay for a while.. months maybe. I still want to do Egypt with Jordan, Ben, Ville and co, though, so we'll see. I need to get my visa sorted to if I want to stay past mid May.

Oh well... I gotta get some sleep. Take care!