O Little Town of Bethlehem

One of the best parts about coming on study abroad here, and not just on one of those two-week tours that retired people do, is that we get to go to places all over the country, instead of bobbing around the crowded streets of Jerusalem the whole time with matching yellow hats and a tour guide. Not that there isn't enough to see in Jerusalem to occupy a whole two weeks, or a whole four months really. Because there is. But it's nice to not miss other equally cool places that take a bit of getting to simply because there's no time to get there.

Monday's field trip was one of those equally cool places: Bethlehem, a suburb of Jerusalem that's so close the two are practically one. Our professors keep equating it to the difference between Orem and Provo; you don't even notice when you go from one city to the other because they're that connected. There is one itty-bitty, little-tiny, or-actually-really-glaring difference between Utah towns and the Holy Land, however: Bethlehem and Jerusalem are separated by a wall. I'd say it's pretty hard to miss the difference with an 8-meter-high barrier and detachment of Israeli guards in the way.

Bethlehem is located in the West Bank, the part of Israel that was occupied in the 1967 war, and has never been unoccupied since. I think Israel considers it part of their State, but according to international laws, the Israelis don't rightfully own it since it was occupied in war. So the Palestinians are stuck there under military occupation until further notice. The whole situation is very sticky, and there are lots of restrictions because of it. Much of the conflict in this country, if it isn't happening in the Gaza Strip, is somehow connected to the West Bank. It's rather unfortunate, because the West Bank is a really cool place.

We generally aren't allowed to go to the West Bank because of all the conflict, but we do have a couple special field trips there, and this was one of them. Our Palestinian professor lives in Bethlehem and teaches at Bethlehem University, so we had the opportunity to visit and learn about life as a college student in Bethlehem. And of course visit some of the holiest Christian sites in the world. Pretty typical day in the life of a JC student. And here are some pictures of our trip:


Here we have the crest of Bethlehem University. The University is Catholic, but the student body is 70% Muslim. It's also 70% female, and one of the few universities in the West Bank. Despite the religious differences, the atmosphere on campus is extremely friendly. I loved the feeling that we're really just like them (nevermind that they live in one of the most conflicted areas of the world, and we live in perhaps one of the most boring); we're all students trying to get an education. And of course, trying to find that special someone. As one student said, it's a tragedy there's no inter-religion dating!


At one point in the visit, we were able to mix-and-mingle with the students. I had a mini heart attack when I heard this; as you probably know, I'm not a mingler. But, I decided that since it would likely be my once-in-a-lifetime chance to be in Bethlehem, let alone at Bethlehem U, I could come out of my shell (see Mom, it does happen) and meet a few people. And if it went badly, I'd never have to see them again! These are the people I ended up meeting: Zuhoor and Sister Lena.

Zuhoor is a Muslim in her second year studying to teach primary school. She's from Jerusalem, and commutes to and from Bethlehem every day, which is quite the process. In the days before the wall, it took fifteen minutes to get from one to the other. Now, an hour is a good commute. Sister Lena is a Catholic nun from Jordan, and is in Bethlehem studying English (we became fast friends). She works at a convent in her free time. Both women were very nice, and willing to talk to curious Americans. And the funniest thing about them? When we walked up, they were talking to each other. As friends. Proof that we really all can get along.


While I was busy mingling in my own way, the boys in our group were mingling in theirs. To each their own I guess!


It's a little hard to see in this picture, but this a building somewhere in Bethlehem that's decorated with metal stars. The entire city was like this (well all of it that we saw anyway). There were stars hanging across the streets, stars on the buildings, outlines of Christmas bells in windows. It was like everyone decorated for Christmas year-round. How great would that be? You'd never have to take down your Christmas lights! Though I guess if you never put them up in the first place, that alleviates the problem too.


The Church of the Nativity. Lucky for us, they started construction on the ceiling two weeks before our field trip. So this was the church we saw. Not too pretty, I know. Though I'm not convinced the church would be pretty even without all the scaffolding. Everything is so blackened with incense that it's difficult to make anything out. In all fairness, the Church of the Nativity is the oldest Christian church that's been in continuous use since it was built. So it does have some excuse. Originally built in 333 AD by Emperor Constantine, it was destroyed in 529 AD and rebuilt by Emperor Justinian in 565 AD. And it's been standing ever since. Predictably, it's had a few close destruction calls, and been restored a few times over the years (like the current time), but never has it been destroyed. Crazy, huh? Oh and all those people? They're waiting in line to see the Grotto of the Nativity, the traditional site of Christ's birth. Where are we in that line? Yep, all the way at the back. Two-hours wait from the front, to be exact.


Here I am with the star that marks the place of Christ's birth. How they know he was born on exactly that piece of floor is a mystery to me, but that's what they say! Apparently the star was actually really disgusting; another student touched it and used half a bottle of hand sanitizer afterward. And I'm not sure what was going on with the lighting here, but it was so crowded in the little cave that I didn't have the chance to get another picture taken. Such is life when other people run your camera.


This is the rest of the Grotto. I wish they'd left it how it really looked in Christ's time, but it's an example, once again, of how different churches commemorate holy sites. This particular site is commemorated with frescoes and incense burners.

There you have a pictorial tour through my Bethlehem experience. It's a shame we're not allowed to visit Bethlehem on our own, because it's definitely a place I'd love to return to. And it doesn't help that all our professors brag about the time when the wall wasn't there, and they popped over to Bethlehem for lunch every other week. Aren't they special? At least I got to go once in my life though, right? I suppose I should be grateful for that.