Paradise Bethlehem

... Had ik verder al verteld dat Bethlehem pal naast de woestijn ligt..? Dus toen het opeens heel hard ging waaien, was het net een sneeuwstorm, en moest Nona met lens-attack en al van de berg af geleid/gedragen worden. Daarna reden we naar Ozman's huis, ook boven op een bergje. Daar ontmoetten wij zn vrouw Rauba en zn familie. Die bleek uit ZEVEN kinderen te bestaan! Ze waren helemaal niet op ons voorbereid, maar op zn arabisch super gastvrij en lief. De kinderen keken ...

... as you can sustain yourself by occasionally stopping to pick fresh, sweet grapes, glistening purple and warm from the sun. I have mastered the art of mixing cement as we are filling up the gaps in the stone walls for the theatre. I also now know hoe one goes about digging a water cistern as I spent a few days helping to finish off the work of the German volunteers who spent three weeks down the hole, making it deeper. That was probably the most strenuous but, ultimately, most ...

... welcome.

In Palestine, everything is run at the behest of Israel. When the settlements [read; colonies] need water, they get it, and no one bathes in Bethlehem. That is not strictly true, however, as each house has a cistern and water system on the roof. Thus, you can't just turn on the tap and expect it to be there, you have to plan. It is kinda like being in a motor home or travel trailer on ...

... using my language. Though I guess it is useful to have a lingua franca, sometimes I wish it wasn’t my own. Still, makes me even more determined to eventually solidify one of my bitty other languages into something fluent.

Though not a particularly immersive Arabic environment, my main aim for this trip – in terms of the language – was simply to get a feel for it being used in a real environment and give me some context for studying it. I am really enjoying being ...

... taxis). We took one into Jerusalem and I gazed out of the window awash with the surreality of it all. Those first steps off the plane really impressed upon me a feeling of how unnatural flying is. That I could be walking on Middle Eastern soil within the space of merelt five hours felt like such a bizarre concept that I still couldnt fully comprehend that I was where I was.While I have previously found purely excitment in this ability to jump with such ease across the globe, I now cant ...

... out - they backed out. I took a picture of some ladies backing out, but I guess you can't tell that by the picture! ;-) Also, there are several book cases at the front of the area so you can pick up a book of scripture to read when you go to the wall. The books were mostly in Hebrew, of course, but there were a few in other languages. Michelle and I were looking at the books, and I said, "Oh, look, here's a Bible in ...

... You don't really swim, you just float. Effortlessly. The Dead Sea is over 30% salt. People believe that it has medicinal and healing properites because of all the minerals. I don't know about that, but it sure makes your skin tingle. Seriously, all you have to do is walk out a little ways and lean back. You just float. You can't sink. Some people jumped in the mud bath first and then in the salty water. I just floated. I was ready to get ...

... but I do not want to cut short my trip. I hope I will overcome. In the evening, after a 4-hour sleep, and 2 grams of a cocktail of Tylenol and Ibuprofen, I can still feel the pain and that is when my friend's verdict is that it is obviously something to do with nerves because only nerve pain cannot be defeated by the heavy dose of painkillers I have ingurgitated. I do not know what she means, she is the nurse, I am just the traveler/writer, but I suspect it is ...

... old city just below. It was odd to think that because you would honestly never know. It's like being in Central Park. It's peaceful and quiet but yet in the middle of NYC. I wasn't able to enter and look into the temple but you can hear them praying (at least that's what I think they were doing) outside. It's really interesting because before a person can pray inside a Muslim temple, they have to wash their hands and feet. So outside ...