Merry Christmas From Bethlehem!

Merry Christmas!

This is my first Christmas away from home and in a lot of ways, it doesn't really feel like Christmas. Before this year, Christmas has always been about being home with my family, going to my home church for the Christmas Eve candlelight service, the chill of a cold winter night on Christmas Eve followed by the impossible blue of a bright winter day on Christmas morning, having a tasty breakfast roll before opening presents as a family, maybe even some snow falling. I guess if you can't be home for Christmas being in Bethlehem is a pretty good second choice! :-)

My school has been decorated for Christmas for weeks already, complete with a Christmas tree, Baba Noel (that's Santa Claus to us), chocolate and Christmas cheer! Last Wednesday the kids put on their Christmas show which was ADORABLE! My kindergartners dressed up as Mary, Joseph, angels and the whole gang! The choir sang and various grades put on little performances. One of the eighth graders got to dress up as Baba Noel and give out chocolate, much to the glee of the younger children!

Last Thursday Baba Noel came to school again and passed out presents to every single student! I helped wrap all those presents the previous weeks and it was fun to be involved in gift-giving, even in a small role! Us teachers also received Christmas gifts, lovely little Santa Claus mugs filled with chocolate! That evening there was a big Christmas dinner in Bethlehem with all the ELCJHL teachers and educational staff. We ate, we danced (Arab style, of course! Distinctly tricky but tons of fun! My teachers really got a kick out of me learning to dance this way!), we played silly games and generally enjoyed each other's company. It was fun to see all my teachers and co-workers in a less serious context.

On Friday we had a very YAGM Christmas. We gathered at our coordinators home for pizza, singing, presents and a tour of the lights that have been put up all around Bethlehem. Beautiful! We each received stockings, laid out with care at the coffee table, filled with chocolates and a beautiful olive-wood nativity set! It came complete with a removable Wall which separates the shepherds from the holy family: a good reminder that if Jesus were to be born today, most of the folks in a Nativity scene probably wouldn't be able to get permits to come see him because of the Occupation and the location of the Wall around Bethlehem.

Saturday, Christmas Eve, I attended the Christmas Eve parade! There are TONS of scout troops in the area who play drums, bagpipes, march and wear adorable outfits. It's a bit like marching band or drum line in the USA. Later there was a trilingual (Arabic, English and German) service in the beautiful Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, during which I got to sing with the choir, a magical experience. Courtney, a fellow YAGM volunteer, and I kept remarking at how awesome it was that we were part of the choir for a Christmas Eve service in Bethlehem! The beautiful little church was filled absolutely to the brim both with people and Christmas spirit. Afterward it promptly started pouring, which isn't nearly as nice as a gentle snow-fall on Christmas Eve, but did make inside feel very cozy and inviting.

On Sunday, Michelle and I awoke very early to make our way to Jerusalem for the Christmas Day service at Redeemer Lutheran church in the old city. We rode the bus in the pouring rain and were pleased to discover that, either because of the rain or because of Christmas, the soldiers at the checkpoint did not make anyone get off the bus! Usually all the Palestinians (and us, in solidarity) have to get off the bus so the soldiers can check everyone's identification cards. It was lovely for everyone to stay on the warm, dry bus and it turns out that keeping everyone on the bus is quite a bit more efficient, so we arrived in Jerusalem early. We made our way through the pouring rain to Redeemer church, only to discover that we had arrived so early that it wasn't yet open. We searched in vain for a coffee shop and ended up seeking refuge from the downpour in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

We noted both the tragic irony of being in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on Christmas Day (poor baby Jesus was just born and now we're in the place where we honor his crucifixion, death and resurrection) and the amazing fact that right now in our lives it is possible for us to have an impromptu visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem just to seek sanctuary from rain. Woah.

We watched as pilgrims gathered in line to go to honor the supposed sit of the empty tomb and discussed what a shame it is that the building's art is not well-maintained. You see, many different sects of Christianity must share this building as it is a holy spot for all Christians. Unfortunately, they have had trouble getting along so in 1853 they created a rule called the Status Quo which strictly divided up the church according to who is allowed to maintain each part and who can use what parts of it when. While intended to maintain order and peace within the church, an unexpected consequence of this rule is that it is difficult to maintain the entire structure. It's really a shame because now some of the art is so dirty with ash and age that you cannot even see it. Nonetheless there are beautiful mosaics and little pensive chapels throughout the church.

We arrived at Redeemer in time for the Christmas Day service, which was a delightful songs and lessons service. We sang Christmas carols between readings from the Christmas story. One of the congregation members, a girl of about 8 years, read to the entire congregation from her illustrated children's Bible. We were all proud of how well she did, so brave! The congregation then shared a cozy potluck-style Christmas brunch at the pastor and his wife's home; a lovely way to feel connected to a community while so far from my loved ones.

After brunch I got to talk with my dear friend Anna who is visiting the Holy Land with her family. It was wonderful to catch up with her. She is incredibly generous and dedicated half of her checked suitcase to contact solution, a Christmas stocking, chocolate and other gifts for me from my family, her and her housemates. Thank you Anna, Mom, Dad, Kat, Nora, Shannon and Laura! I also was fortunate to skype with my parents and with Cody. I even got to open some thoughtful and fun Christmas presents from all three of them!! Truly a lovely day!

Although it wasn't the type of Advent season and Christmas to which I am used, it was fantastic. I feel extremely blessed for the opportunity to be in the Holy Land this year. I also feel incredibly blessed to have such a supportive community here and such amazing friends and family back home! Thank you all for your love and support! Merry Christmas!

Lovely little things

Sometimes you just have to take a moment to savor the lovely little things in life. My friend Laura has dedicated an entire blog to this exercise. She's a great writer so you might enjoy reading her blog too! Today I'm honoring some lovely little things in my life.

The first is my Saturday yoga class. It's a women's only class which is simply awesome. Lots of public places here are only for men. For example, there are tons of street-side coffee shops here where you can drink strong Arabic coffee, smoke argelah (flavored tobacco in a water pipe), play backgammon and hang out for hours. But only if you're male. There really aren't a lot of public women's only spaces. So to have a yoga class for women only is pretty amazing. Especially because several of the Muslim women in my class cover their heads outside their homes, but since class is women's only, they uncover for class. (I haven't tried it, but I can only imagine how tricky yoga would be with a headscarf....) Their uncovering creates a very real sense of intimacy in the class. Plus these women have created a really supportive and creative community. In Sanskrit the yoga community is called the sangha and ours is fun! Sometimes to warm up we put on music and dance around before starting our practice. :-)

Since my yoga studio is near Al-Manara, the central square in town, during yoga we heard the sounds of some sort of rally being conducted at Al-Manara and moving past us on the street and down the hill. We couldn't see them but we stopped to listen for a moment and I noticed that the Palestinians grinned with pride while they explained to me that the people were chanting, "freedom". 

While walking home from yoga class, I enjoyed the bright, low afternoon sunlight of December. I have been told that soon and very soon the weather here will turn nasty; 30 degrees F with lots of cold rain. Yuck. So I'm very grateful to savor long, bright sunshine and 63 degrees F.

On the way home from my yoga studio I stopped to get some fresh pita bread, called khobs. When I say fresh, I mean the bread man took it out of the oven probably five minutes ago and it steamed up the bag he put it in. It's also always fun to buy bread this way because the man always gently teases Megan and I for buying only a few pitas at a time. While most people here walk out with probably 30 pitas, we usually get 4 or 5. Today I bought 2. It cost me half a shekel, approximately a seventh of a dollar. I took those pita home and slathered on some lebnah, a tasty cream cheese-like substance made from plain yogurt and sprinkled it with zatar (thyme). This traditional Arab snack is simply amazing.

Here's to a lovely afternoon and the little things that make life beautiful.

Zeitoun

This fall I had several opportunities to help harvest olives on the Lutheran World Federation campus located on the Mount of Olives. At the LWF campus there are several olive groves with beautiful olive trees in need of harvesting each year. The olives are harvested by volunteers and you are more than welcome to come to the Holy Land to help harvest olives next year! Please follow this link to learn more!

Using a rake to pull olives out of the tree

Harvesting olives is a lot of fun. We began by laying tarps down on the ground around the olive trees so that the olives could be pulled from the branches and dropped onto the tarp to collect later. Of course, this system means that one must be careful where one steps so as not to prematurely crush the olives. Using our hands or small rakes, we pulled olives from the trees and onto the ground. While some folks collect from the ground, others climb up into the tree to reach the highest olives.

My fellow YAGM Alma is quite the climber!

Once the olives have been removed from the tree, we gather them into the tarp and throw out any branches, leaves or stones. Then the olives are poured into large burlap bags and taken to the olive press in Latrun where they are, well, pressed to make oil. The oil sits for several months to properly age and then is ready for consumption! Are you interested in having some olive oil from the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem? The LWF sells its olive oil as a fundraiser for the hospital and other amazing services. You can buy your very own bottle of oil complete with a beautiful glass jar, hand-blown in Hebron by following this link!

Me, olive tree and a bounty of olives!

In case you were wondering, olives fresh from the tree don’t taste good; whether black or green, the are quite bitter and leave an uncomfortable paste-y sensation in one's mouth. Although not recommended for regular consumption it is considered necessary to try at least one olive right off the tree while harvesting, just for the experience. :-) 


Olive trees are quite beautiful. They have a light colored bark and their trunks are elegantly twisted. The leaves have a waxy shine about them, though in fall they are often covered with the dust that so permeates this dry landscape. Olive wood is excellent for burning; with a clean-burning and long flame.


Olive trees are strong; standing close to the ground, they can withstand high winds and blowing sand. They can hunker down and survive through long droughts, a necessity in this dusty desert climate. They are also quite long-lived. The oldest known olive tree is in Greece. At 2,000 years old, it is still producing fruit.

Zeitoun, meaning both olive and olive tree in Arabic, is a common and very highly-valued word. During olive harvest time we had an entire unit in the Kindergarten dedicated to learning about olive harvest. The kids drew pictures of olive trees, brought in olives from their homes and ate lots of foods saturated in tasty olive oil. I have been told by more than one teacher at my school that I should drink a spoonful of olive oil each morning, "for my health". While I haven't actually done this, I understand the sentiment which honors olive oils' nutritional benefits, particularly as compared to other oils.

It is hard to explain the extent to which Palestinians value olives, olive oil and olive trees.The best comparison I can think of is the way Ents feel about their trees in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Palestinians feel for their trees. Since olive trees can live for a very long time many families have tended and harvested the same trees for generations. Unfortunately, when one becomes a refugee, often the beloved family olive groves must be left behind. Sometimes the Wall separates families from their trees, making it impossible to harvest one's own precious fruits. The olives then either go to waste or are harvested by someone else. Palestinians are as rooted in the soil of their homeland as the trees they so fervently honor. 

Living here for the past few months, I have come to highly respect olive trees as well as the people who so love them. Both are strong and able to thrive in the midst of long-term hardships. So here's to you Zeitoun and Palestinians; may your roots be deep, your trunk  strong and your branches nourished by sunlight.