Christmas Eve in Bethlehem

My talkative cubemate asked me what we were going to do to celebrate Christmas. I told him that we were planning to visit Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, since that’s where Jesus was born. He asked me if I know what Bethlehem means. I didn’t, so he filled me in. In Hebrew, lehem (לחם) is “bread”, and bet (בית) is “house”. So, Bethlehem is literally the House of Bread. Seems fitting, since Jesus declared Himself the “Bread of Life” (John 6:35).

I then asked my cubemate if he knew that the Bible had predicted that the Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. He replied, “Jesus is not mentioned in the Bible” (note: when he says “Bible”, he’s referring to what Christians call the “Old Testament”). So, I did some Googling and found this:

Micah 5:2: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be the ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times.”

He then did some Googling of his own, this time in Hebrew, and seemed surprised to find that his Hebrew version of the book of Micah aligned with my English version. So, at least we could agree that the Bible had predicted that the Messiah would be born in the House of Bread.

To enter Bethlehem, we crossed the border into the West Bank just south of Jerusalem. At the crossing, a large sign read: “No passage for Israeli citizens”. We readied our passports, but were waved through by the machine gun-carrying guards.

Our first order of business was to find a place to park. We (slowly) followed the long line of cars towards Manger Square. After we could drive no further, we were approached by a Palestinian who asked us to follow him. For just 10 shekels ($2.80), he let us park in his lot all day.

The weather outside was frightful—a mere 60 degrees or so—so we bundled Sammy up and then went on our way. Along the short walk to Manger Square, we saw many locals, tourists, and Santas celebrating Christmas. We also passed the “Stars & Bucks” Café.

Once we reached the square, we took in the Christmas procession and met a Bethlehem-born Palestinian Christian from New Jersey. As frequently happens, Sammy helped initiate the conversation—and then we learned a bit about our new friend Laith and his people. Laith had flown from JFK to Amman, Jordan, and then drove the rest of the way to Bethlehem to see his extended family for Christmas. This is because Palestinians aren’t allowed to use Israel’s Ben Gurion airport. In fact, Laith’s younger brother, who resides in Bethlehem, has never even seen Jerusalem (which is only 6km from Bethlehem) since Palestinians are not allowed to cross the border.

On a lighter note, Laith also remarked on the fact that Oregon (where we live) & New Jersey (where he lives) are the only US States that prohibit citizens from pumping their own gas—common ground I’d never thought I’d build upon in conversation with a stranger. We could both agree on the absurdity of our states' gas pumping laws.

All of the Palestinians we interacted with on Christmas Eve were extremely friendly, and not once did we feel unsafe—except for the fast & windy return cab-ride from the Shepherd’s field, that is. We received some “hello’s” and waves from Palestinian children, and were approached by some teens who seemed to simply want to meet us and practice their English. It felt a bit like China in that way. Sammy was also held and kissed by a man & woman who worked at a restaurant where we ate dinner.

In the evening, as we were visiting Shepherd’s Field “E” (Franciscan owned & operated), we heard Christmas carols being sung in the distance. Being drawn towards the music, we came upon familiar-sounding songs coming from inside a cave. Our little family sat on some nearby rocks, listening and quietly singing along. Then, as we overlooked the rolling hills surrounding Bethlehem, we read the Christmas story from Luke 2 and reflected on what had taken place here 2000 years ago.

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

We then joined the carolers in the cave and realized that they were singing and speaking Korean. A group of Koreans were having an in-cave Christmas service, and had been joined by some Western passersby such as us. It was a powerful moment—believers from all over the world, with at least one thing in common, had descended on Bethlehem to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Sammy’s first Christmas Eve was certainly a memorable one—having celebrated where it all began.

Here's a view of the hills of the West Bank surrounding Bethlehem.

This shot represents what the residential areas of Bethlehem look like.

Palestinian version of Starbucks.

We really did feel "welcomed"...

Many churches fill the skyline of Bethlehem. Here are a couple...

This guy was part of the procession from Manger Square. He's carrying a Palestinian flag.

Many Santas lined the streets, attempting to draw tourists into their shops.

The town was definitely decked out for Christmas.

Lots of Palestinians flags were found...

Like this one with Yasser Arafat in the background. This was at Manger Square.

This guy was part of the Latin procession. It was crowded.

Rooftop of the Church of the Nativity on Manger Square (Bethlehem).

And here is the southern side of the Church of the Nativity, which purportedly stands over the place where Jesus was born.

This is a view of Manger Square itself. That's a Christmas Tree on the left, and a Mosque on the right. If you look closely, you can see the banner of Yasser Arafat that was included in a previous picture.  

These Palestinian soldiers were (thankfully) keping us safe...

Here's Nicki entering the Church of the Nativity through the "Door of Humility". We learned that the door used to be taller, but Crusaders shortened it in order to fend off attacks (it's no longer large enought to ride a horse through).

Here's Sammy and I in the Catholic section of the Church of Nativity. It is divided amongst various religous sects.  

We attempted to walk to the Shepherd's Field and ended up at field "E", the Franciscian owned & operated field. There is also an Orthodox field, among others. We met some friendly Singaporeans along our walk.  

There are many crosses all over town. Some residents of Bethlehem are Christians while others are Muslim. 

Finally, we arrived at the Franciscan Shepherd's Field. There were some Byzantine church ruins and several caves.

This is Nicki at the Shepher'd Field.

Here is the cave with the caroling Koreans--probably the highlight of our trip.

And finally, we returned to Manger Square (this time via taxi). We warmed up with tea purchased from two little Palestinian boys who's English vocabulary solely included the word "tea".

Biz Trip to Portland

In lieu of my business trip to Portland, Nicki ventured to the US Embassy in Tel Aviv to get additional pages added to our passports. Hard to believe that just three years ago we didn’t even have passports—and now they are full. Security is understandably tight at the Embassy. There are no windows on the first floor. Nicki couldn’t bring her cell phone into the building. Instead, she had to go next door to the “Embassy Coffee Shop” and pay them 10 shekels ($2.80) to “hold” the phone while she completed her business.

The Embassy isn’t the only place with tight security. Passengers who depart from Ben Gurion, Israel’s only international airport, are advised to arrive 3 hours early—and now I understand why. My bags have never been so scrutinized. They were scanned twice, then all of my belongings were pretty much taken out, and then I got to re-pack the items. My camera and telephoto lens caused some commotion, and were taken to another room for a while. The guards didn’t seem to mind me asking if I was in the “VIP” line, since I saw others (Israeli citizens?) getting through with much less rigor.

I boarded an El-Al airlines flight to London. I couldn’t help but notice the Israeli airline’s motto: “El-Al – It’s not just an airline, it’s Israel”. After a quick layover in London, it was on to Seattle. Then to Portland. While my 24 hour long trip duration felt long, I met a man from Beaverton who is serving in Afghanistan who’d been en-route to home for 5 days. First he took a chopper ride to Kabul, and then waited several days for a cargo plane to Dubai. Then to London. Then Seattle. Then Portland.

Being in Portland was great! I got to see several friends and even attend an amazing wedding. Those of you who know Tim & Katie know what I’m talking about when I say amazing. Witnessing them being faithful to each other and to God during this time is quite powerful. I also experienced the “feel” of the holiday season – music, decorations, cold weather, and yes—eggnog lattes at Starbucks.

The hard part was being away from Nicki and little Sammy. Sammy certainly kept his mommy busy, but Nicki was also able to get together with friends—some of which being Americans that we’d met in China…so now she’s seen them in China and Israel, but never in the US.

On the way home, I had an 11 hour layover in London during daylight hours, so took advantage of it. And, it was sunny (rare in December, I’m told). I even picked up some of the local dialect while I was there—allow me to try it with this next sentence: From Heathrow, I took the lift down to the Underground, then alighted the Tube and rode into the city—all the way minding the gap, of course. Actually, it felt a bit strange to be in a foreign country in which I could understand what people were saying….that hadn’t happened since Jamie and I were in Canada.

With my back-back on (my other bag was checked through), I power-walked my way around Westminster and then along the South side of the River Thames. After crossing the Tower Bridge, I then proceeded through downtown back to Westminster for some dinner. I was exhausted. Later, after Googling my adventure, I realized I had walked more than 7 miles.

With an additional 5 hour flight from London to Tel Aviv, I was finally home. Just one small hurdle remained—to pay for parking at the Ben Gurion long term lot. The pay machine wouldn’t take foreign cards, and I didn’t have enough cash or access to a cash machine. With some hand waiving, the attendant understood my story enough to make a phone call in Hebrew, and my understanding was that he had relayed my credit card number to someone who could charge it.

Finally, around 7am Tel Aviv time, I was back to Nicki & Sammy.

Below are some Londong layover pics...

It's about an hour journey from Heathrow to Westminster via the Tube (metro). Here is Big Ben with the London Eye (ferris wheel) in the background. Note the blue sky--that is, until about 3pm when some clounds rolled in, and then the sun set at 3:55pm.

Here's a view across the River Thames. That's the "Gherkin" building in the background.

This tower is part of the House of Parliament.

And this is London City Hall.

The famed "London Eye" ferris wheel.

Ok, first check out this view of the red car on the London Eye...

And here is a cropped versin of the same picture. 16 megapixels means that we can see the red car-riders' faces!

Saint Paul's Cathedral...

The Tower Bridge. No, this is NOT the London Bridge. The London Bridge is a nothing special.

Tower of London from across the River Thames.

 Westminster Abbey. It was more spectacular looking from other angles, but this was the angle with sunlight.

Golan Heights Getaway (and catching up)

It's beginning to look a lot like...Hanukkah. If I had not been in the States recently for a business trip (and more importantly, Tim & Katie’s wedding), I might not believe that Christmas is next week. You wouldn’t know that it’s mid-December here in Israel. Temperatures in Tel Aviv have been hovering around 70 degrees—and it was a balmy 77 today. Not that decorations and cold weather are a requirement for Christmas—that’s just what we’re used to.


A lot has happened in the month-or-so since our last blog. We celebrated Nicki’s birthday (it’s now the annual 6 month period where I can poke fun at her for being older than me). Iowa State beat #2 Oklahoma State in one of the best college football games I’ve ever seen (we watched it on time delay here in Israel on a Sunday morning). I bought a surfboard (though there have been no adequate waves during non-working daylight hours since my purchase). We’ve seen the rise and fall of several Republican candidates for the US Presidential race (my talkative cubemate is now a Newt Gingrich supporter based on his recent comment about the Palestinians being an “invented” people—though for the record, both Newt & my cubemate are in-favor of a Palestinian state). More rockets were fired into Israel (I learned of it via the US news while in Portland, though my Israeli cubemate said it was “nothing”, and Nicki hadn’t heard about it). Sammy is teething (and finally sleeping in the second bedroom). And, we made our first overnight trip in Israel while visiting the (disputed) Golan Heights.


Our trip to Golan in the far northeast corner of Israel was a much-needed escape from work for me, and a relaxing time for our little family. We stayed overnight at a “zimmer” on a “moshav” called Moshav Ramot, which is a hillside village (here for map) overlooking the northeastern corner of the Sea of Galilee.


Zimmer is an Israeli term (likely with German roots) for stand-alone vacation cabins that typically include a kitchenette as well as a Jacuzzi tub. For whatever reason, Israeli’s apparently won’t book a zimmer without the coveted tub. A moshav is an Israeli farming community. Moshav Ramot had a laid-back, rural feel. Within walking distance from our zimmer one could find a country store, cows grazing, and a restaurant.


We had dinner at the restaurant, and I noticed an older man wearing a kippa watch me struggle to eat while Sammy grabbed at my plate and utensils. After a few minutes, the man, using our waiter as a translator, asked if he could hold Sammy while we ate. Sammy seemed to like his new friend who held him, whistled for him, kissed him, and let him play with anything he could get his hands on--which included his traditionally long beard. Nicki and I ate in peace and were actually quite moved by the stranger’s gesture.


Our time in the Golan was quite fascinating. Along the way we witnessed an outdoor ski slope, tanks, ruins, vineyards, vultures, a castle and the Jordan River among other things. We also got to peer into both Jordan and Syria, both of which border Israel. And since a picture is worth 1000 words, I’ve posted several pictures below if you’re interested.


But first, here is Sammy cheering on the mighty Cyclones!

While driving from Tel-Aviv to Moshav Ramot, we neared the border with the country of Jordan.

In fact, here is a view into Jordan. I suppose this would be the Jordan River Valley.

Here is an up-close view of the Jordan River. Not quite what we were expecting. Perhaps it is mightier in the Spring.

Lots of irrigated agriculture in Israel. The Sea of Galilee is the dominant source of water.

Nicki spotted the Yehudiya Village ruins (apparently built during the 4th century AD) from the highway.

Then we came across this line of Israeli tanks, aimed towards the border with Syria.

We moved in for a closer look. At first, I was a bit nervous--but then I realized that this is probably what some of my co-workers do when they are on they are on army-duty. Serving as the great equalizer, all Israelis must serve in the military--men serve 3 years, and women serve two. The men also get called back for annual (?) service in what seem to be two-week increments. We've learned that many Israelis meet their eventual mate while serving in the military.

Notice the Star of David on the side of this tank.

We stopped at the Golan Heights winery for some tasting. It's Biblical! :)

That's our zimmer on the right, our car on the left, and the Sea of Galilee in the background.

And here is another view of the lake (Sea of Galilee) from our moshav. Moshav Ramot was an interesting mix of agriculture, animals, pick-up trucks, palm trees--oh, and zimmers!

There are two Israeli-breakfast delivery companies in Ramot - we took advantage (Sammy was pleased). They simply drop off a basket full of goodies at the time the customer specifies, and then pick it up later.

We later came across this sign and realized that our tank sighting wasn't all that uncommon in the Golan.

We stopped to check out ruins from a Byzantine church, and came across this "vulture acclimitazation" cage. Apparently Griffon Vultures nest in the cliffs of the Golan Heights.  

Here's Nicki and Sammy exploring the Byzantine church.

This is a view of the "United Nations Disengagement Zone", on the border of Israel & Syria. Can you see the Syrian flag? We saw a white SUV drive by with "UN" written in black letters on the driver's side door.

We passed this abandoned Israeli tank seemingly used in the 1974 war against Syria. I couldn't resist...

This is a view of Nimrod's Castle (aka Nimrod's Fortress), also in the Golan Heights--on the slope of Mt Hermon, in fact. Nimrod is not an insult in Israel.

View to the east from Nimrod's Fortress. That's the Druze village of Ein Kinya in the background. 

This "room" was used as a water cistern. It ideally would have been full of rain water.

And here's Nicki and Sammy again. Sammy seemed to like Nimrod's Castle.

The end.