Bob picked us up and we headed the six miles to Bethlehem. Bob has been to Bethlehem many times but he was usually on a bus leading a tour. Our rental car is not allowed in Bethlehem because it is in the West Bank. So we decided to park the car and walk across. The guide book said we could grab a cab on the other side for about 20 shekels.
It took awhile to figure out where to park and which gate to use to cross into the West Bank. I had my passport ready but no one ever asked for it. We were past the wall before we knew it.
We came out to a sea of waiting taxis. I felt a little bit like we were open season. The cab drivers all started suggesting we pay them 200 shekels a piece for two cabs to go to the Church of Nativity then the Shepherds' Field and then back to the wall. We were unprepared for the pressure of this event. We wanted to take taxis between those places when we wanted to leave and we didn't want to pay so much. We decided to walk the 7 km. They followed us and said we could all fit in one taxi for 150 shekels. We agreed. I got the front seat but the other four were jammed in the back. We were excited to visit the place where Jesus was born.
We had gone about three blocks when the police pulled us over in an out of way place. The cab driver got out and pleaded with them. It was over in seconds. He got back in the car and said he had been pulled over for having too many people in the car. He said he told the police he was just driving us down the hill to a monastery. He took us there and dropped us off and said he would be back. I figured we would never see him again. We milled around outside and Bob pointed out the Shepherds' Field in the distance. It's a valley, not a hillside.
Very shortly he returned and said the police had made him pay 300 shekels and were now waiting for him around the corner. Pretty soon another cab driver showed up and said we should split into two cabs for 150 shekels a piece. It felt like a scam to get us away from the taxi stand so we would pay anything. Again we told them we would walk. Eventually we agreed to 50 shekels per cab to go to the Church of the Nativity. The cab driver for the car I was in kept saying, "Why do you have to make this so hard?" When we arrived at the Church of the Nativity we had an awkward feeling about the whole thing. We just wanted to go where we wanted. We felt like they were the ones who made it so hard. We had to keep unpacking that event for the rest of the day. This is the church it took so much hassle to visit.
The Church of the Nativity is shared by three religious groups: Greek Orthodox, Armenians and Roman Catholics. It was hard to get the full picture of the place because they are doing restoration.
Parts of the Helena church still exist making it the oldest church in the Holy Land. When the Persians were destroying churches in the Holy Lands they left this one alone because it had a piece of artwork of the three Magi and the Magi looked like them. Under the modern floor are mosaic tiles from the early church.
We got in the line that formed down the right side of the sanctuary. It is the line to go into the cave under the chancel area. It is said to be the cave where Jesus was born. As we waited in the long line Bob explained the church to us. He told us that in the time of Jesus it wouldn't have been odd for a family home to be built above a cave so they could use the cave to house the animals. He said it was possible that we were about to visit the place where Jesus was born.
The way down into the grotto starts with a semi-circle set of stairs that leads down to a narrow doorway. It was a zoo of people jockeying for position. The stairs were steep and I found myself quite worried aout how I would navigate with my knee. Bob and Zandra stayed close and eventually I made it down the steps into the sweltering hot cave.
On your right there is a star on the ground. Tradition says that this is the place where Mary gave birth to Jesus. In the middle of the star is a hole you can reach down through the to touch the smooth stone below. Again, there was no way I could kneel down so I had to just look and not touch.
Directly across from the place where Jesus was born is an area said to be where the manger was.While we were down inside the grotto Bob ran in to a man he went to school with and who he hasn't seen for years. We were again reminded of what a deep history Bob has in Israel. Up out of the cave and into fresh air we went next door to the Catholic Church of St. Catherine.
In the photo above, the man of the statue with the skull at his feet is Jerome. This church is also built over a cave, which is said to be where Jerome (from the 4th century) studied and then translated the Latin Vulgate. We went back down another set of steep stairs. The first area of the cave is surrounded by tombs which are said to be the tombs of the innocents. The innocents are the male children under two years of age that Herod had killed hoping to end the life of Jesus before he could grow up and become king. (See Matthew 2.)
A large area next to that first room is said to house the tombs of Paula and Eustochium, two wealthy women benefactors of Jerome.
The area said to be Jerome's study was gated off for a group having mass. They were Africans and we guessed them to be from South Africa. Up a narrow hallway of the cave you come to a wooden door. Bob says that if you watch the Christmas Eve mass from Bethlehem you see the Catholic priests move through this wooden door and up into the Church of the Nativity.
Once we were back outside we decided not to go to Shepherds' Field. We had seen it from the monastery when the cab driver dropped us off abruptly. We split up and went shopping in Manger Square. Zandra has a cold and I have been sporting a bad cough the whole trip. We headed for the nearest pharmacy. It was an eye opening experience for me of life in the West Bank. There was next to nothing on the shelves. Zandra explained to the man behind the counter what she wanted and he got his last box for her. I wanted cough syrup. When he gave me change he counted it out twice so I would know he was not cheating me. I know we have a fence and barbed wire between our country and Mexico but a wall within a country is new to me. It was very distressing. When we came out of the pharmacy we hiked up the hill rather than back towards Manger Square. We found ourselves in the section where the Palestinians shop, not the tourists. Parts of it felt very much like a garage sale. And then there was this.
Starbucks does business with Palestinians but you won't find them in the rest of Israel. At our agreed upon time we got back together. This time we made a plan. Only one person would negotiate with the cab drivers and we would go as high as 30 shekels per cab. I was hot and tired and hungry and I hoped we weren't walking back the 7 km. We were successful. Back to the wall we went. This time we had to put our things through the scanner. Then we had to go through a passport check. As soon as they saw our American papers we were sent right through. Bob told us that we would have been in long lines to get back in if it hadn't been Shabbat. Our car was where we left it and we drove back to Jerusalem. We parked the car on the street. Bob walked to the Gloria and we walked to our hotel. Bob leaves early tomorrow morning to begin his dig.
We met for dinner at the Focaccia Bar, one of the few restaurants open on Shabbat. This is a celebratory meal with Bob. We shared our gratitude and spent time processing our major learnings in Israel.
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