Bethlehem and other adventures

Today almost didn't happen. All our grand intentions fell away when we stayed up 'till 1:30 watching the Scorpion King in the lounge (The Rock is the best) and then slept 'till noon. So there went our "get a lot done today" plan. But Stephanie and I eventually got moving and caught the Palestinian bus into Bethlehem. Yes, I know it's in the West Bank, and no, nobody died. It was actually quite nice there. And everybody spoke better English than in Jerusalem...

It happens to be the last day of the Olive Festival today, so there were some traditional Palestinian performances going on in Manger Square. We did a little shopping and then headed into the Basilica of the Nativity. How very disappointing. The place wasn't a church - it was a circus. Dozens of tour groups going through chattering away at top volume, pushing and shoving to get ahead in the line to get into the grotto downstairs where the big event is supposed to have happened. A wedding started while we were in line, and people couldn't even be quit for the poor bride to come in. Ugh. So needless to say all the gabbing and shoving didn't do much for the impression that the church made on me, but it is a lovely basilica, and I was able to appreciate the history of the place, even if I didn't appreciate my fellow travelers. I don't know where I get off being all self-righteous about it, but it just seemed like people were pretty rude considering how much the place means to people...

I also had my first experience with shabbat last night/today. Let me tell you, this place shuts down. All except East Jerusalem where all the Muslims live, of course. But the New City hops when the sun goes down on Saturday. Once we got back from Bethlehem, we headed out for a real dinner that did not include pita bread. We settled on some Chinese food and joy of joys, in Stephanie I have found a partner in gluttony. We stuffed ourselves on Chinese food, then decided that tomorrow, we will cook our own meals all day. What a luxury! No falafel for a whole day! So we headed into the heart of New City to find a grocery store (which we did - not a convenience store!), and found the place hopping. It's a far cry from the somber tones of the Old City. Hippies in kippas drumming and dancing, Korean evangelists singing, bars hopping, shops open late, and best yet, gelato stores open and full of deliciousness. So we grabbed groceries and gelato and wandered the streets a while enjoying the party atmosphere.

But it's off to bed early tonight: we're going to High Latin Mass at Holy Sepulchre at 6:30 tomorrow morning, so no sleeping late allowed. Then off to Masada in the afternoon. Ambitious plans to atone for today's sloth and gluttony.

Cold or no cold...

I've never been one to let a little sickness get in the way of my seeing old stuff, so today I decided it was time to suck it up and get out there. So I started my day with a new box of tissues, some pseudoephedrine, and the Ramparts Walk. You basically get to walk around the walls of the city and see everything from a defending soldier's point of view. Very cool with some panoramic views. You can't go all the way around because of security concerns, so I jumped off at St. Stephen's/Lion's Gate and lit out for the Valley of Jehosephat and the Mount of Olives. It was some serious walking but it kept my nose clear. I got a great view from the top of the Mount of Olives, and got to see the Jewish cemetery, which is huge due to the fact that when the Messiah shows up, those buried there get first dibs on eternal life.
After that, I hit the Garden of Gethsemane and several churches in the area. All of them were very cool and I have plenty to say about them, but the computer gets shut down at midnight so I have to go. But I'm not dead, and there'll be more to report tomorrow!

Still nothing to report

Just a quick check in to let you know that despite being laid out by a cold, I'm still well.

I will say, however, that this hostel is a freak show of the first order. There's a guy here who claims to be afflicted by the Jerusalem Syndrome (the thing where people who come here suddenly believe that they are the messiah). Then, this morning a rather large man in a rather small pair of underwear wandered downstairs, almost went out to the square, then thought better of it and parked himself in the lounge to watch TV. But that's not wierd. What's wierd is that while Underpants Man was making his wanderings, I overheard a couple of women talking about the baby that had been born on the roof last night. So bizarre...

Oh well, back to blowing my nose and trying to get in touch with Turkish Air's Tel Aviv bureau to get my reservation changed so I can stay in this circus a little longer...

Update: Boring Me

Today was a really boring day. Much needed, but not much to report. But because I know some of you are nervous about me being in the world's most controversial city, I thought I'd assuage your anxiety and write anyway.
I voted this morning. That was good. Rocked up to the consulate and got my absentee ballot, so now I've done my civic duty. Yay civic duty. The consulate was a mob scene, and it looked more like the waiting room for a pediatrician's office than anything else. Everybody had a toddler or an infant or both. Plus a couple of old ladies and me. Very strange.
Then I wandered around and got a way overpriced shwarma for lunch. Good, but not 45 shekels worth of good. Oh well.
Then I got lost in the old city because all the narrow alleys look the same. Not scary lost, because even at the farthest point from my hostel, I'm never more than half a mile away, and the walls stop you before you can wander too far off.
After that I took a nap because I think I'm getting a cold. I knew my health was too good to last...so now I'm loading up on my precious supply of immune-boosters and hoping for the best.
Then I went back to the wall for a while because it's a holiday today (embarrassingly, I am not exactly sure what it is...it's either the end of Sukkot or it's Simchat Torah...today's Ha'aretz has a Simchat Torah supplement, but everybody's saying Sukkot...). Some of the younger guys were partying it up, singing and dancing with Torah scrolls, but we were kind of up to the back, so it was hard to see much. Still cool, but I can't provide much detail.
Found a felafel for dinner, and am now munching on some Turkish delight. And I found (drumroll please) for reals cereal in a market in the neighborhood. Not even corn flakes, which are everywhere, but actual cereal with stuff in it. I know it doesn't sound like much to you, but it's amazing what can make a traveller's day...
So that's that. Cereal and a ballot. And not dead from a politically motivated bombing. Rhinovirus permitting, I'll have something interesting to tell you tomorrow.

Onward!

So Petra was really cool stuff. We spent two days hiking and checking out all the different buildings in the area. The site is huge, which I hadn't realized. We saw a lot of high points, including the tourist-free spot that is up above the Treasury building, so we could look down on the building and all the activity below. Very cool. We Tomb-Raidered it up scrambling into old tombs and homes, and all hummed the Indiana Jones theme song as we passed through the canyon and arrived at the Treasury. After our first day we sat in the common room and watched Indy on VHS, including our own narrations when the sound cut out. What a blast.
Yesterday we went up to Amman in the afternoon. We kind of bummed around for a few hours (much needed rest time for me!), and by the time we got going again it was too late to get into the ruins of ancient Philadelphia. There is a nice little park that has a cafe and is all lit up after dark, so I got to walk along the colonnaded Roman street and peek through the bars at the Roman theater (huge and intact). A tourist police guy was apparently a little bored on a quiet night, so he gave me a quick tour of the places that were still open to the public. Very nice!
Today Ben and Rols and I had our last hurrah together before parting ways and headed off to the Dead Sea. We had a mishap with our "direct to Amman Beach" bus, which decided to change routes and kick us off in the middle of nowhere instead. We got a cab and headed down to the public beach only to find it was insanely expensive. You're not paying for the beach so much as the showers, which are necessary for washing off all the salt from the hyper-salinated Sea, so the guys decided we'd just buy a bunch of bottled water, head down to the no-man's-land part of the Sea, and douse ourselves when we were finished. As a result we had the "beach" all to ourselves, and we had a lovely time defying gravity and levitating on the surface of the water. All the pictures you see of people bobbing on top of the water are true. It's crazy. It also stings like crazy on any cuts you may have...ow!
From there, it was time to take our leave. We flagged down a cab (actually a woman teaching her daughter to drive, which added excitement) and they dropped me off at the Israeli/West Bank border. After a fond farewell - I'll miss those guys - the fellas headed back to Amman and I hit the border. It was remarkably free of headaches for me, although I hear that's not the case with everyone. I then hopped the bus to Jerusalem and ran into a girl I met in Petra, so I have a few more days of built-in travel buddies.

So now I'm in Jerusalem, staying in a guest house that once housed the likes of Herman Melville and Mark Twain. I am pretty sure the place has gone downhill since then, but you can't beat the location - right on the Tower of David in the Old City. Amazing. It's hard to describe the impact Jerusalem has, even on a person of no particular convictions. The presence of something bigger than everyday life is palpable, especially at the Western Wall, where we went after dinner tonight. We just stood and absorbed it for nearly an hour, and we plan to go back tomorrow as well. It's just really beautiful...

Time for bed! Big day exploring the city and taking care of flights and embassy stuff tomorrow...