2009 Middle East Travel Seminar

This morning we went from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, where we will be spending the rest of our days. Bethlehem is in Palestine and Jerusalem is in Israel, so we had to cross through the Israeli checkpoint. This was very easy for us. Our guide, who is Palestinian, could not cross with us on the bus. He had to go to the checkpoint earlier in the morning and stand in line for over an hour before going through a check similar to what we go through at the airport- shoes off, metal detector, document check... He (like all Palestinians) must have a special permit to get into Jerusalem. He can get one because he is a tour guide. However, many people cannot get them and the permits are very specialized, so that a person who has a business permit would not be able to go to Jerusalem for, say, medical services, without getting a different permit. Also, Palestinians cannot take their cars out of Palestine. They must walk through the checkpoint and take a taxi on the other side. For those who work in Jerusalem, this costly (both in time and money) routine happens twice a day. Also, Palestinians are not permitted to spend the night in Jerusalem, so they must make sure they leave early enough to get through the checkpoint in the evening. I cannot imagine living like this...

In Jerusalem, we did a lot of walking. There were several places that were particularly moving for me. One was the Pater Noster Church, the traditional place that Jesus taught the Our Father. All around the church, the prayer is written in any language you can imagine. It is beautiful. The traditional place is actually in a cave and when we walked down to it, all I could do was to recite the prayer, both in English and Spanish. As with many places, it is hard to describe the feeling...

Another place that was particularly moving was our visit to St. Anne's Church, traditional site for Mary's birth. The church is a Crusader church and the acoustics are absolutely spectacular. Our group sang two songs together. Later, as we were walking around, someone in the group mentioned how it would be beautiful to sing the Ave Maria there. We were in a chapel below, and I started humming it and then singing it as I was going up the stairs. When I got into the church, I stopped and sang the whole thing. Honestly, I don't know if I sang all the right words, but I did sing all the right notes and it was quite incredible. It was one of those moments that seemed to last a second and a long time all at once. I want to go back there when we have free time later in the week...

There is now a line of people waiting to use the computer, so I am going to end there. I could write about our impromptu visit to the Russian church dedicated to Mary Magdelene or our visit to the Church of the Holy Sepuchre, but that will have to wait.

This evening (afternoon for you all), our group will be watching the inauguration...

Until the next time...

Peace,
Cory