On Monday I was told that we were having a pizza party that evening at 6pm at Mundo's. I was clear that I was invited, but I didn't know what the occasion was. Since I knew where the pizza place was, I decided to walk rather than take up room in someone's vehicle. Silly me, I showed up at exactly 6 pm. Others came after 15 – 20 minutes. That just seems to be the Arab way. The view from the back room of Mundo's is fantastic. You overlook the valley and at night the lights form the shapes of residential areas, highways, and settlements. The pizza was very good. We sort of chipped in together to get pizzas and some people got sandwiches.

The people who were invited to this pizza party were guests at Bethlehem Bible College: The president of BBC, Bishara Awad and his wife Salwa; Jonathan Kuttab, the chair of the board of BBC; several who deal with fundraising in the UK and US; international volunteers helping out at the college; and a few others and me. We had a great time. After we finished eating and were sitting around chatting, Jonathan Kuttab came over and sat next to me. I enjoyed getting a chance to talk with him about his views on Palestine and Israel – and Obama and the US.

Since I was going to be away on my class day, I decided to give a mid-term exam. I had to write it early in the week, then have the academic secretary translate it for me into Arabic. I have access to the Arabic Bible through BibleWorks and a great software program called Arab Bible. So I tried to include the Arabic terms rather than rely on Amira to figure out which word I was referring to by my English.

On Wednesday (Nov. 12) I managed to arrange a ride into Jerusalem, where I was to be picked up at Notre Dame along with other Sabeel Conference attendees and taken to Nazareth for the first part of the conference. I was accompanying a couple who volunteer in the gift shop at BBC and were taking a load of merchandise to be included in a Christmas sale at the American embassy. When we came to the checkpoint, the soldier at first waved us on, but then he must have caught sight of all of the boxes in the back of the van and yelled out to us. He then began questioning us and had us pull off to the side. Another soldier was brought over. He began questioning us about all of the merchandise. He said there was a problem, that this was against the law, and taxes should be paid, etc. This went on for 10 minutes. We had the entire list of everything being brought and the document for the American embassy. The soldier either got exasperated or someone else told him to let us through. But we were allowed to go merrily on our way.

I was delighted that the driver managed to take me directly to where I needed to go, even though I didn't know exactly where I needed to go. After an hour or two wait along with the growing number of people getting dropped off, we loaded up the bus and set off for Nazareth. It was a familiar journey traveling east from Jerusalem. We passed the rugged terrain of the hills of Judea and dropped down to enter into the Jordan valley, passing Jericho along the way. But then we turned north, heading toward the Galilee.

We had an anxious few minutes at the Israeli checkpoint. We were flagged off to the side. The driver had to open the baggage compartment and go inside with his papers. They brought a German shepherd to sniff our luggage. Apparently the dog didn't find anything offensive, and we were allowed to continue.

It was a long drive to Nazareth. We stopped once for a bathroom break. The camel penned at the side of the building shared some of his flies with us. We took a few dozen to Nazareth along with us in the bus. After figuring out all of the logistics for getting people and their luggage to their various hotels, we finally joined together at the Basilica of Annunciation for a worship service. The basilica was very beautiful. I especially enjoyed seeing Greek orthodox iconography with Arabic script. Bishop Boulos (Paul) Marcuzzo gave the homily. After the service we gathered for a time of refreshment and fellowship.

I decided to stay, not at the Golden Crown hotel, but at the less expensive Grand New Hotel. The accommodations are quite suitable. I have been having interesting and informative conversations with people attending the conference. Many of them are from the UK, but also a good representation of attendees from North America. There are also people from other European countries, as well as Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, and some other places I'm sure I'm overlooking. People come from many Christian denominations both catholic and protestant. There is a good contingent of British Friends with whom I've become acquainted.  Best of all are all of the Palestinian Christian brothers and sisters who are attending the conference.

The first day of sessions on Thursday was a marathon of panels about the situation of Palestinians living within Israel. Some panelists described the situation as apartheid. Palestinian Israeli's are discriminated against by law. It affects every aspect of their life within Israel. The afternoon ended with a panel including Rabbi Arik Ascherman, the executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights, who is a progressive Israeli but a defender of Israel's identity as a Jewish state. He described himself as a "cultural Zionist." For him Israel's claim to the land is not more legitimate than the Palestinians but also not less legitimate.

On Friday we were divided into three or four different groups and taken to different areas of northern Israel where Palestinian villages had been depopulated and demolished as a result of the formation of the state of Israel in 1948. To introduce the theme, we were delighted to hear of the work of Eitan Bronstein, an Israeli and founder of Zochrot. His organization advocates for Palestinians among Israelis by supporting the right of return for Palestinians and spreading awareness of the Palestinian life and culture which existed prior to 1948. He showed us some pictures of their work. He told the story of one Arab woman who came to visit Israel from the US. She inquired about the village where her parents had originally lived before leaving in 1948. Zochrot helped her locate the village and took her there. She was on the cell phone with her parents getting directions so that she could walk through the overgrown rubble and actually find the spot where her parents' home had been. It still moves me nearly to tears now as it did when I saw the picture of this young woman sitting on the stones which had once been her family's home before being forcibly evicted, not only from home but from the land of their ancestors.

We first visited a site near Nazareth where about the only evidence of the village is the Muslim cemetery. We had to walk through a field, pass through a fence gate, and pick our way between simple burial plots. In this instance, we learned that one way to tell where a Palestinian village had been located is to look for olive trees and cactus. Cactus was grown as a fence around property and olive trees were a basic part of Palestinian diet. On the converse, you can also detect sites of demolished Palestinian villages by pine trees. Apparently pine trees are not indigenous to the region. But these trees make excellent cover to hide the ruins beneath them. They also have the ability to grow roots into the ground which break apart the stone structures still existing below ground. We could see in the distance a hill side covered with pine trees, all of which had been a Palestinian village before the inhabitants were forced to leave.

We were told of various ways in which the Palestinians were evacuated and displaced. In one village soldiers went to different areas of the village and killed groups of young men as a warning for everyone to flee. In other cases they were given little time to gather belongings and leave, sometimes walking great distances with nothing more than a blanket. In yet another instance, soldiers pinned down the inhabitants whenever anyone tried to leave their home to get water from the village well. Eventually they had to leave or die in their homes.

This was the experience at Ma'lul. We trekked up the winding road that leads to the top of the hill where this village had once thrived. Besides the rubble that lays at the feet of hundreds of pine trees, there is only the mosque, the Melkite church, and the Greek orthodox church still standing. There is a sign placed by the Israelis at the top of the hill indicating that there had once been a Christian/Muslim village on the site but that the inhabitants had abandoned it. What was rather amazing was for us to come across several Israeli families from a nearby kibbutz having a picnic next to the ruins of the Melkite church. It is a peaceful spot and quite beautiful, but it is the beauty and serenity of the death of a people with stones laying everywhere as though they were grave markers noting the location of a way of life destroyed by violence and cruelty.

After boarding the bus again, we went on to some other sites. One area we drove by. Here again you can see the remains of the village scattered throughout the pine trees. We went to one area that is now completely built up. We visited a Greek Orthodox church and then a Russian Orthodox church. These Palestinian Christians know that beneath all of the modern Israeli homes and businesses lay the foundations of their village and their way of life. Now they are a small minority. It is interesting that some 30,000 Russians who came to Israel were allowed to emigrate because they had Jewish ancestors. What the Israelis didn't bother to check was whether these Russians were still practicing Jews. In fact they were all Russian orthodox. Surprise, surprise.

There is much more to learn and experience both here in Nazareth and next week as the conference continues in Jerusalem. I feel very fortunate to be here.

On Sunday I decided to attend the East Jerusalem Baptist Church again. Like last time we loaded up in a van leaving from Bethlehem. We went to the same checkpoint as last time. This time the young Israeli soldier told us we couldn't go through this way from Bethlehem. She said we would have to turn around and go the other way into Jerusalem. It took us much longer to get there and the roads were not as good. We arrived at church a few minutes late and missed a few of the worship songs at the beginning.

It was a special treat to gather together after church for a little picnic in the yard under the olive trees. Everyone is always so generous at meals, making sure every has enough, and sharing food with others. Even though Americans eat together individually at the same table, they don't eat together as a group in the same way as Arabs do.

I've been spending time studying Arabic and reading books about Palestine, including learning some more about Islam. It's fun to see who might show up at tea time or lunch during the week. Christians from around the world stop by to visit the college. One group was with the organization Sat7 , a ministry of broadcasting Arabic Christian programming to the Middle East. Another group was Jerusalem Gateway Partnership . Another couple represents a ministry of giving low-interest loans for start-up businesses aiming at economic and community development.

I decided to return to Ramallah on Wednesday. I walked down to the bus stop. A number 21 bus was sitting there. It wasn't a large bus like I had traveled on last time. After waiting awhile for the bus to fill up (and the driver, since he was eating a sandwich from the outdoor falafel stand about three feet from his door), we set off for Jerusalem. After winding our way through Beit Jala, we came to the checkpoint. We sat for a long time just waiting for a bus ahead of us to be cleared. Once it was our turn, the process was quick and everyone loaded back in. When we arrived in Jerusalem, I knew this time exactly where to go to catch the 18 bus to Ramallah. I tried to watch the signs on buildings to see when their location would change from saying Jerusalem (Al Quds) to Ramallah. I did finally notice El Bireh, the sister city of Ramallah. Before I knew it, we were there. A block or so away from where the bus drops people along the street is the center of Ramallah. I walked down there to try to figure out which street to take to get to the Friends School. I knew the name of the street and had drawn myself a map in my notebook. I tried to ask someone about which street was Al Nadha. I decided to go ahead and have an early lunch at Stars & Bucks cafe. I had read that it was upstairs in the building. It wasn't readily apparent where to go to get upstairs. I found an entrance along the side of the building on the right. There were some elevators, so I decided to get in the elevator and ask people how to get to Stars & Bucks . No one knew, but one guy tried to help me. He would ask everyone, but no one seemed to know. I rode the elevator up with people and then back down again. My elevator friend got off at a lower level, looked down the stairs, and then pointed to it. So I found where I was going.

Stars & Bucks is a very nice cafe. They imitate the Starbucks look. It's sort of a satirical homage to Starbucks. I was hoping to get a good cup of coffee. On the menu was black coffee and a double black coffee. I ordered the double black coffee and ended up with a nice mug of rich, black coffee. I think I ordered a Shawerma sandwich, but I'm not sure what I ended up with. I expected something with a lot of turkey. It was good anyway. I also ordered the Turkish Salad. That was very tasty.

I had an excellent view out the window. I was able to ask a waiter which street as Al Nadha. He didn't know either. Then I said I was going to the Friends School . That he knew. He pointed to the street I had just been on. After eating my lunch, I made my way back to the right street. A few blocks down I came to the Friends School. The director, Joyce Ajlouny, made some time for me in her busy schedule. I had tried to arrange a time to visit on Wednesday but was only told to give myself a couple of hours and the school closes at 3pm. I tried to call the school once I arrived in Ramallah, but I can't figure out how to dial phone numbers on my cell phone. Dialing all of the numbers didn't work and dialing any subset of the numbers didn't work. I still don't know what I'm doing wrong.

Finally we were able to find someone who could spare a little time to walk me around the campus of the upper school, what was originally the boys school.

It is certainly a highly respected elementary and high school. The buildings and grounds are very nice and are continuing to expand and improve. The students were welcoming, kind, and helpful. The Friends United Meeting, which is located in my hometown of Richmond, Indiana, oversees – if that's the right word – the work of the school. A new book published by Friends United Press, Enduring Hope: The Impact of the Ramallah Friends Schools ,  by Patricia Edwards-Konic, tells more about the school.

I originally planned to attend a public lecture at the Friends Meetinghouse at 6 pm. By the time I finished at the Friends School, I was tired. I had gotten up early to watch the news about the election. Traveling by bus, being a stranger in the midst of masses of people, going through Israeli checkpoints, is all very taxing. I knew if I left Ramallah I would arrive back in Bethlehem just before dark, which happens by about 6pm. I had thought about visiting Birzeit University . There were other things I would like to have seen, but I decided to find my way to the bus station and head back to Bethlehem.

When I got on the 18 bus, I was trying to give the driver the right change. I think what I thought was a 5 shekel coin was actually a 1/2 shekel coin. He was exasperated with me and took what he needed from my hand. I just couldn't figure out what was wrong. It was dark in the lower level of the garage and I couldn't see what was written on the coin.

What a mess it was at the checkpoint. Vehicles were parked every which way trying to nose into line. We had to go up the curb and onto the center of the little plaza of the round-about. These little mini-buses were backing up and moving forward with just inches to spare between each other. But no one was getting angry or cutting in front of anyone else. They all seemed to work together to get everyone through as quickly as possible. Of course, while I was sitting on the bus with the elderly and mothers with children, everyone else had to walk into the building and go through security. The Israeli soldier just came on the bus and glanced around at our passports and papers. After driving through the checkpoint, we went into the parking lot and picked up our passengers. I'm not even sure whether it was the same passengers or not. This time I took the same bus, the 21, back into Bethlehem. I didn't want to go to the Bethlehem checkpoint, walk through, and then walk the half mile or so into Bethlehem.

My class on Friday went about as well as can be expected. Since I will be at the Sabeel Conference next Friday, I decided to give a mid-term exam on that day. I spent at least a half an hour talking about the exam and then spent another half hour talking about the main narrative of the book of Hebrews. After the tea break, I spent the remaining hour finishing chapter six of Hebrews.

Next week I will be attending the first part of the Sabeel Conference in Nazareth. I'm looking forward to this. It will be a great time of listening to speakers and touring sites that are a witness to the Palestinian catastrophe in which many of them were forced to leave their homes and land, many of whom are stilling living in refugee ghettos.

On Thursday this week the college held its annual field day. I'm not sure what they call it officially, but it was like having an all-school picnic with a time of worship, having grilled chicken and Arabic salads, and some game time.

We traveled across town in Beit Jala to a Lutheran Christian center. It is a very nice facility. We met first for our weekly chapel service. A large group of students were visiting the area from Northwestern College in St. Paul, MN. We sang some Christian worship songs. I might have said before, these seem to be songs developed in Egypt. I haven't heard them sing any Western Christian worship/praise songs. For anyone who is "clapping-impaired," following along clapping with this music would be a greater challenge than most music we hear in the States. But it is lively music and music with great intensity and feeling. The college students from Minnesota sang a song in English; it was very nice but a much slower, subdued type of music.

One of the students, Elias, who is from Gaza, led the worship and gave a devotional talk. He talked about the beginning of the book of Ruth. The irony is that Naomi and her family left Bethlehem, the name of which city means "house of bread," because of a famine. Elias spoke about the spiritual feast Christians have in Bethlehem and the need for them to share that spiritual food to those in need.

The picnic lunch we shared was very good. There were generous amounts of grilled chicken with tasty spices. There were the usual Arabic salad, olives, pickles, hummus, baba ghanoush, and a few others. Of course there was pita bread. And there were french fries. Later we had a dessert. I don't know what it's called or what's in it besides honey. It looks like filling is rolled up. The exterior is a dark brown and the filling I think has pine nuts. I'm not sure. I do know it is delicious. [It is Kanafeh or knafeh.]

Our group was first up to compete in a tug-of-war with another group. As you might expect, everyone thought my group would win with me as the anchor on the end. It was certainly one of the most strenuous things I've done in quite awhile. I haven't asked anyone if they took a picture of our contest, and I don't intend on doing so. I sat out on the sack races. We were just beginning to do another game when the dessert was served. Many of us deserted the games for the sweet relief. Just then we got a little bit of rain, so we moved underneath a large tree.

I have two observations about eating customs. One is the practice of eating with the fingers. Not only do Palestinian people eat with their fingers, they manage to do it without making a mess. I make more of a mess eating with a fork than they do eating with their fingers and using the pita bread as a scoop. They also have a custom of sharing their food. We all went through the line individually and fixed our plates. When I joined a table, I could see that they had made a plate with the various items for dipping and were sharing it. Someone would go get a bunch of chicken pieces and put it in the center of the table, and everyone would take from it. Everyone was very gracious and made sure everyone had plenty to eat and drink. This made me think about the expression we use in my house for minding your own business. My wife will say, "Eat in your own plate." I kept thinking about that during lunch. Maybe there should be an expression that means be sociable: "Eat in your neighbor's plate."

I'm beginning to be able to speak Arabic a little bit. Our class has focused on the verb system as the backbone of language. I need to continue to learn verbs but also need to learn many more nouns and adjectives. I can say that I want something, like something, or have something, but I probably don't know what it's called in Arabic. I have one more week to go in the class I've been taking. I don't really have the finances to continue taking the classes. I will need to make sure I continue study on my own and talk to people in Arabic.

The big problem with learning a language in another country is many of the people speak English and are more than willing to converse with you in English. Someone reminded me of the joke, if a polyglot is someone who speaks many languages, what is someone called who only speaks one language? An American.

The other day I needed to buy a pair of scissors to trim my moustache. I tried doing it with toenail clippers and even a kitchen knife. Couldn't do it. I walked into a pharmacy and the owner began speaking to me in English. We had a nice conversation. As I remember, he has relatives that live in Michigan near Flint. But he didn't have any scissors. On the next block was another pharmacy. This man also spoke English very well. I had another nice conversation about US politics and the economy. And I got my little scissors plus he sold me a single disposable razor.

I found a shop that makes wonderful falafel sandwiches. I've had falafel sandwiches for dinner two nights in a row. I might go for three tonight. The first night it was an older man who waited on me. He couldn't speak much English, so I tried my Arabic on him. I told him I was learning Arabic at the Dar Annadwa Center. He asked a clarifying question that I couldn't understand, something about school. When I left there I realized I could have asked for what I wanted in Arabic. That made me feel good.

Sunday – 10/12

I left my apartment early this morning in order to figure out where to get a bus from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, then from Jerusalem to Ramallah, find the Friends meetinghouse in Ramallah, and then make the return trip. I wasn't sure how much anything was going to cost. I knew taking the bus was rather inexpensive, but my alternative was to take a private taxi and make sure I got there.

After having a few minutes of prayer before leaving, I made my way up the hill to try to get some more cash in case I needed it. After walking up the hill by Bethlehem University, I discovered that the ATM I've been using was temporarily out of service. Now I knew I would need to take the bus and not a taxi. I had about 140 shekels on me. Just down the hill on Scinema near the Hebron Rd. is the area I believed was the "bus station." There were a dozen or so people standing around, so I joined them. After about 10-15 minutes a large, white & blue bus pulled up with the number 21 on the front. That was it. I was pleasantly surprised. It was a large, comfortable, clean bus. We boarded the bus and paid 6 shekels. I found a seat and we began the wait. After about 20 minutes the driver felt it was time to go. We began the drive around Beit Jala and then arrived at the checkpoint.

Only the elderly, mothers with children, and internationals stayed on the bus. Two Israeli soldiers boarded. The young man stayed at the front of the bus. He and the driver joked around. The young woman went through and looked at passports. She gave some little girls a nice smile. When they were done with us, they went outside the bus. The people seemed to know to stand back and then approach one at a time. People had passports and a piece of paper. The soldiers collected the passports and returned the piece of paper back to the person. Sometimes there was a little discussion. There was one young man who only had some piece of paper. There was something about it that they didn't like. They acted like he was trying to get away with something that was quite obvious to them. I don't think he got back on the bus. After everyone was on, the bus driver came on with passports and handed them back to people. There was then another batch of passports. It was interesting to hear all the different names.

We were back underway after about a half an hour. It seemed like another half hour of winding through streets -- letting off some people, taking on new ones -- before we arrived at the bus station. I began looking around for my transfer bus, bus 18. First I had to find a restroom. I was so thankful to find the restroom, I didn't care about the big puddle of water on the floor. A man seating near the entrance had tried to tell me which restroom to go into. Good thing hand motions are an international language. There were no signs on the doors and the doors were wide open anyway.

I finally asked where to find the bus to Ramallah. He tried to tell me how to get to the other bus lot. First I went to far down the street. I asked someone and he sent me back the other way. I got back to a side street and another man directed me down that street. I had to go quite a ways before I actually saw the large parking lot full of passenger vans.

The number 18 bus to Ramallah was backing out of its spot as I approached. The driver was not going to wait for me. Then I realized another bus 18 was waiting behind it. Once again, we began boarding the bus and when we were loaded we took off. This trip cost me 6.50 shekels. I watched out the window as we drove through city streets. I kept wondering when we were going to leave Jerusalem and enter countryside before coming to Ramallah. After awhile the bus pulled up to the side of a busy street and everyone started getting off. I asked a man, "Is this Ramallah." He said, "Yes, this is Ramallah." So there I was.

The only directions I had from the Ramallah Friends Meeting web site was that the meetinghouse was on main street, next to Natche Building and across from Rukab. I had no idea where to go, so I grabbed a taxi. [I have since discovered I was sent by email a detailed description of how to get to the meetinghouse.] The taxi driver seemed to know the Friends School but not the Friends meetinghouse or the International Friends Center. He pointed to a building and said that's the Natche Building. Next to it looked like it could be the spot. He called a cop over to have me ask him where it was. The cop said he knew where and pointed and talked in Arabic for a minute. For the next 15 minutes the driver drover around town asking various people if they knew where it was. Eventually we ended up back where we started. When I asked him how much, he didn't tell me. I don't know if he felt like he had failed or if he felt like he had done more than he should have, since I couldn't give him a street name and number. I gave him 20 shekels and he seemed happy. I know in Bethlehem taxi rides are 10 shekels anywhere, so it seemed like he had gone out of his way for me.

Anyway, I got to the church on time. We had a nice time of quiet meditation, shared messages, and singing. I met Jean Zaru, the presiding clerk of the meeting, and Joyce Aljouny, the director of the Friends Schools. There were a few other visitors, and I got to know several of them.

While walking back to the bus station, I saw the famous Stars & Bucks coffee shop in the center of Ramallah. I just had to get a picture. People who know me know I love coffee. I've been accused of being able to find a Starbucks anywhere. This is the best I could do in Palestine.

One of people I met at the meeting, John, is living in Bethlehem, so we journeyed together back to Bethlehem. He had us get off the bus a block or so before the bus lot in Jerusalem. We walked down Saladin Street so he could stop by the post office. What a crazy place that was. There were maybe a hundred people sitting in the post office waiting for their number to be called.

John suggested we take the 124 bus back to Bethlehem. It's slightly cheaper and takes a little less time. However, it does mean walking through the checkpoint and then walking a little ways into Bethlehem. We were about an hour ahead of commuter traffic of Palestinians going through the cattle stalls. There weren't very many people there, but it was still a daunting experience. You enter into a building where you go through a security gate after showing your passport. The young Israeli woman was on the phone as we went one by one and pressed our passports to the window. She asked me where I was from. I fumbled a bit wondering if she meant the city and state of origin or where I'm living now. All she wanted me to say is that I was from the US. We then passed through a turnstile, walked down a sidewalk, passed through another turnstile, and then were crossing a parking lot heading toward the wall. We went through another turnstile and found ourselves in a caged walkway. It was certainly as long as an amusement park queue, to use the British term. When we came out we were on Hebron Rd. We were met by taxi drivers wanting to give us a lift and then a boy who wanted me to buy postcards to help feed his family. He was hard to shake.

There was some interesting "Wall Art" along the way. In one scene a rhinoceros is pictured breaking through the wall. It was very well done. I'm not sure how to interpret the image of the rhinoceros, what does it represent? Another wall said, "BEEN THERE DONE THAT." Continued on the wall around the corner were the words, "ICH BIN EIN BERLINER," the famous words of JFK. For many the hope is that, if the Berlin wall could come down, then maybe the Israeli wall could too.

Monday – 10/13

My plans for today were to do laundry. I had talked with my friend Rami last week about taking a trip today. After I had got myself ready for the day, I brought my laundry bag to the apartment door. Just then my cellphone rang. It was Rami asking if I wanted to take a trip today. Within a half hour he arrived, and we set off for the Jordan valley.

We first made our way into Jerusalem. We went through several checkpoints, but I don't pay much attention to them anymore. I enjoy our conversations so much that I often forget to look at the scenery around me. As we made our way east from Jerusalem, I was startled to see the Judean hill country. It is so stark and overwhelming. It went on for miles as we continued east and continued down. I could feel my ears being affected by the change in altitude. We passed the spot where sea level is marked.

We stopped first in Jericho. Once again we had to go through a checkpoint before entering the city from the highway. The Israeli soldier, after looking at my passport, asked me where I was from. This time I just said, "US." He replied with broken English and a big smile on his face, "I love USA. I ... friend ... George Bush." I had to laugh and so did the other soldier. There's a big political statement there.

Rami drove into the center of the city of Jericho and then stopped at the traditional site of the sycamore tree of Zacchaeus. It seems to me this size of a sycamore tree would have made it difficult for vertically-challenged Zacchaeus to have reached the bottom branches to begin with. The lower branches of a sycamore tree look strong enough to hold a bunch of spectators.

We arrived at the entrance to the ancient site of Jericho. There was no one else visiting the site of Tell es-Sultan and seeing the archaeological excavations done by Kathleen Kenyon. She dug here in the six years prior to my birth. She used the method of dig a hole down into the tell. A tell is the mound that grows over thousands of years of building one city on top of another. There are two deep holes. In one you can see the oldest remnant, an ancient tower dating back to about 8,000 BCE. One has a good view from there of the beginning of the mountains to the west and of the Jordan valley and the Dead Sea stretching out to the east with the mountains of Jordan beyond.

Before leaving Jericho we ate lunch at the Temptation Restaurant. This was a place we would call in the States a tourist trap. Huge buses were parked and lined up in a continuous flow of dropping off and taking away people from all over the world. Rami took me into the Arab restaurant; another cafeteria with western-style food is upstairs. From what I could tell, I looked like the only non-Arab in the restaurant. Rami, as a tour guide, knew most of the men who stopped by, taking a break from their work as a guide or as a bus driver. We had a full meal with just the pita bread and the appetizers. We then had grilled lamb kabobs. It was quite a feast and very tasty. The pitcher of lemonade was especially refreshing. We ended the meal with tiny cups of Arabic coffee.

After making our way back through the checkpoint, we proceeded to the site of Qumran. Here is another tourist trap. Rami had me take a few minutes watching a short movie about Qumran. I can imagine American tourists, particularly conservative or Catholic Christians, would enjoy the film. The production quality was good. They used three screens that almost had an "Imax" feel to it. There was hardly any information about the actual site: its discovery, the artifacts, the theories about its function, what scrolls were found in the nearby caves. All in all it was a waste of a few good minutes.

I thoroughly enjoyed getting to walk among the stone walls marking the rooms of this ancient site. As with many archaeological sites, there are many questions about the varied interpretations of the functions of rooms. Was the room marked as a scriptorium really that? Was the site even the same place as described in the documents found in the caves? Was this actually a Roman villa rather than a Jewish monastery? Whatever it was, it was an impressive feat to build a place like this and get the water down from the mountains and store it.

A large canyon runs right to the west of the site. The mountains look deceivingly close they are so big. I was glad to get a picture of me with one of the Qumran caves behind me in the distance. Somehow I had thought this site was practically on the banks of the Dead Sea. But we were not close to the Dead Sea and didn't go any closer. It might have been fun to have taken a dip in the Dead Sea, but I wasn't compelled to go closer. One has to leave something for another visit.

We stopped for a few minutes along the way at a monastery, the Dir Hajla (Dayr El-Hajla) Monastery. I found a 360 degree panoramic of the chapel. http://www.3disrael.com/dead_sea/dir_hajla_monastery.cfm It was fun to visit a Greek Orthodox Monastery. The Byzantine style Christian art is one of my favorites. After looking at their places of worship, we had some figs for our journey back. The figs were delicious. That's not all they produce at the monastery. According to Rami, they also have a pig farm. Not something I've seen in Israel, whether on the hoof or off.

Wednesday – 10-15

On Wednesday I began attending a three day conference “The Influence of Media and Education on Christian-Muslim Relations” held at Bethlehem University (BU). BU is "a Catholic Christian co-educational institution of higher learning founded in 1973 in the Lasallian tradition, open to students of all faith traditions." Fr. Jamal Khader, Chairperson of the Department of Religious Studies, was the organizer. Our sessions were held in the Cardinal Carlo Furno Hall, a very nice, comfortable lecture hall. We were furnished with headsets for translation either into English or Arabic, whichever the case might be.

On the opening day, a few dignitaries were on hand.  For example, H.B Michael Sabbah, Latin Patriach Emeritus of Jerusalem was in attendance and greeted the audience. Also H.E. Sheikh Jamal Bawatneh, the Minister of Religious Affairs for the Palestinian Authority, also greeted us.

Our first speaker was Dr. Sari Nuseibeh, President of Al-Quds University, Jerusalem. He spoke on "Religions and their Interpreters: Barriers or Bridges?" I think his basic thesis was that the problem we face in not with religion in itself, but with the people who practice the religion in ways that are detrimental to others.

In a joint session we heard from Dr. Barakat Fawzi of Al-Quds University, representing the Palestinian Ministry of Education. He talked about "The other in the Islamic religious textbooks in Palestine." Also Rev. Ibrahim Nairouz, who was listed as an educator from the Episcopal Church "The other in the Christian religious textbooks in Palestine." I enjoyed hearing them talk about how Palestinians created their own curriculum based on religious sensitivities. They acknowledged that, in spite of their efforts to write a curriculum for Muslim and Christian children in the schools, there was also a need to train teachers in respect for the "other" in their teaching of the curriculum.

Thursday – 10/16

We began Thursday with a live video conference from Gaza. Dr. Ahmad Hammad, of Al-Aqsa University in Gaza gave a talk titled, "The role of media institutions in building social unity in Gaza strip: A field study." There were some technical problems with hearing the speaker clearly. The translators did their best to hear but often had to apologize for not being able to understand some sections. He talked about how media reflects society. Media has a responsibility to preserve society and strengthen the social fabric. Media needs to work to end division and bring unity to society.

The next lecture was apparently read by someone other than the speaker, who was to have been Mr. Samih Muhsen from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. His talk was "Christians and Christianity in the Palestinian Media." I would love to have heard this talk. Unfortunately, the speaker read the Arabic so fast that the interpreters had to speak English faster than the speed limit.

For me the highlight of the day was Dr. Paolo Naso. He is a journalist and Professor of Political Science at La Sapienza University of Rome and at Pontifical Gregorian University. Although his lecture was titled, "Western Media and Christian Muslim Dialogue," he only talked about the European Union countries. He did a masterful job with Powerpoint. He had some startling images comparing political propaganda against Jews in Germany and France in the 1930s and current images used against Islam. The similarity is remarkable. One showed the image of a Jew holding a globe in his clutches, his claw-like hands dug into Europe. A similar image from recent media depicts a map of Europe with a Bin Laden-type figure breaking out from the ground of Europe.

Just before lunch we had a very interesting presentation on the joint research of Dr. Josef Freise (The Catholic University of Applied Science, Cologne, Germany) and Dr. Sami Adwan (Faculty of Education, Bethlehem University). Their presentation was called, "Religion as an indicator of behavior for German and Palestinian youth: towards Interreligious models of education in Germany and Palestine." They did a qualitative study of groups of Muslim and Christian youth in Germany and in Palestine. It focused on the role of religion in their lives. It was a fascinating study. Many people objected to the research and its "findings." The researchers were carefully to delineate the weaknesses of this type of study and that one can't generalize too much. Some people didn't like the results. One woman said she was offended. Another person thought they should have done a different kind of study. Another suggested they tainted their results by the questions they asked. I didn't think any of the accusations had merit.

I should say that the Q&A time often was taken over by various people, usually the same ones, who wanted to make statements. The moderators did their best to limit the comments to questions.

A special lecture in the afternoon was The Michael Prior Memorial Lecture sponsored by the Living Stones Foundation, UK. http://www.livingstonesonline.org.uk/. The speaker was Victoria Clark, author and journalist from London, England. Her most recent book is Allies for Armageddon: The Rise of Christian Zionism (Yale 2007). Her talk today was, "The Influence of the Evangelical Zionist Lobby on Perceptions of Islam in the Western Media." She did an excellent and thorough job as a journalist. She interviewed the key players and attended Bible prophecy conferences. I can't fault her for the facts she presented. I was raised in this type of church. I tried to understand Bible prophecy but I never quite got the hang of it. Rather than being a literalist, I always took more of a literary approach. I can't say I ever heard anyone take it to the extreme of people like Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Hal Lindsey, or especially John Hagee. My problem with the presentation had more to do with the mocking tone and sarcasm. People seemed to eat up the anti-American rhetoric. Americans are being faulted for treating the Muslim nations and their people in the Middle East as monolithic. But then all of America was represented by the Christian right and their strange bedfellows, the Jewish lobby. Nearly all of the conference focused on Christian as represented by catholic faiths. About the only time that the US is discussed and when Protestant churches are talked about, it is Christian Zionism, Republicans, and the Christian Right. Someone asked why there aren't Christian groups in the US working to counter the Christian Zionists. The speaker couldn't name any, which left the impression there weren't any. It was a very grim picture of the US painted with a very broad brush. I've thought a lot about that. I think I've concluded that we deserve it. I've expressed my concerns with the conference organizers, but in the end it's a criticism we just have to accept until we do something about it to change the way in which the world views us.

Friday – 10/17

Last week my class asked whether I would be giving exams. So I said I would first give them a practice quiz so they can see what kind of exam I would give. I wrote out ten questions, some multiple-choice, a few True/False, and one fill-in-the-blank. The academic secretary translated the quiz for me. Because these types of questions are often based on which answer is the best answer or some questions are meant to be a little tricky, we had much discussion. On one question I agreed with the student that one of the answers wasn't worded properly. It was a good learning exercise. We ended up only able to spend time on one section of Hebrews. We've finished only four chapters of the 13.

I remembered at the end of class that I wanted to take a picture. Rami was nice enough to offer to take a picture of me with the class.

One further bit of news. I learned today that I received a letter at home from my church saying that they have decided to keep the interim minister. While I understand their reasons, it is still something that affects me deeply.

Book Published - 10/10

Friday night I happened to check my publisher's web site – like I've been doing every day for the past several weeks – to see if my book was available. And there it was . I'm very excited to finally have this book come out. In some ways this book is the product of the last 15 years of research on Hebrews, which started with my doctoral dissertation. It was only Nov. 2007 when I was able to present my thesis about comparison (synkrisis) in Hebrews during the Society of Biblical Literature conference. Several years ago I began studying Hebrews again and preached messages each Sunday at Salem Friends Church in Liberty, Indiana. During the week I spent many hours researching and studying the Greek text of Hebrews and compiling an exegetical outline. Then on Friday and Saturday I would set the scholarly research aside, so to speak, and work through the same text, seeking a way to communicate its message to my congregation. After six months of writing and preaching, I came to the realization that what I had written out in outline format might be of interest to a wider audience. I converted my format to paragraphs and began the process of editing. ESR writing students assisted me, but only with proofing for grammatical and punctuation errors. First Roni Lynn worked with me and then Carrie Drees read through the whole manuscript. Wipf & Stock Publishers accepted my book proposal and I submitted the manuscript. Wipf & Stock did the typesetting and had their artist design the cover (I had no say about the cover). It's especially meaningful for the book to come out while I'm teaching the book of Hebrews here at Bethlehem Bible College. I'll be teaching Hebrews at Earlham School of Religion during the spring semester. I hope people will read the book. I hope church groups will read the book together and use it to encourage them to form strong communities of faith.

The book is available directly from Wipf & Stock . Amazon.com has the information but it might be a week or so before all of the information is included there. It was unfortunate that the book appeared there with two copies, and now it shows as being out of print. Wipf & Stock is a print-on-demand publishing company. More copies are in production now.

Sunday – 10/12

I was determined to find my way to a local church this morning. I had asked about churches and at least knew that south on Hebron Rd. there was a Presbyterian church. Once again, however, I realized that I hadn't asked what time the church service was. I did manage to find a listing on a web page of Arabic Christian churches. I also had seen a sign along the road for Baraka Bible Presbyterian Church. So I set off walking at about 10 am. I couldn't remember if I had seen the sign while walking or when riding in a car. If it had been while walking, then I knew it wasn't too far away. If it was by car, then I had no idea how far away the church was. I walked until I came to the farthest point I had walked before, where I have been getting groceries. I hoped I hadn't missed the sign or I might be walking a long time before I decide to turn around. To my delight the sign for the church was just a little further than the grocery store. I saw a van going down the drive, so it was a good assumption the church was just down the hill.

When I found the entrance to the church, I began meeting people that I knew. The assistant pastor, Danny Awad, greeted me. I saw several students from Bethlehem Bible College (BBC). I met a young man from New York state who is volunteering with a school nearby. The church has Arabic/English song books. I hope to buy a copy soon and learn some of their songs. They provide non-Arabic speaking people with headsets to hear an English translation. Very nice. The music was different than churches sing in the States, but otherwise the worship format is very similar. As a Quaker, I'm not accustomed anymore to participating in communion services. It just so happened this was communion Sunday. Following communion the church recited the Apostle's Creed and sang the doxology. The sermon focused on religious practice within people's homes and the witness they have to others in their neighborhood.

On the walk home I stopped at a restaurant called Fawannees. I had a hummus appetizer (three pita bread, plate of hummus with seasonings and olive oil, and a small relish plate), a mixed grill of tasty meats, and a diet coke. I was trying to get their attention so I could order a coffee and baklava. I think there are two restaurants connected, one a pastry shop and the other a restaurant. I couldn't get anyone to come to the table, so I just got up and paid at the counter. Better for me to stay away from the baklava as much as possible.

After a stop at the grocery store to restock my empty pantry, I made my way back to the apartment. I was checking my email and responding to someone on Facebook, when one of the BBC students began chatting with me in Facebook. We exchanged pleasantries, and then he told me he was from Gaza. He had left there because it was dangerous for Christians. He told me he has friends living in Gaza who want to convert to Christianity but they are afraid of the Islamic militants who would punish them for leaving Islam. We agreed that not all Muslims are bad and not all Christians are good. But it's more than many of us can imagine that our decision of where to worship could get us killed.

Arabic Class – 10/6

I worked all day Monday on Arabic. Our teacher focuses on learning conversation patterns and on verb formation. We use English letters, sometimes called "romanized" text, so that we learn to pronounce words with the right vowels sounds. I find it difficult to be a language class with a group of people. I experience anxiety in those situations in any sort of meeting. Even speaking English in a small group makes my brain not work well. It's doubly difficult to speak in Arabic to the class. Although I study and know the words, I can't get my brain to work fast enough to process the information. I find it funny the way the teacher seems disappointed if I don't do well. But if I do respond correctly, he looks surprised.

I stopped on the way back at a restaurant near Bethlehem University called Bonjour. I had a very good vegetarian pizza. It was close to the kind of pizzas I had while in Italy this summer.

Trip to Herodion (Herodium) – 10/7

This afternoon Rami asked me if I would like to take a quick trip to visit Herodion. It's not very far from Bethlehem. Fortunately for me you drive halfway up the hillside and park. There were hardly any people there. You get to the top by walking through ancient tunnels dug either for the purpose of hiding or for accessing cisterns. It was quite a climb for me walking up stone steps and then the metal stairway. We took a little breather half way, since Rami didn't want to have to carry me back down.

At the top was the palatial fortress of Herod. On one side was a colonnade, a rectangular series of columns, where there would have been a garden in the center and a peristyle around the outside for taking a stroll. What I found interesting is that Roman practice seemed to be to have a water attraction, a fountain, in the center. Here there was a mikveh off to the side. The room that looked like a dining room has now been labeled by the Israelis as a synagogue. There was a bath area for a steam bath, a cold room for cooling off.

The views from the top of Herodion were spectacular. You could look to the west and see Bethlehem and Beit Jalla. Looking to the northwest you see Jerusalem. On the other side of Herodion you can look to the southeast and see one of the many examples of Jewish settlements (illegal Jewish settlements). The most spectacular vista is looking east and seeing the Dead Sea with the mountains of Jordan looming on the horizon.

I kept telling myself, you're really here. It's so real to be walking in the dirt and stones, but in a few months it will only be a memory.

Upcoming Plans

I'm planning to travel to Ramallah on Sunday and worship with Friends at the Friends Meeting House. I've asked numerous times about how to get there. Everyone gives me the same three or four optoins but never something definite. Next week I'm going to attend a conference held at Bethlehem University on The Influence of Media and Education on Christian-Muslim Relations . Then in mid-November I'll be participating in Sabeel's 7th International Conference , this one called "A Time To Remember, A Time For Truth:  The Nakba, Memory, Reality, And Beyond."

Weekend

The weekend was very uneventful. I went shopping on Friday afternoon. I went to the supermarket down the street and bought essentials. Then went to the fruit & vegetable store. And I still had to go to the next door shop to pick up a few other things. What I need to figure out is where you get fresh meat and where the bakery is. I joke with people here about missing Wal-Mart where you can do all of your shopping in one place.

I had planned to go with someone to their church Sunday morning. I made the mistake of not finding out what time and where to meet him. I expected him to knock on my door when he was ready to go. Later I realized that all was quiet in the dorm and I had been left behind. I will try not to make that mistake again.

Arabic Class 9/29

Arabic class went okay. There are times when the teacher gives us a few minutes to memorize a conversation in pairs. I did okay with mine. Then there was an exercise we were supposed to do and I just didn't understand. We were suppose to take a conversation and then change it to make it about ourselves and someone else in the class. I felt like an idiot, but I couldn't do it because I don't know anyone well enough in the class. He helped me through it, but I still felt stupid. I did okay when he called on me to recite a noun with pronoun endings.

At the end of class we worked on numbers. I had studied them in the afternoon, so I did okay. He gave each of us a CD that apparently has him reading the text of the book. I'm glad to have that. I would like to buy the second book and CD at the end of the term so I can keep studying.

It turns out that Ramadan is ending and Muslims are out shopping. Where my Arabic class is held is a suq with many shops. The street was very busy. I was sort of laughing to myself. I came here to see Palestinians and I'm getting an eye full. Apart from the merchants shouting out to people to buy their goods, the people are quiet, friendly, and courteous. The street may have some clutter and be streaked with the result of years of traffic, but people are clean and dressed nicely. Friends greet each other with a hand shake or maybe even a kiss on each cheek, men and women both. Even in the midst of a shopping spree, Bethlehem is a very hospitable place.

Daily Life

My daily life is structured by the morning tea time at 10:30 am and the lunch at 1:00 pm. Since many people leave home early in the morning in order to commute to Bethlehem, there are, what we would call, sub sandwiches for sale. Many people buy a sandwich and put it in the sandwich press to heat it up.

The lunch is usually rice with some kind of topping and pita bread. On the table will be bowls of "salad" to add to your plate and what we would call a "relish" tray of pickles and olives. I don't have any indication that anyone is paying for the lunch. I sat with the Dean of Administration during a lunch and it sounded like he tries to get people to pay something for lunch – but no one does. That's my kind of common meal.

It gets dark here in Bethlehem by 6pm. It's now 5pm and the sun is beginning to set behind the mountain west of us. This usually brings with it a period of strong breeze. There have been some nights that the wind is blowing so hard my curtains are sailing up in the air. Beautiful sleeping weather. But in the morning the air is usually very still.

I get that sense that Palestinian Christians here get annoyed with hearing the meuzin call Muslims to prayer. I can hear the chanting of the Qur'an, but to me it's like listening to Gregorian chant. One person said he can sit in his living room and hear well enough to listen to the Friday sermon. I suppose, if you could understand Arabic, that might be distracting. During the past six months I listened to Muslim chanting of the Qur'an as a meditative or spiritual practice. So it doesn't bother me the way it does the Christian residents here. I recorded a minute of sound from my window (mp3).

Trip to Jerusalem – 10/2

Rami arrived this morning at about 9 am to take me on a half-day tour of Jerusalem. Rami has majored in Bible geography and archaeology and is a trained tour guide. Besides being a knowledgeable guide, he's also a wonderful person to be with and to talk with.

Rami took the back roads into Jerusalem that avoid the main highways with their checkpoints. Rami is a Jerusalem citizen, so he is able to move around quite freely. Just looking at the scenery is spectacular, but I often was so engrossed in our conversation that I didn't notice much of what was around us.

Rami pulled over to the side of the road so I could get a good view of the old city of Jerusalem, the site of the Jerusalem temple, and the al-Aqsa mosque with its gleaming gold dome. He explained that the Mt. of Olives is a chain of mountains along this ridge.

As we descended toward the Christian sites on the Mt. of Olives we stopped to take a picture. Here was an opportunity to have a camel ride. I just couldn't see taking a camel ride around a parking lot. If I'm going to ride a camel, I want it to be in the desert not on a city street with a man leading the camel around.

We traveled on down the road, which is a very narrow path between stone walls. One could easily imagine this to be an ancient path people would have traveled in the first century.

We stopped at the site of the Garden of Gethsemane. Rami showed me around and talked about the ancient olive trees, some of which might be as much as 1,000 years old. I went into the church where Rami said was the stone on which Jesus was thought to have prayed and wept. The inside of the church is kept dark to symbolize the darkness of the night of Christ's suffering. It's too bad actually, because the byzantine artwork was quite beautiful. There was a Latin mass going on as people came walking through. I couldn't find the rock anywhere. There was a rock in one corner, so I wondered if that was "the" rock. Rami didn't go inside with me; in fact he said he would go back to the van because it wouldn't be good for him to hang around in front of the building. He told me later that the rock was in the center where the group of people were gathered around in worship.

I didn't spend much time in the church. I stopped for a minute and paid two shekels to relieve myself. There's just something funny about paying shekels to use the bathroom. There's no sign posted. There's just an Arab guy telling people it costs two shekels once they get there. You think you could haggle over the price, especially if you weren't going to spend much time in there, if you know what I mean.

We must have stopped again where I took some more pictures of the eastern side of the temple mount. It is a spectacular view. I had hoped to get a closer view today, but our timing was off and the mosques were not open. I hope to make another trip and be able to visit the Mosque of Omar and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

We parked the van near the southwest of the temple mount and walked along an old wall. You could see at the bottom the ancient wall, then stones in the wall that were reused Herodian stones, and what remains above are the later building work from the Ottoman period. What was also interesting were the ancient ritual baths (mikvaoth) that lined the walkway. I was surprised to see how many tombs were also there. I hadn't realized tombs were so close to where people walked.

We decided not to go through the archaeological park, but to walk alongside toward the western wall, known by Jews as the Wailing Wall. An odd thing happened here. There was a young Muslim couple walking in front of us. A woman was coming from the other direction and bumped into the Muslim woman. It was more like a shoulder block by a football player. The older woman didn't seem to care one bit what she had done. It even looked intentional, but there was no way of knowing. I was shocked. The Muslim woman turned and looked at the woman but then turned back around and kept walking. This will stick in my mind. Even if it was an accident, it was inhuman to bump into someone like that without any apology.

The southwestern corner of the temple mount shows some of the original stone from the temple wall. Here is the area where archaeologists discovered a stone with an inscription leading to the conclusion that it might have been the top corner stone, the so-called "pinnacle" of the temple. To the right is the southern wall where steps lead up to the Huldah Gates. We walked around to the left toward the western wall.

We went through a metal detector to enter the courtyard. The small section of the western wall, the Wailing Wall, is a bustle of activity. To the right is a women's section and on the left is the men's section. There are many plastic tables and chairs giving the area the feel of a piazza. On the men's side was a group celebrating a boy's bar mitzvah. Standing at the wall were various people in prayer, some chanting prayers and bowing. There were of course Israeli police around everywhere.

Rami brought me to a place where we could walk around in the old city. We wanted to have lunch, so Rami took me to a wonderful Arab diner. He knew the people, some of them having connections to where he goes to church. I ordered another falafel sandwich. The problem is ordering a falafel sandwich is like going to Subway. You're supposed to tell them what you want inside the pita bread along with the falafel. I was about to get up to look at the display case so I could point to things, but the guy waiting on me asked if he should make it like he likes it. I gave him the thumbs up, the universal sign that in Arabic means tayyib. I asked Rami if we could have our picture taken in front of the restaurant. The man whom he met outside was actually a well-to-do businessman or political official. It was actually amazing how many people Rami knew, which shouldn't be so surprising since he grew up in this part of Jerusalem. What was even more surprising was our running into his mother-in-law.

We went walking through the buildings. Rami tried to explain to me about the various sections of the city: the Jewish quarter, the Christian quarter, the Armenian quarter, and the Muslim quarter. If I'm remembering correctly, the area he showed me was a section that had been a place where Christian Palestinians lived, but Jews drove them out and rebuilt the homes for themselves. It was a beautiful walk through the narrow street, an urban canyon with women walking with children or pushing strollers with infants.

We came out on an area where you could see first century ruins. The main street, the cardo, with the Roman columns running down the center and shops lining either side were visible below the current street level. We saw further remnants of the cardo. At another place there were open excavations of an ancient wall thought to have been built during the time of Hezekiah.

We then spent some time looking through a museum built around the remains of a first-century aristocrat's house. The lower levels were built further down the slope of a hill, while the upper-level living spaces were further up. The lower levels contained much of the water for the house, a cistern, baths, and the ritual mikvaoth. The floors contained mosaic tile floors with simple but elegant geometrical shapes. Some of the walls of the rooms showed remnants of the fresco wall-paintings. In many ways the rooms of the house resembled those I saw in Italy a few months ago. The architectural had similarities but the artistic subject was different. There were no images of people. The wall-painting seemed to imitate the type of stonework with inlaid edges. Unfortunately the museum had a "no photography" sign posted, so I didn't take any pictures.

When we left this part of the city, we traveled to south-western Jerusalem to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Park. I was most interested in the areas in which the park commemorated the "righteous gentiles" who sacrificed themselves on behalf of Jewish people during the Holocaust. It was particularly meaningful for me to take a picture beside the memorial. To me it was also significant to be there with a Palestinian. The current Middle East conflict is directly related to the mass murder of Jews in Europe and their desire to live in peace and security. But in many ways the Palestinians now experience what the Jews did in Europe, even to the extent of all of Gaza being a concentration camp in which people are being slowly strangled to death. What Rami and I have in common is being a follower of a Jew who gave his life for others. One of the highest callings of our faith is to be willing to lay our lives down for others.

Our ride back to Bethlehem was uneventful. We only spent about six hours in Jerusalem but it felt like a lifetime, millennia of history packed into a few short hours.

Class Day & a Quick Trip

I think I'm getting better at making it through the class time. Whenever I mention something that is a difficult theological issue, there are some students who want to discuss or debate the issue. These are important theological topics, but they are the typical ones Christians have argued about for two thousand years. Most of the students have not yet had systematic theology, so they are very eager to figure out what they believe. On the one hand, they are deeply influenced by what Muslims teach about Islamic doctrine and what Muslims teach against Christianity. They also have learned about Christian doctrine from the various catholic traditions. At the end of class some people were debating the nature of Mary and the sinlessness of Christ. I wasn't going to try to explain that one.

At lunch some people wanted to know more about my views on the book of Hebrews. So I tried to give them the basics of my approach to Hebrews. They seemed genuinely interested and wanted to have a time when I could give a public presentation of my work on Hebrews. A couple of days ago, by the way, my editor emailed me saying that my book has been printed, he had a copy sitting on his desk, and he said it looked great. Now I have to wait a few days before I get to see what it looks like on the Wipf and Stock web site and hopefully Amazon.com.

A visitor here for a few days is from New Zealand. He works with Tearfund , a Christian aid agency, and is on his way to a conference in Europe somewhere. I joined him on a quick trip around Bethlehem. It turned out to be about the same tour as Rami gave me a week ago, when we looked at Solomon's Pools. Our guide this time was Atallah, the Dean of Administration at Bethlehem Bible College (BBC). He drove south on Hebron Rd. and pointed out the refugee camps. I knew there was a camp across the street from BBC, but didn't realize that the buildings we saw on the other side of a vacant lot is actually the sort of apartment building complexes that have grown up around this refugee camp. I suppose we might refer to it as a "ghetto." There's a very narrow street that runs through the middle of it. People who live there are still waiting to be able to return to their homes that were either taken over by Israeli's or to the land where their homes once stood.

We also passed by a vacant lot that at one time had been the Palestinian Police station. Israeli bombers blew it up. There's a stark contradiction when Palestinians are blamed for not being able to provide security but Israeli's destroy the police infrastructure.

We went further down Hebron Rd. to the place where the Israeli's have a gate. Whenever they choose they can close the gate and prevent Palestinians from leaving. Nearby you can see the new highway the Israeli's built for the settlers to get quickly to Jerusalem.

Saturday, 9/20

Saturday morning was a time for shopping. First, I walked down, what I now know is, Hebron Rd., back to the same grocery store. After unloading my bags of groceries, I set off again. I went down Hebron Rd. again, but went left at the first street. That leads to what I think is Manger Street. On that intersection is Cafe Sima's. I happened to meet one of the staff members of the English Administration of Bethlehem Bible College (BBC). We talked for at least a half hour. There are so many questions I have, and everyone is so patient and willing to explain things and tell me where things are.

Cafe Sima's is a very nice place, but it does provide a more European atmosphere. I was amused at the irony of just having been in Rome, come all the way to the Middle East, and then end up having to order European coffee -- I had a Cafe Americano. I also had a sandwich, something that seemed a little bit Middle eastern but not really.

I met a young woman there who is Aramaic/Syrian Christian. She told me she was planning to attend Liberty University. I tried to tell her that people at Liberty would be Christian Zionists. We had a very nice conversation. I suggest some other colleges she might think about, including Earlham College.

I decided, as long as I was on Manger Street, I would try to walk to the Church of the Nativity. What a trek that was. I came by a sculpture in the middle of the road. I didn't think it could be Manger Square. I went to the left and ended up by a sports center on King David St. I went back and asked, and people directed me on down what is more of a single lane side street. It wound around and came by an Arab market. I must have looked lost and certainly looked like a tourist. A man "hustled" me into his shop, brought me tea, had me sit on a stool, and talked about how much he needed me to buy something from him. I finally bought some nice things, a few cups I liked, a genuine Palestinian scarf, and maybe that was it. He then proceeded to show me his jewelry shop and then his wood carving shop. He finally let me go and showed me where Manger Square was. He explained that there were guides who would show me around.

Sure enough, I didn't get very close before a man approached me. He had a badge as an official guide. We didn't linger very long. He offered to take pictures of me. One was by the Greek Orthodox church and then one where he had me kneel down and touch the star that's on the floor marking the traditional place of Jesus' birth. I suppose people believe they'll receive a miracle by touching the star or kissing it. My miracle was just getting up from my knees. He showed me the ancient mosaic floor beneath the current floor, the contemporary Roman Catholic Church, and the bell tower. While he was showing me around outside the church and trying to bring me near souvenir shops so I would spend some more money, a young boy was trying to get me to give him some money. I said no several times and finally the guide shooed him away. Before I knew it we were done. He told me how to get back to Manger Street.

In Manger Square there is a large building called the Bethlehem Peace Center . I went inside and looked around for a minute.

I don't think I went the way I was supposed to. I think I took the long way around to get back to the intersection where Cafe Sima's is. I didn't get very far before a man came after me with necklaces. I felt bad for the man. He looked tearful as he begged me to buy some necklaces from him. The necklaces were ugly. I tried to say no and get rid of him, but he kept following, kept offering me a better deal. I stopped and tried to reason with him, but nothing I said made any difference. He then began accusing me of being the kind of tourist who only buys from the Jews and doesn't care about the Palestinians. I don't blame him, but it was extremely frustrating. I had a mile or so more to walk. My feet were hurting, I was thirsty, and I was beginning to feel the effects of the heat. As I struggled to keep walking and try to find my way back, I struggled with the thoughts of not wanting to walk anywhere again, of wanting to take a taxi next time and avoid having to deal with people on the street. There's no way I can buy stuff from people every time I want to walk somewhere. I finally came around a bend to stores I recognized. Just a little further and I would be back where I started.

I still needed to walk further down the street and find the fruit and vegetable store.  It took me a few attempts to find it, but just a little further on I could see all the bustle of activity in front of a store. I bought some potatoes, some carrots, and some bananas. When I was checking out, I noticed an American looking woman. I heard her say thank you. So I said Hello to her. We made our way outside and kept talking. She had on a vest that said World Council of Churches. She is from Chicago and is here working as an "Ecumenical Accompanier." The organization is Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel. She mentioned how they are a sort of "watchdog" group at Israeli checkpoints. I described the experience I had just had. She was of course sympathetic of my experience but also helpful in reiterating what I had already heard several times: the tourist groups are brought in to visit sites from Jerusalem and then whisked back off again. The people who live here have no opportunity to sell to tourists. The olive wood figurines are practically given away by Palestinians in Bethlehem, but sold to tourists for three or four times the amount in Jerusalem. She did have some helpful advice. She said to try to tell people that I'm not a tourist, that I live here. I'll give that a try next time.

I had one more stop. There was a little sweet shop, so I stopped in a bought some baklava; well, it was probably a lot of little squares of baklava. Very yummy. The thought of enjoying some of my morning's purchases urged me on the final few blocks to get back to my apartment.

Sunday, 9/21

I found that I was not the only one from here going to the East Jerusalem Baptist Church. There have been four guys from Presbyterian churches in Seattle working at BBC this past week on laying the groundwork for developing a degree program in computer science. We loaded up the van and set off for Jerusalem. There are apparently two ways to get to Jerusalem. Brenda, the wife of Alex Awad, chose to go the way that goes through tunnels. Apparently this was a way designed for Jewish settlers in the West Bank to enter Jerusalem quickly. We breezed through the Israeli checkpoint, since all the guards did was "profile" the vehicle and see that we were all very Western-looking.

I noticed as we drove into Jerusalem that it seemed like I saw as many Arab/Muslim people as I did Jewish (those wearing clothing styles that indicate their religious/ethnic identity). It also seemed like signs everywhere were written in Hebrew and in Arabic.

The East Jerusalem Baptist Church sits on a beautiful plot of ground, perhaps a half a block in size. The landscaping around the church gives one the sense of being in the Garden of Gethsemane. The church building is nice. There were about 30 people there. They were mainly Westerners who work in Jerusalem in one capacity or another. We had a typical, protestant, contemporary-style service. We sang some choruses with words shown on a screen while several guitarists and a percussionist led us. We sang a few standard hymns from a Untied Methodist hymnal. We had some time of welcoming and prayer. Rev. Alex Awad gave a message focused on overcoming fear in the modern world by responding to others with faith, hope, and love. We had a fellowship time afterward. I talked with one man who is a missionary with the Assemblies of God. He works with a school in Gaza. He hasn't been allowed to re-enter Gaza for awhile now. I spoke with a woman who works with Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem. The young man who played guitar also works with Sabeel. Another woman I talked to teaches kindergarten.

I talked briefly with Alex and happened to mention my experience walking to the Church of the Nativity. He felt sorry I had experienced the shopkeeper pressuring me to buy from him. When I told him about the man who hassled me about buying some necklaces from him, Alex was a little more perturbed. He said if he knew who that man was he would report him to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The man would be disciplined for his treatment of a tourist. They recognize that people who act like that are only hurting themselves and others. And in reality they are not even the poorest people in Bethlehem who need the most help.

Monday 9/22

Today I made sure I had directions and a map to find the International Center of Bethlehem, where the Dar An-nadwa Center is located. I even knew how to take a little bit of a shortcut. I walked past Bethlehem University. The houses and buildings along the street looked nice. Then the rode began to get narrower and began to wind around a little bit. All of a sudden I came out on the busy Paul IV Street. The street was lined with shops, people were walking everywhere, and cars were trying to make their way through. After walking a few blocks, I began to wonder if I was lost. So I got my map out and asked someone. After we figured out where I was trying to go and where I was, it turned out I was almost there. Sure enough a little further down I came to the V in the road and then just ahead on my right was the place.

I guess I was early, maybe two minutes. People came trickling in. I finally asked someone who came by and he invited me to go upstairs to the room they were using for the Arabic class. Many of the people seemed European, some German, some Dutch, and a smattering of others including a few Americans. Dr. Moin Halloun (http://www.bethlehem.edu/images/archive/2005/2005_030.jpg) arrived finally and he started off full tilt. The class textbook is one he wrote himself and published. He drilled us frequently and had us work with another person too. Most of the time the students are doing the speaking. He left me alone for awhile, but near the end he came around to me. We were reciting nouns with pronoun endings: beti, betak, betik, etc. (my house, your house, etc.). My word was "wife," mara. I did fine until I got to maratik, "her wife." So he made jokes about Holland and Norway where you could say "her wife," but not in Palestine. He is a very good natured man, very funny, but high energy and loud.

At the break I went up and paid my money. He started to have me write my name, but then remembered I was already on his list. Unfortunately he didn't bring a copy of the textbook; he did have a copy of the dictionary (now my third or fourth Arabic dictionary)  We just arranged for me to come to Bethlehem University tomorrow, find his office, and pick up a copy of the book. It will be interesting to see the university.

On the walk back I didn't notice where the shortcut street was. So I walked down to the main intersection of Hebron Rd. My walk there reminded me of the frequent trips I made in Rome up and down the steps of Trastavere. Now I'm going to get to walk up and down the hill of Paul IV Street. I'll have to come up with a better name.

Tuesday, 9/23

Today I decided to walk down the street to where I had seen the Israeli wall. It's a very eerie feeling to see this huge prison wall looming up in the middle of a neighborhood. The corner of the wall has a guard tower. Just around the corner on Manger St. there's a painting someone has done on the side of a building in full view of the Israeli guard tower. The painting depicts a dove of peace wearing a flak jacket. In the center it shows the dove of peace is in the target sites of the enemy's weapon.

From here I walked on up the street to Bethlehem University. It's quite a little trek up the hill. Bethlehem University has a beautiful campus, very modern buildings, and friendly people willing to help an American find his way. I took a few wrong turns but managed to find Dr. Halloun and get my Arabic book.

Wednesday, 9/24

One of the events of the day was to have a quick tour through the new building Bethlehem Bible College is constructing. There is still need for more funding, but they are well on their way to providing the community with a great place for education and various forms of ministry. Everyone at BBC works very hard and is committed to encouraging not only Palestinian Christians and their churches but the quality of life for all Palestinians.

In the afternoon I worked very hard at Arabic, trying to catch up, since I missed the first few classes. I think I'm doing okay. I find it very difficult to try to speak in Arabic when put on the spot in front of the class. Our teacher knows that we have to be forced to speak in Arabic in order to learn how to converse with people. He also knows we have to learn to speak quickly, which is very hard.

On the way home from class, I ended up walking with a girl from Norway until we got to Hebron Rd. She is volunteering at the YMCA in Beit Jala. She told me her story of entering Israel at the airport. The Israeli authorities questioned her about what she was doing going there. She told them exactly what she was doing and where. They finally stamped her passport, even though she asked them not to (because with an Israeli stamped passport you can't enter countries like Lebanon). Then the person wrote a one over where it says three for length of visa. So now she has been calling and calling trying to get someone to help her renew her visa for longer. Sometimes they yell at her, tell her it's not their problem, or just hang up. Once the woman said, "Why do you keep calling me?" Instead of transferring her to the right place, she transferred her call back to the beginning place. What a nightmare for her.

Thursday, 9/25

I finally decided I had to do laundry. The laundry room is actually on the roof the building. I go outside on to the roof and then enter a little laundry room. Fortunately the machines have English instructions, so it wasn't too difficult to figure out how to use the two washing machines. I did use the dryer for my "whites," but hung all the rest on the clothes line. I meant to take a picture of my clothes flying over Bethlehem. It was a windy day, but none of my clothes actually flew away.

You may have heard about this incident in Jerusalem. A young man swerved his car into a median where Israeli police were and hit a bunch of people before crashing the car into a wall. After he was already stopped someone shot and killed him. There's no evidence he had any desire  to become a martyr. The family says he wasn't a good driver and didn't even have a license. They claim it was a traffic accident and the police had no reason to shoot the boy, especially after he was already crashed into a wall. The Israelis have a law that says a Palestinian who commits a terrorist act will have his home demolished. In the last two cases, a court has overturned that from what I understand. Ehud Barak is calling for a swifter execution of the demolition orders in order to prevent further "terrorist" attacks.

Thursday is chapel day. I'm really enjoying hearing them sing Christian songs in Arabic. Someone told me that many of the Arabic Christian songs come from Egypt, where there is a larger population of Christians. I sat near the front, so that's probably why no one offered to translate for me. Next time I'll be sure to sit in the back. One of the instructors preached a message from the Revelation concerning John on the island of Patmos. You can be guaranteed he didn't present the topic according to a dispensationalist, Zionistic approach.

I spent a greater part of the afternoon preparing for class on Friday. I tried to outline my lectures and shorten the material more. By the time I finished it had gotten dark out, which happens about 5 or 5:30 in Bethlehem. I shut the light off in my office and then discovered there were no lights on anywhere. I had to feel my way down the corridor, turn left, walk a little further, and then turn left again. I could make out the door to the outside. The thing is the doors lock and unlock with a key both from the inside and the outside. Fortunately, I had been given a key. It took me a couple of tries, but I made it out. Next time I'll carry my flashlight with me, or just go home when everyone else does.

Friday, 9/26

My class went a little bit better than last Friday. The students seem to get hung up on very fine theological points. Because the book of Hebrews begins with comparing Christ, as the "son of God," with the angels, who are called in the Bible, "sons of God." It may be that Palestinian Christians are influenced by Muslim beliefs about angels. I showed them the texts in the Hebrew Bible (and the translations in Greek, English, and Arabic) where angels are called "sons of God." It took a long time before I was able to move on.

Then we got stuck on the issue of God's will in the world. Do bad things happen because God is punishing people for sin? I happened to use the example of New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina to illustrate a different point. Apparently the students had been told by someone else that Katrina was a judgment because of some naked parade or something. Not something I had heard about.

Point is, doing cross cultural exegesis is a very difficult task. I'm learning that the hard way. Somehow I've got to get the point across that we can't discuss (and solve) every theological and moral issue, if we expect to finish going through the book of Hebrews.

Speaking of Hebrews, my book, which was supposed to have been printed last week, is now supposed to be printed and available next week. At this point, I'll believe it when I see it.

This afternoon I went with Rami, my interpreter for my class and my personal guide to the Holy Land, to take in a quick visit to Solomon's Pools. We first stopped for a bite to eat at a local diner. I had my first authentic falafel sandwich. It was good and I had fun experiencing their culture. The restaurant is actually run by a Palestinian Christian, and it is on my way to Arabic class. I'll have to make it a regular stop after Arabic class.

We drove south through several towns, one of which is named after St. George, who lived for sometime in the area.

We stopped first at the highest and largest of the pools. It's thought that this is the pool of Solomon, because in the Song of Songs 4:12 the woman is addressed as "A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a garden locked, a fountain sealed." The nearby springs would fill the pool and the other pools lower down the hill. Herod used the water via aqueducts to supply Herodion and even Jerusalem.

As we drove further down, we looked at the convent built in the valley. A town grew up around the convent. It's quite a spectacular site to see the rugged mountains and valleys.

The rest of Friday was spent doing my shopping. I ran myself completely out of food on Thursday. Now I'm well-stocked and eager to enjoy my locally grown fruits and vegetables along with tea sweetened with local honey.

Monday (9/15) I left home for the next three months. My flight began in Dayton, OH with a quick trip to Atlanta, GA. I was relieved on that flight when some people got bumped up to first class and the guy sitting next to me (or should I say crammed in next to me) ran for an empty seat. He was in such a hurry he left his bag behind. After a few minutes he came back and got his bag but didn't ever make eye contact with me. So I had a comfortable ride to Atlanta.

At the Atlanta airport I made my way to the international flights area. I don't actually know whether that area serves other international flights or just flights to Tel Aviv. The waiting area seemed to have two main kinds of people, typical Jewish-looking people (men with yarmulke's, tassels, or even more orthodox style) and a group of white, mid-western looking church-goers (Wal-Mart style clothes and tour IDs around their neck). I was among the latter group, though without an ID. I couldn't tell whether any Arabs were present or not. Even though we all had already gone through airport security, we went through another security check before boarding the plane. There was one other difference on the flight. Apparently Israel has a law that people cannot move around on a plane within 30 minutes of landing. Everyone was warned to get their potty breaks done before the 30 minute mark.

This Delta flight was one of my best experiences. This was the first time I've been on a plane where each person his/her own TV monitor in the back of the seat in front of them. They had a touch screen, so it was very easy to navigate. There were episodes from major TV shows as well as documentaries. It wasn't until half way there that I discovered there were movies also. I had wanted to watch the Indiana Jones movie before leaving and just didn't find the time. I got to watch it in flight as well as The Iron Man and most of Kung Fu Panda.

I was a bit nervous going through the Israeli passport check. The woman wanted to know how long I was staying and wanted to see my return ticket. I tried to explain that it is an electronic ticket. I did have my itinerary printed out, so I showed her that. She also wanted to know where I was staying. Then she asked me what religion I was. I wanted to say, as any American would, "what business is it of yours?" But I said I was a Christian, then I added that I was a Quaker. She didn't seem very impressed, but I guess any answer was acceptable as long as I didn't say Muslim. Last of all, she wanted to know my father's name and my paternal grandfather's name. I felt rather stupid, because I always get confused about my grandfather's name. I always called him Grandpa. I gave her the name Edgar. I think that's right. I wouldn't want to lie ... twice.

I had arranged with Bethlehem Bible College (BBC) to have a driver pick me up at the airport. We hadn't really had much time to make the arrangements. After getting my baggage, walking through customs, and passing the passport checkpoint, I entered the front area of the airport where people were waiting to greet their loved one. I started looking around at people with signs to see if I could find my driver. I looked for about 45 minutes. Then I tried to call someone at BBC. I couldn't get the phone number to work. A security guard even let me try her cell phone. I finally went back to the front of the airport. Within a minute I saw a person I hadn't seen before with a sign. As I walked closer I finally made out that it said in large capital letters TIM. He had been walking around trying to find me. After loading up his car, we sped off -- and I mean that literally -- into the evening. Because of traffic he said we would go around Jerusalem. The ride probably took an hour at least. It was dark by the time we arrived in Bethlehem. We passed one police barrier, but it wasn't a checkpoint. I guess we avoided any checkpoint. The police officer just looked into the car. The driver told me people think he looks Russian and he agreed that I look Jewish. We were just waved on.

A young man was sitting on the steps to BBC and he helped me get to the right door. We finally got the guesthouse and the woman there, Esther, came down and showed me to my apartment. I suppose it's about what I expected. It's quite small with a sitting room, kitchenette, bathroom(ette), and bedroom. There's a small kitchen table across from the couch. The kitchen has a large sink and counter area, a tiny gas stove (looks new), medium sized frig, and microwave. Someone provided me with a box of milk, a baggie of cereal, a couple of eggs, and some coffee and tea packets. The bathroom has a tub with a spray hose. It's not intended to be a shower -- no shower curtain. Here's the kicker, no toilet paper down the toilet. Another way that my Honduras visit has prepared me for international travel. The bedroom has a large wardrobe. The bed is nice and comfortable. The room has a medium sized floor-stand fan. It has made sleeping quite comfortable.

The night was very quiet. In the evening I heard the Muslim call to prayer and I heard it again early in the morning. From my bedroom window I look out at Bethlehem stretching up the hillside.

Wed. morning I woke up every few hours. I would make myself go back to bed. Then when it got to be 7 or 8 in the morning, I didn't want to get up. I finally got up, took a shower(ette) and got dressed. I ate a bowl of the cereal and had a cup of coffee while doing some reading. At 1:30 a guy named Al knocked on my door and invited me to lunch. The school provides a free lunch to staff, teachers, and students. There I met Rami, my translator, for a brief second and later met Alex Awad, the Dean of Students, full-time instructor, and senior pastor of the East Jerusalem Baptist Church. I sat with several people who are not locals and they answered my many questions.

Wed. afternoon I walked down the street that runs in front of BBC to find the grocery store. Maybe it was a mile, probably less. Actually, I only crossed one street and one busy intersection. I felt okay walking down the sidewalk. For the most part people ignored me. I tried to smile and nod my head at people I passed.  I bought some food and supplies. The store clerk seemed very happy for my business. He kept saying, "God bless you." He did well communicating in English.

My contact at BBC has been Munther Isaac. He came to my room Thursday morning. We went to chapel, which I'm assuming is every Thursday at 11am. There were about 40 - 50 students in the room. The songs were in Arabic, of course. I could sort of follow along on the screen which words they were singing. I did sing a little when they repeated a line that went something like Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, his name is Jesus. When Alex Awad began to give a chapel message, a woman came and sat next to me and translated. She did a terrific job. Apparently the students knew I was coming and have been asking about me. Several people have been calling me Dr. Tim, which I find very flattering and endearing. Everyone is very kind and gracious. After chapel Munther gave me a little tour. He is leaving soon for a month and a half in England, where he is beginning a research doctorate at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies.

Friday morning I made my way over to the main office at 8:30 am to make sure I knew where my classroom would be. Because I would have not only third year students but also second year students, the number would be 18. They are a wonderful group of mainly young people. They responded in a way students do in the States when you begin the class by questioning common assumptions. For instance, they were perplexed by my assertion that we didn't know who wrote Hebrews or to whom it was written. It turns out the Arabic Bible commonly used, called the Van Dyke translation, makes use of the Greek manuscripts which include a subscription at the end of Hebrews. I have not given that much thought over the years. I'm aware of its existence, but it is no longer an issue for modern English translations of the New Testament. It was described to me that young people are regularly taught by Muslims two things: Christians are infidels and the Bible is corrupt. This means I will need to spend some time talking about the text of the New Testament.

I'm not surprised I didn't get very far with my written lectures. I will need to do better with summarizing what I've written. That will mean spending some more time thinking about Hebrews and how best to communicate the central message to these students. I was very impressed with their inquisitiveness and the quality of their questions. I hope they all stick with me and not drop after a difficult and challenging first class.

After class Rami and I went to a nearby restaurant. The meal was largely the appetizers—pita bread and dishes of stuff like hummus, babaganoush, and a half dozen other dishes I didn't recognize. We also ordered a single order of lamb kabob. We couldn't finish everything. We had a cup of Arabic coffee, which came with small slices of baklava. In my blogs from Rome I complained about the size of the Italian espresso. If you can believe it, it seems like Arab coffee cups are half the size of Italian espressos.

I hope that everyone who reads this blog will check out the Gift Shop online at BBC . I met the man who coordinates the gift shop. One of the best ways you can support personally what I'm doing here, support BBC, and help local Palestinian Christians is to buy Christmas presents from this gift shop. I've been impressed by the quality of the work and its beauty. Order soon, order often. Imagine, Christmas presents from Bethlehem.

I now have an ethernet connection for internet in my apartment. I also figured out how to call my wife. She was trying to call me but the number we were told to use would get rejected. So I went ahead and called her from the phone in my apartment. We hadn't really talked to each other since Monday. Everything has been worked out now so we can stay connected. I also have an office to use. I've been a little uncomfortable working at the kitchen table and sitting in a straight back kitchen chair.

On Saturday I'll do some shopping, walk around Bethlehem on my own, and probably do some reading. I'm planning to catch a ride to the East Jerusalem Baptist Church this Sunday. Eventually I'll w