June 8, 2007

Happy 23 year 11 month birthday, Tianna! :D hahaha.

Class all morning. ~sigh. Then was lunch, then on a bus for Bethlehem. Since Bethlehem is in the West Bank, we have to take security with us. I ended up sitting next to Toreq, one of the Center security guards. Now, I'm not nearly as outgoing as Benyamin or Rebecca, so I'll admit that conversation was a little awkward for awhile. But I got him to teach me Hebrew numbers (yes, I should know these) and got chastised, "You really need to learn to write in cursive." You know your handwriting is bad when a boy criticizes it. ~sigh. :D

Bethlehem is, you guessed it, a church. It was a fun enough church. It's run by several different Christian sects and each section is decorated differently. The upstairs was all gaudy and "churchy" but downstairs was pretty cool. That's where the 14 pointed silver star (for the 14 generations of Christ found in Matthew's genealogy) and the manger was. Plus, we sang. A lot. Yay for Christmas hymns! What we didn't sing downstairs, we went outside and sang in a courtyard. Finally, we decided it was time to go shopping. We headed over to Nativity Square and started around the shops. Apparently, this is the place to buy Bethlehem blankets. But after the first group got out of the one shop we found that sold them, they were sold out. Oh well. I can still get them in Jerusalem. :) It was really sad, though. It's obvious that there were dozens of shops that had been closed down. The separation wall has destroyed the economy in Bethlehem. Tourism is down dramatically. Richie was talking to some young men there who said that they hated living there and wished they could move somewhere free like Canada or the US. It made me very sad.

We left Bethlehem and went over to Shepherd's Field. We ate lunch, where I got a video of people throwing cherry tomatoes from our sack dinners at Anthony while he tried to catch them in his mouth. It was rather entertaining. Bro. Merrill has finally be united with his wife and daughter, Brittany. They arrived in Jerusalem while we were in Galilee, so they've only been here a couple of days. So, to begin our Bethlehem program, we had them come up and introduce themselves. Sis. Merrill is so dramatic in a wonderful way. We've all decided we love her immediately. The best part was the story of how Bro. and Sis. Merrill met. Let's just say they were office supplies in a ward roadshow, knew each other for about a year (even had a date or two... I heard an alternate version that said they dated for a bit, then drifted apart), then 10 months after their last date, he spent a couple of evenings with her, prayed about it, took her for a drive and told her he was in love with her. At the doorstep he said, "I don't want to rush you, but I graduate in 9 days." 9 days later, they were engaged. Ha! After introductions, we had a program where we had violinists and singers giving us musical numbers. As one group was sining, this boy walked up the hill with a baby sheep or goat. (I was never quite certain.) I’m sure he wanted money, but still, it was pretty cool. Toreq kept his eyes on him the entire time—even picking up a stick! Just in case. But we had no problems.

On the way home, I again sat next to Toreq and had much more enjoyable conversation. We talked about traffic and how cops are required to have their lights on at all times in the city, but they have "plain clothes" police cars on the highway. I asked him if there was a rhyme or reason to all the honking, short answer? No. I'm going to do something, hello, or road rage. Take your pick. He hates it. We moved on to yawning and the causes behind it, as well as funny stories, then we were back to the Center. I liked the guy. He's got a good sense of humor and is just ... real. It made him less intimidating as security and more of a real person. Oh, he also offered to help Travis and I as much as we need. Yay!