... again.
Today's Christmas (rather, "Nativity of our Lord") for the Armenians, followed by another Nativity tomorrow for the Orthodox at large. For a few days, at least, the bells of the Church of the Nativity are going toe-to-toe with the calls to prayer.
Spent yesterday with Sr. Sylvia, getting to know some of the kids at the two schools by sitting in on talks given by Tim Frakes. (The Lutherans among you may know Tim's work, if you've ever watched 'Mosaic,' the ELCA's old video program, or seen Dr. Stjerna's program on Katie Luther). Tim no longer works for ELCA Churchwide, but his passion for exploring faith seems unabated. He's a great guy to talk to, and intensely dedicated to justice and peace... if you have a moment, visit http://www.frakesproductions.com and check out his shots from his trip to Palestine/Israel.
My apartment is like nothing I could've envisioned. I'm staying in the house where the mother of the husband of one of Beit Sahour's kindergarden teachers was raised. (Follow that? Good.) The rooms are huge, if unheated. Me and my lone space heater are quick becoming best of friends. I'll post a video tour as soon as my camera gets juiced up -- it'll give me a chance to try some techniques gleaned from Tim's workshops.
I have no internet in the apartment yet..not sure if that will change or not. I'm going to try. At the moment I'm sitting in the lobby of the International Center at Christmas Church (the Lutheran congregation in Bethlehem.)
Got a chance to hang out with Mike (from Trinity Seminary, now interning in Jerusalem) on Sunday, and meeting up with more ELCA folks on Friday night, I think. Until then, I've got a week on my own to bumble around Bethlehem, trying to figure out how to say "I need to buy a towel."
Because I do. Whoops.
I'm going to refrain on talking Gaza right now, because if you're anything like me you're probably overloaded. Of course, it might just be me, given that 24-hour news is the most interesting channel available on my television. (For more television adventures, tune in to a future post, where I reveal the results of yesterday's marathon "Try Every Channel Available" test run.)
I'm out. Hungry. More later.
p.s. Huh...just realized I'd labeled these as "Israel" rather than "Palestine." How non-factual of me. Redacted.
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3 comments:
Happy Epiphany to you!
Did you manage to get a towel? I'll send you some if needs be?
I looked a Tim's link. How interesting.
Yay for internets!
You'd better get a towel - it's required for anyone hitchhiking through the galaxy!
Glad you made it there and am praying for you.
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