Security vs. Suppression

Last week I had an interesting little field trip to the wall that currently separates much of the West Bank from Israel. In a nutshell, Israelis call it the "security wall," Palestinians call it the "suppression wall." 

I know a woman who nearly had it built straight through her land, effectively confiscating half of it. 

Here's what Pope Benedict had to say about it when he visited the Holy Land in May:

Towering over us, as we gather here this afternoon, is a stark reminder of the stalemate that relations between Israelis and Palestinians seem to have reached -- the wall. In a world where more and more borders are being opened up -- to trade, to travel, to movement of peoples, to cultural exchanges -- it is tragic to see walls still being erected. How we long to see the fruits of the much more difficult task of building peace! How earnestly we pray for an end to the hostilities that have caused this wall to be built!

Anyway, stories and statements about the wall abound, but I'll let some pictures from my side do the talking. 

Look Mom, I'm famous!

In case you're curious, here's an update I wrote for the HCEF website. Aww.

Also, I have been doing actual work...

And look, this published news story sounds, wow, exactly like the press release I wrote. Hmm.  :)

Around the Office

This week I had a good chance to hang out with my co-workers outside of the office, since we were hosting a conference for another organization. I continue to be so impressed with them, as very talented young professionals, and as kind, welcoming and joyful people. 

Some highlights:

--This morning Lana, Maha and Manar brought in all the fixings of Arabic breakfast: hard-boiled eggs, pickles, olives, deli turkey and cheese, two kinds of bread, and of course, falafel. 

--Salim (the boss), is from Bethlehem but studied for 7 years in Australia. He was so thrilled that some of the participants in the conference were Ozzies that he brought his dijeridoo along to play at the Palestinian culture night/dinner last night. Talk about an interesting musical ensemble! 

--After hearing plenty from Khalil about the challenges of being a young person in the Palestinian Territories, I was so happy to meet his wife and 2-year-old son! What a beautiful family, and how inspiring it is to see them tough it out in Bethlehem for the sake of their faith and commitment to their community. 

Some faces:

This is Khalil, me and Salim on the roof of the house Salim's family is building. 

This is Ranya. She probably has super-secretary powers. I am working on stealing them.

Finally, me and Khalil, working hard.

Beautiful Things

Another highlight from Jerusalem last week was this statue on the Via Dolorosa (hopefully I'll make it to walk the whole thing sometime soon). 

I usually have kind of a hard time with religious statues; I'll always find some detail I don't like and it will distract me from connecting with the subject of the art. This statue I just think is the most beautiful thing. It's not very well-restored or maintained, but I just really love it.

"...Now it all takes place. In her heart she had kept the words of the angel, spoken to her in the beginning: 'Do not be afraid, Mary' (Lk 1:30). The disciples fled, yet she did not flee. She stayed there, with a Mother’s courage, a Mother’s fidelity, a Mother’s goodness, and a faith which did not waver in the hour of darkness: 'Blessed is she who believed' (Lk 1:45). 'Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?' (Lk 18:8). Yes, in this moment Jesus knows: he will find faith. In this hour, this is his great consolation."

--From then-Cardinal Ratzinger's Via Crucis Meditation, 2005. 

Photo Credit, because mine didn't turn out.

My Kind of Hotels

On my last trip to Jerusalem I got to spend time at some pretty neat spots. I had the joy of staying at Casa Nova, which is a Franciscan Pilgrim House, like the ones found all over the Holy Land. I also got to visit Notre Dame, the Vatican's hotel/conference center in the city.

Here's the grand exterior of Notre Dame:

The Notre Dame Center apparently has a really interesting recent history, including takeover by the Israeli military for some period of time, not too long ago. I heard just snatches of this recent history from Patty, but I would love to read somewhere the whole thing.

Generally, Casa Nova is a little humbler, but it still has a great Jerusalem Old City feeling, and a really beautiful courtyard:

The other thing I noticed about both hotels was the beautiful chapels they both had! Obviously very different in style again (Patty is fond of saying Casa Nova is "very Franciscan"), but how cool to have the Blessed Sacrament so close. It's not enough that you can't throw a stone in Jerusalem without hitting a church; they put 'em right in the hotel for you. 

Here's Casa Nova's "very Franciscan" chapel (note especially the Tau Crucifix):

And here's the one Patty took inside Notre Dame...so beautiful!

Definitely my kind of hotels. As some of my friends are fond of saying, "Sleep with the angels."

Perpetual Christmas

This morning was a beautiful, though warm day in Bethlehem (80s, not a cloud in the sky, as usual). 

As I trotted off to Mass in the Grotto of the Nativity, I had no idea what awaited me...

Until I saw the white vestments. And heard the Gloria (I can make it out in Italian now). And then the gospel reading was the genealogy of Christ. And I realized: Merry Christmas. 

I didn't know before coming to the Holy Land that it is permitted to celebrate a special day's Mass when in the place where it happened. For example, at the  Basilica of the Annunciation, you can have Mass for the Annunciation any day of the year. And, therefore, in the Grotto of the Nativity, you can celebrate the Nativity of Our Lord, Christmas, any day of the year.  So, for the second time in the last three weeks, Merry Christmas.

Venite adoremus!

EDIT 6/27: It's been Christmas three times this week! Also, some of my friends who run a souvenir business tell me they are really busy right now because of the Christmas rush. Rush, I ask? Apparently they start taking orders for the next Christmas season around February. Talk about perpetual Christmas!

At the Empty Tomb

I'm not really sure what to say in this post, but I figure I should tell you all a little bit about what was by far the most beautiful thing that's happened here!

Photo: Flickr Creative Commons

Thursday morning, very early, Patty and I went back to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and we got to go to Mass. The altar was literally right inside the tomb, and the 30 or so people who were there sat right outside. 

"After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow. The guards were shaken with fear of him and became like dead men. Then the angel said to the women in reply, "Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified.  He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay."

Mt 28:1-6

Mass was completely beautiful. There was this booming organ, and about 10 Franciscans belting out the chant. The air was just fresh, and it was so joyful! 

I just kept thinking about Mary Magdalene and Peter and the rest seeing the risen Christ and freaking out, appropriately. But there I was, in the same place, seeing the same thing, and appropriately, freaking out! 

I'm just so thankful that I was able to see and participate in something so beautiful. What else do you say?

An interesting exercise

Hello dear friends,

Sorry it's been a while since I posted; this week was very full of interesting things! 

One of those was a military exercise that took place right on our street! Now mom, don't fret, this was a rarity; my coworkers had never seen anything like it either. Mostly, it seemed to be a bit of a glorified photo-op, but eventually the practice did indeed happen at the building right next door. 

A few more photos...

That's a photo-op:

That's a Ford truck:

I Trust in You

For you fans out there, I also snapped a quick one in a bookstore:

Yes, the Divine Mercy in Arabic :).

Oh Jerusalem

I also got to visit Jerusalem this week. In a word: incredible. 

We only stayed for a few hours, since the main purpose was a meeting at the U.S. Consulate. 

Just going is a really interesting process: I took a cab in with Patty, but another co-worker had to drive several hours to pick up his permit, then go through some more stress to get in to the city. The irony? Patty and I are obviously from another country. He was born in Jerusalem.

The streets around the Holy Sepulcher are just covered with shops and more shops. Note the "I heart Jerusalem" Tweety shirt on the right. Oh dear.

My main goal of the day was to make it to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher which is really just unreal. 

I even got a shot of the ladder that's been there since at least 1892. It was used in a long-ago repair, but from what I can gather the fairly intense turf wars among Christian sects have prevented its removal:

I got to see the holiest places in Christianity, and it was amazing. 

We also caught the tail-end of the Latin Patriarch's Corpus Christi Mass. The procession looked like every stereotype and imagination we have of religious ritual. Epic.

In addition to pretty extreme holy sites like the tomb, Golgatha, and the stone where the Lord's body was anointed, there's piles of art inside. Patty snapped a picture of Our Lady of Sorrows. Her friend, Moses, always brings the flowers for either side of her.

  

Here's some other photos I've found of the interior. It's all just incredible. What else do you say?

Interior Photos: Christopher Chan

I have big plans to return, and I just can't wait. 

Oh Jerusalem.

A Fruitful Birthday

Last Wednesday was my birthday, and for the second year in a row, I was truly thankful for the kindness of new friends to make it a special day.

After work, several of us from HCEF went out to the land where Salim's family is building a new house and has recently planted fruit trees of just about every kind.

Mostly, the apricots were ripe, so we picked a whole bunch of them. I'd never had fresh apricots before, but boy are they delicious!

We also got some of the tiniest apples I've ever seen. They taste like a regular one, but they're so small.

They are also growing a few olive trees, which have really special meaning to Christians in this area. Tiny olives are so cute, too bad I don't care for them much once they grow up.

Here's Salim's father, Mr. Al Ama. He seemed like he would get along very well with my dad, especially when he started talking about how he hates the birds eating their fruit!

In all, it was a great day. Thanks to so many of you for the birthday wishes.

The Road to Ramallah

I went to Ramallah on Tuesday. It's a very interesting city; the political capitol of the Palestinian Territories and home base of Yassir Arafat, back in the day. 

It's only a very short drive from Bethlehem, but it takes more than an hour if you're a Palestinian and have to go around Jerusalem. No fun. 

Here's some photos from the road:

Yep, that's a herd of goats. Ok.

In any case, the drive in is not the cheeriest sight. The parts of the city are very interesting, though. I would say it's more "metropolitan" than Bethlehem. A European Cafe, and plenty of coffee shops that feel like they could be in Madison, barring the palm trees outside. 

We visited some hospitals in the area, check out the Red Crescent ambulance:

There were some pretty serious images inside the hospital, too:

Mostly, I saw more Yassir Arafat than I ever have in my life:

And at the end of the day, we stopped by his grave, which was really interesting. The text on the stone basically says who he is and when he died, calling him a martyr. 

The first thing I saw in Bethlehem

Typical. 

Off to Ramallah

I hear I'm off to Ramallah at the crack of dawn tomorrow. Embarrassingly, I know next to nothing about the city, so I'm sure I'll learn a lot. 

Also, fyi, don't count out Chinese food to be fantastic in any part of the world. Can't wait to finish off my leftovers here. Some things never change. 

Peace!

Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons

Ain't no party like a Catholic party...

Cause a Catholic party don't stop.

It seems like they really know how to throw a Catholic party in the Little Town. Friday, being the first Friday of the month, held special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Bethlehem's Silesian Church had a special Mass and then a procession. 

Here's the church, which is in the old city:

And inside:

Yeah, that's a giant Sacred Heart statue inside. 

Because Mass was at 4:30 before the work day ended, or maybe because of the occasion, there were just piles of nuns there, and some monks. I think I counted nuns from 9 or 10 different orders, based on the habits. 

A few watched the procession from inside:

So the streets of Old Bethlehem were decked out for the occasion, pretty bold for a Christian minority:

Here's the main procession, complete with priests, scouts, a canopy, about a thousand people, and the Blessed Sacrament. Everyone was singing in Arabic, of course, but I picked out the tunes of Pange Lingua and a few other hymns I know. Crazy.

A pretty beautiful Friday! 

Quirks

So my dear sister has been encouraging me to post so-called "embarrassing stories" on this blog. While I am sympathetic to her desire for lighter fare, I must confess I'm just too dignified and savvy to have any such stories. So far. 

But, I will humbly present, 

Top five quirks of the first five days:

1. Arabic is read right-to-left. I guess I might have known that, but it still throws me off to see a list with the numbers on the wrong side of the page, or a newspaper that opens backwards. 

2. There really legitimately is a rooster in one of the apartments on my street. Though it has done me the great favor of crowing at dawn, it also just does that all the time. What the heck? 

(Also, Patty says there is a sheep. I haven't heard it yet, but honestly it wouldn't surprise me.)

EDIT: I just heard it. It's legit. Oh my.

3. I think I had some kind of stereotype in my head about long skirts in the Middle East. Women here just wear pants. Mostly just stylish jeans and black pants. Oops? 

4. One of my strongest memories from being little is the constant reminder from my Dad to wear my seat belt. Sorry Dad, nobody here wears them :). I've gotten laughed at pretty good for wearing it, but considering the level of crazy driving that goes on here, I think I'll keep it. At least there are no highways in this area.

5. People kiss lots of things here. As you might expect, it's a greeting for your friends, etc. But mostly they kiss holy things. A lot. For example, they kiss the silver star in the ground where Christ was born, the spot where He laid, etc. Not too surprising. But I was in the chapel with the tabernacle in it yesterday and some guy came in, touched the feet of the statue of St. Francis with a kiss, touched the icons right next to the tabernacle with kisses (ie kissed his hand then touched the icons), and then he kissed the tabernacle. I don't know if that's really my style, but I guess he has the right idea.

What about you, dear friends and family who read my inane little blog? What are some funny or unexpected things you're seeing where you are? Remember, it's not stalking to read along if you participate too :).

Adventures in Olive Wood

So HCEF sells olive wood crafts and organizes sales of them in the U.S.  to support Christian craftsmen here who have limited markets these days. I just think they're beautiful. 

My Parish

I'm considering this my recompense for 4 years at St. Paul's in Madison. (Sorry, it's just not pretty.)

Inside:

Our Lady:

Yeah, there's a courtyard. With roses. Growing. 

There's also as sweet statue of St. Jerome. 

I'm not sure if that's the patroness or Our Lady at the top, but OK. 

The patroness is St. Catherine of Alexandria, who has a sweet story.

She and I are getting to be pals, I think. 

So this is all connected to Nativity Church, where Jesus was born. Someday I promise I'll get some pictures there, but patience is a good virtue for you to cultivate in the mean time.