After weeks of Advent gatherings and hymns, carols on my computer and spottings of candy canes, chocolate, and cookies, and a break in there for Eid-il-Adha adventures, Christmas was just around the corner. I had a whirlwind of activities lined up and things were looking good. Bethlehem Bible College invited me to their annual community Christmas dinner at the Bethlehem hotel, where hundreds of people, mostly local Christian families gathered for the event. Several area evangelical churches take part, and highlights included a talk by BBC President Dr. Bishara Awad, music by the BBC choir and by a church worship team, and a couple of sermons by area pastors. I didn’t understand more than a couple words of it all, but one thing that really stuck out for me was the pageant play that they put on with college students that reminded me of the hilarity and meaningfulness of all those years of Christmas pagents back home.
It was a festive occasion at the Bible College but still they eat chicken, rice, hummus and salads with pita–I was disappointed that they don’t seem to have any special meals for the holidays. But over all it was great to see how modern Christians in the Holy Land are celebrating. Then the Saturday before Christmas the Lutheran girls in Bethlehem hosted a Christmas Bonanza Extravaganza–a cookie decorating party and much fun besides. I brought oranges and cloves and we had a good time making a version of pomanders. Then there were dozens of sugar cookies to be iced and sprinkled. Many young people volunteering in the area were in and out. In the evening we set off to find the tree-lighting ceremony in the town of Beit Sahour (Shepherd’s Fields) which is close by. We more or less walked there and back, a bit of a hike. The actual lighting was cool and involved a fireworks display. Many folks were on hand and speeches abounded, though of course, we couldn’t understand them. Then it was back to the house for some tasty dinner food and more hanging out. I took a taxi with others into Jerusalem to stay for the weekend.
Sunday brought church and then some of us went on a walk through west Jerusalem, grabbing bagels and sitting in a park (it’s called Independence park). Strange contrast from most of my days in the West Bank, for sure. I helped a couple folks who were decorating the church (Redeemer) for the Christmas service and we had it put together in no time. So, we took a little nap in the pews, something I don’t do very often. The evening held a final advent gathering at a house of Lutheran World Federation workers who live on the Mount of Olives. They’ve become quite a family lately as I’ve spent much time across the street from them in the house where the MCC workers live. They’ve got Danish heritage so traditional holiday goodies abound there like these cool round pancake balls that are the size of golf balls with jam on top and glueg (spiced, heated red wine with raisins and almonds in it).
Monday I took a bus in and did some volunteering at the BBC, but not too much. They had a lunch party for the students there. I met up with Bassem, the local MCC administrator who gave me some mail I had, including a small package of things from my sister, which comprised my only Christmas present. It was lovely: M&Ms, Craisins, some DVDs and cards. I went to work on it right away eating a lot and watching a movie before heading to bed. My housemate Femke went home and so I had the place to myself. The next morning construction woke me at 8 am and I set to work cleaning and tidying everything. In the evening I decided to head out and stay the night with my friend Marjorie in Bethlehem. Together with Peter, the other MCC SALTer from Jerusalem, the three of us went to a Christmas party sponsored by a group called AIC in Beit Sahour. It was a great night, lasting all the way until 2 am with a dinner and then dance with a DJ playing Arabic and international hits. I have never danced so much–and it was nice to have so many eager partners.
Despite going to bed at 3 am we were up and about around 9 to get ready for our big Christmas eve day in Bethlehem. Marjorie’s place is a quick walk to Manger square where we began to mill around at 11 am. There was a long parade/procession with tons of scout troops (who act as marching bands) filing along the road. They were playing bag pipes! I have never seen so many bag pipes in my life. It felt like the fourth of July honestly. The mood was festive and there were so many cameras and press it was unbelievable. Peter got interviewed by a Japanese morning show (and I did too) and I saw a crew from Bahrain, from Britain, from Canada, etc. We found Fadi there (he’s a Bethlehemite who works with LWF in Jerusalem) and he was our companion for the day. There were the usual street vendors and such but more men selling coffee and boys selling gum around the square. In the afternoon, the same troops marched back into the area by Nativity Church to welcome the Latin Patriarch who was to arrive. I was standing near the procession with Fadi, the taller one, keeping me informed. I could hardly tell with all the monks and officials and police all around. After he walked by, we grabbed falafels for lunch and headed a bit up the road to Lutheran Christmas Church.
This church was hosting all the local Lutheran congregations for Christmas Eve around 5 pm. The service was broadcast live on some television. It was in three languages, Arabic, English, and German, and the sermon was given in English by our own congregation’s pastor, Mark Holman. It was a packed house and we barely made it in before they started sending people to the overflow room. It was a lovely service and a chance to sit down and rest. After that, people gathered in Manger Square and around 7:30 pm we decided to get some taxis for 12 of us to eat dinner together at the Tent Restaurant in Beit Sahour. Little did we know that it would take so much work because Abu Mazen (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) was coming in for services at the Church of the Nativity. Eventually we found a taxi and an open road to the restaurant.
The Tent is popular for locals and tourists for its atmosphere–a covered bedouin style tent with huge tables seating a dozen or more on couches around salads and mixed grill offerings. It is known for its water pipes (nargileh, hubbly bubbly, hookah, sheesha) also. So it was a good choice for our crowd. Still eating traditional foods of the region, I wasn’t feeling particularly close to the holiday. Then–the lights dimmed and clapping commenced. As we looked on bewildered, two Santa Clauses jumped out to some crazy music and started running around throwing things from their sack! We shouted and were able to get some presents from their stash–all cheap Chinese imports which greatly amused us. Toy soldiers, a creepy Barbie doll, tacky santa hats, masks, balloons, we had a blast. It was so funny to see us all get a little giddy over such things.
Around 11 we decided to head back to the Manger Square to see what there was to see. Not much apparently, except some shibab (youth males) and some sad looking children still peddling gum. It seems that the show was over. But still, the midnight mass was impending. We tried to sit down in the Peace Center cafe but they were closing up shop so we attempted to walk to the bar/restaurant next to the Nativity church. This proved to be nearly impossible, as Abu Mazen was again in the vicinity and the roads were heavily guarded by armed forces. Eventually we made it across the street and toasted the new year..er… Christmas…with our friends together. It was good company. At some point I decided to go home to shower and get to bed. I had to wake up early for church in Jerusalem.
6:30 am I was almost up and out by 7:15 to walk to the bus that would get me to Jerusalem. Another guy I know, Ben, who was going to church with me was on the same minibus. It was not quite 9 am when we arrived in time at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in the Old City. Seminarian Mike Powell gave a nice sermon about incarnation and we all headed to Pastor Mark Holman’s house for Christmas brunch. Egg bakes and Minnesotans were in excess. It was very pleasant. I felt right at home with all the Lutherans 
Then I went back up to Augusta Victoria Hospital (where I was staying all week in the MCC house) and watched Elf and the Thomas Crown Affair, vegetating with some others who were sleep-deprived. Next, with Ben, I crashed a Christmas dinner being held at the AV guesthouse with lots of wonderful visitors and volunteers from around the world. Mainly European. There was again great glueg and the dessert–flaming plum pudding–was phenomenal. I’ve decided to switch from fruit cake to plum pudding from now on!
It was very generous for them to host this wonderful meal and I was so pleased at how Christmas had turned out. I called home late that evening to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. The next day I slept in until noon and continued vegetating until an appointed gathering of friends at the guesthouse at 6 pm. We hung out for a while and went out on the town to a joint called Mike’s Place in west Jerusalem that seems to attract ex-pats. It was fun and crazy and a great way to unwind. The next morning we gathered for banana pancakes a la Mike and a re-run of Elf. It was back to vegetating for the rest of the day, until the events of yesterday unfolded. More in the next entry.
I was so privileged to have such great times with the Lutherans and volunteers in the area. It’s amazing how we can all connect and bond at such a time when we are far from our homes and missing family. It was not how I expected a Christmas in the Holy Land but it was incredible nonetheless.
Pre-Christmas Photos
Christmas Photos
More Christmas Photos
