Another team member writes

When we were done in the church of the Nativity we were given ½ hour to look around in manger square. There were little shops everywhere with people working very hard to get you to buy. It felt like the midway at a carnival. Mel and I were approached by a man who was holding a tray of steaming tea cups. He asked if we wanted some and we said no. He said how about Arab tea? So we said yes. He disappeared around a corner and appeared a little later with two hot plastic cups of hot coffee. It was very strong and sweet and rich. Wonderful stuff. He asked us to sit and got us some stools. I asked him his name and he told us he was Joe. We thanked him for our coffee and went to join back up with our group

Next we went to some olive wood factory stores that were run by local outreach groups. They were very gracious to us and gave us their best price on some very beautifully carved pieces. We bought way more than we had intended, at way better prices. (see picture of the carver)

Next stop was mid-day dinner and our big meal. We ate in what was supposed to be a Bedouin tent. (well, maybe the furnishings were). The food was a lot of great stuff. What they call salad here to start with. Pita bread and many different bowls of vegetables made into a paste, (egg plant, hummus, etc..) to apply to it. When we were almost stuffed they announced the main course was coming with the meat, three different kinds, chicken, beef and lamb! Uff! We all over ate.(another picture)

Our last stop was a Palestinian refugee camp. We were given the tour by a girl who had grown up in the camp. She was very well spoken and quite gracious. She told us all about the conditions of the camp and how occassionally the Israeli soldiers would shoot at them from the towers on the wall for no reason at all. They had to block off the windows on the side of the school that faced the wall because they had been targets just by going to school. It was very densely packed with houses and they only were able to get water into the camp once a week for 2 hours. It was heart breaking to see the children who were living there. The girl went on to tell us about the center they ran there that was partly funded by the UN along with several other groups. She worked there. It was a way to give the children something positive to do and have some self esteem and learn about their own culture. They said it helped them to want to live peacefully in the land with Israelis some day. They had some wonderful photos that the children were using to express how they felt about their conditions to the world.

Then we went back to the Jerusalem Hotel and rested and had dinner. We ate really light tonight.

It was a long and powerful day with much to think about.

Debbie Day