The Not so little town of Bethlehem

Our first full day was a tour of Bethlehem. Walking in Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity. We got to see parts of the Church that commemorates the "ACTUAL" place Jesus was born and laid in the manger. There are three parts run by three branches of the church, we got to see the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic sections. No Quaker section, but they let us in.
The picture of the star is the place Jesus was born. The next picture taken 5 feet away is the place Jesus was laid in a manger. This is right underneath the Greek Orthodox section. Which is picture where the light is streaming in. The last pic is the R. Catholic section and below it is the tomb of the innocents-commemorating the slaughter of young boys by Herod in an attempt to destroy Jesus. There is also an altar for Joseph as well-right where he received the angels vision to flee to Egypt.

So much old stuff-centuries old. Though quite a tourist place that had the usual folks trying to make a shekel. The rest of the day was lunch in a Bedouin tent and a visit to a Palestinian refugee camp-complete with tour. This was a difficult and stretching opportunity for most of us. Maybe someone will write about that though you are not likely to get too much that gets to political on the blog...but someone on the trip will tell you all about it when they get home. However I will say that I was struck with the ease that we moved in and out of Bethlehem as American tourists. Not so for most Palestinians who live in Bethlehem. I wrestled with anger, hope, despair and confusion over the whole thing. Lots to think about--even more to do!!