December 25, 2001

With Friends, Bethlehem Candlelight Procession

It's Christmas in Bethlehem!

I had a great day with my friends here. This marked the first Christmas in my life that I did not spend with my family. I had never been away for Christmas. I thought that maybe it would seem like an unusual Christmas, but it was nice. My family called, so I got to talk with them -- even Carolina, Madison and Casey.

I opened gifts! And you people know me pretty darn well. I'm going to be reading and listening to CDs and looking at pretty things and experimenting with web cams and wearing warm Turner Hams sweatshirts and even eating wasabi peanuts. Excellent. Thank you. Thank you very much.

My former English student Nidal invited me to have lunch with his family. I'm never disappointed there. I've been there a few times and the food is always superb, and I usually learn a few things about Russia too. Nadir, Nidal's older brother, spent a few years in the former Soviet Union and he's always got some interesting stories. Nidal gave me some nice olivewood gifts too. They are a really nice family, and I was lucky to be able to spend my Christmas with them.

Then we went to the annual candle procession. This year there was a candle march through Beit Sahour then a march to the Bethlehem checkpoint. It was a great event. There had to be several thousand marchers from Shepherd's Field in Beit Sahour to the municipality. Lots of flaming torches. It grew dark, and it was like we were in another world.

Then it was time to march on the Bethlehem checkpoint. I'm usually a little nervous before these things. I'm never sure how they will turn out, but they have all been OK so far. I've only been to three of them, and there have been no arrests, no bullets, no tear gas. Several hundred of us marched from the destroyed Paradise Hotel to the checkpoint. The soldiers stopped us a few feet past the checkpoint though. Then they declared the site a "closed military zone" and no photographs could be taken. (That is a very common practice. Any protest site gets declared a "closed military zone" and no one can enter the area.) The plans are to return on Dec 31. And here are some photos that I snapped before the site was closed.