February 15, 2004

Acts of Nature in Bethlehem

[Bethlehem, West Bank] I'll guess that something happened in Bethlehem recently that has never happened here before -- we had an earthquake and a snowstorm in the same week.

On Wednesday I was riding in a taxi down Manger Street on my way to the checkpoint. People were pouring out of buildings and congregating in the center of the road. I asked my driver what was going on. He blamed it on a Fatah demonstration. He wondered why all those crazy people held their rally in the middle of the street. When we got to the checkpoint, another driver told us it wasn't a Fatah gathering, but rather something less monumental -- an earthquake. In the car we didn't feel a thing.

A few buildings suffered some damage. A wall and door frame at Wi'am cracked. I didn't hear of anything more serious. Visiting college students (from a group led by my good neighbor Ed) were inside the Herodium mountain when the quake started. A few stones dropped from the cave ceiling, and Ed noted that the exit suddenly became a popular spot.

Three days later, Bethlehem had its annual snow day. It was coming down pretty good. Since Bethlehem is built on hills, the snow almost totally stopped traffic. I walked around and took photos. Got into a few halfhearted snowball fights. The local boys didn't put up much of a defense. The trick is to use large snowballs and aim for the head. But when one kid started bawling, the rest sort of lost interest.

While I was taking photos, I slipped and nearly took my head off. I scored it a 7 out of 10. Legs straight up in the air and landed on my back. I lost points for smacking my wrist and elbow on the sidewalk. My laptop bag was strapped to my shoulder, and I can't decide if it helped or hurt my fall. I felt like an upside-down turtle spinning in his shell, as I tried to stand. Soaking wet, but fortunately only a (walking) mile or two from home.