Stalking and sightseeing

Fair warning, this is going to be a very long blog post.

We have the week off for Eid, which is the four days or so of feasting, which follows Ramadan. I worked Monday, then had a very long night. I went to yoga, then we changed clothes and headed out to eat. We treated ourselves to a nicer meal out, because we've been cooking for ourselves solidly for the last three weeks. Anyway, we ate dinner and relaxed at this restaurant, where we met the owner. He was really nice and had actually lived in Orlando, Florida for a few years.

We then walked up into the old market, which was crazy busy with people buying things for their Eid celebrations. It's really interesting, because since we clearly stick out as three American (or at least foreign) women, we're remembered before we've even met someone. This means that pretty much every shopkeeper we buy something off of remembers us and knows us by name. This is really cool! We stopped to buy a floor squeegee (not sure how to officially spell that), because all floors are tiled here, and they dump water on the floors, then squeegee it into floor drains. Our squeegee broke, hence buying a new one. We ended up walking out with a window squeegee though, because we couldn't explain what we wanted. The shopkeeper's son remembered us and ended up walking around the market with us, which was really cool.

We walked home, as usual, and were actually followed for a bit by two guys our age who were making that whispering sound you use to call cats with, and we're not really sure what that means. We stopped in a supermarket to let them pass before heading down a darker street. We walked down to the top of our street, and somehow had a guy walking behind us, and then with us. He was dressed in all black and was wearing a black scarf. We kept talking and walking, not really worrying about him, but he continued to walk with us. He didn't talk to us, he was just walking with us. I suggested that we go visit George, who is the owner of our favorite market down the road. It was late and we were all tired, but we had visually agreed that we shouldn't show this guy where we lived exactly. So, we continued to slow down and we walked past our house. We had slowed enough that he was about twenty feet in front of us. He took this as a cue to stop and wait for us to catch up. When we got to him, he started walking with us again. I wasn't scared, but I wasn't completely comfortable with his actions. We walked onto George's porch and told him what happened. He told us to sit down with his parents and eat some of the lemon icecream he had just made. It was sweet too, because he made a point to say, "I'm inviting you for icecream. That means I'm giving it to you and I'm not selling it to you." He also insisted on giving us a ride home when we were ready. This was an amazing gift! The strange guy had turned and walked down the street a little ways. He was actually sitting and watching us from the porch for awhile. He eventually walked away, fortunately! We sat for a long time with George and his family, then he took us home.

It was a really awesome feeling to know that people were that concerned for our safety. I had told George that we could walk home, because we hadn't seen the guy for awhile, but he and his mom both insisted that he drive us. It was really, really sweet. It was nice to feel safe and loved by locals. :)

Tuesday was spent hanging out with the daughter of one of the kindergarten teachers that Nikki works with. She's our age and the four of us just spent the day together. We watched TV and then headed next door for her to do her aunt's hair. We went with her to a Henna party that night, which is part of the Palestinian wedding tradition. Now, I'll do my best to explain the wedding procedures, but I may mess it up. There are like, four days of wedding parties before the ceremony. The first day is the bride's immediate family goes to the groom's house and they have a party. Then, there is the Henna party, which is not what our idea of Henna is. It's a party for all of the female relatives, where the groom's family mixes the Henna, which is a mixture of herbs, water, and Chai tea without sugar. It's greenish in color and is placed in a dish, with flowers to decorate. There is a smaller group of women singing and dancing in a circle, typically wearing traditional Palestinian dresses. They bring out like, wedding favors (candy in little bags) and dance with those in the circle. They dance with the Henna. Then, they dance with the gold, liquor, and whatever else the groom's family bought for the bride. The bride comes in at this point and she sits on a high chair on a table, so she's looking over everyone. This particular bride was wearing a traditional Palestinian wedding dress. They can wear traditional dresses or "engagement" dresses, which look very much like the poofy prom gowns we wear in the States. The bride is presented the Henna in the dish, and is tradition to put her finger in it. I'm not sure the significance. The groom's sisters then adorn the bride with the gold they brought and give her a lit candle. The dancing and singing continued for awhile. It ended and is typically followed by another party, which is then opened to the men of the families. After the actual wedding ceremony, there is another party at the groom's house, where the bride brings over her clothes and the families...look at her clothes??!! I'm not really sure the significance of all of this and I apologize for giving you really vague generic information, but this was just the first experience I had with the wedding.

On Wednesday, we got up and went to Herodian. We've already visisted the basic outside of it, so I think I told you about it. We visited again to actually tour the facilities. It was really beautiful though.

We visited some of the sites in Bethlehem too. We went to the Church of the Nativity, which was built on the spot historians believe Christ was born. There's a star on the floor in the church marking the spot. I'm not really sure how accurate it is, but it was beautiful. We went to the Church of the Milk Grotto as well. This is the spot that apparently Mary was breast-feeding Jesus and some of her milk dropped to the floor and turn the rock white. It's also said to have been the place where Mary and Joseph hid with Jesus during the Slaughter of the Innocents. It's a beautiful spot! We also stopped at this olivewood carving shop. The artists invited us in to see their work and to go onto the roof--it's one of the highest points in Bethlehem! Their work is gorgeous!

Alright, I'm going to try to post some pictures, but it will depend on the Internet speed. I hope all is well with all of you!