My first 2 weeks in Bethlehem

Hello again everybody, again sorry for the delay on the latest post. I've been very busy these last few weeks getting settled into the routine here in Bethlehem and I've only now had a decent chance to check my photos and get the blog written. So, here's what's been going on in my first 2 weeks here in Bethlehem.

 

I arrived on friday the 16th and was greeted the other side of the check-point by a crowd of taxi drivers keen to show me around. Luckily Paidia's (the charity i'm volunteering with) driver, Osama, found me and got be safely to the volunteer house in eastern Bethlehem. After a welcome brief from Rana (a Paidia staff memeber who looks after volunteers) I unpacked (into a wardrobe for the first time in nearly 2 months!) and settled in. Lila (my "up until wednesday just gone" house-mate) came home in the afternoon and gave me a run-down on what's best to do in my spare time whilst i'm here.

 

Saturday offered me a chance to finish settling in and explore a little, in the evening Lila and her friend Jon took me to the AIC (Alternative Information Centre). It offers bi-weekly talks on issues in the West Bank so its a great way to understand what's happening here. After the talk we headed to the AIC bar for a beer and chat with some of the other people at the talk. 

 

Me at the AIC cafe with a "Taybeh" beer (the local favourite!)

Lila had Sunday afternoon off so we met up with John in Manger Sqaure in the center of Bethlehem after a walk around the souq and back-street shops. We ended up at the peace-center cafe and whittled away the afternoon playing cards (sometimes with the waiters aswell when they got bored!) and drinking iced lemonade with fresh mint. 

Looking towards the entrance of the Church of the Nativity

Me with an iced lemonade

Me, Lila and John (on the right) playing cards at the peace center cafe

 

My first week at Paidia saw me help begin with the planning for a new community project; "FC-Paidia". The aim of this project is to get kids and youth teams from the local area into Paidia's own decent football facilities (over playing in the street or courtyards) so they have a better environment to play in.

 

The Wednesday of that week saw me head into Bethlehem for a much needed hair-cut. Well, that was an experience! The barber just sat me down and selected a clipper head at random saying "it may be a 2 or a 3"! 5 minutes later he was done and I had the shortest haircut I'd ever had! On the upside, its a lot more comfortable in the heat now!

 



Me post haircut!

 The next night me, John and Lila headed to a hillside restaurant just outside northern Bethlehem. We had a great night playing cards, enjoying the few and having a few beers with some of the people we'd met at the AIC earlier in the week.

 

The view from the restaurant

The restaurant seating area

Lila and John

 

 After a weekend of catching up on some sleep and exploring Bethlehem it was back to work on "FC - Paidia" and begin planning another project, this time an after-school session for kids. A very busy week! On wednesday I got offered the chance to help out on a caving trip run by Paidia for a local scout group. Well.... any excuse to get out and about!! The walk down to the cave system offered amazing views of an ancient wadi.

Walking down the path towards the cave system

View of the wadi just up from the entrance to the caves

 

Leaving our bags at the entrance we put on our helmets and head torches for 2 hours of crawling through one of the deepest cave networks in Palestine. It was a great afternoon and a bit challenging at times but very worthwhile, it was great to see the kids out and about enjoying themselves.

 

"Team photo" just before we entered the caves

Breathe in! Me emerging from one of the many crawl spaces

An open part of the cave network

Going down! Our guide Jameel leads the way

Me coming out at the bottom of the gap in the above picture, and no I haven't forgotten to rotate the picture!!

Yesterday, Catheryn (another staff member) took me on visit to Hebron, a city 40 minutes south of Bethlehem. We spent the morning and early afternoon looking around the sites and souqs aswell as meeting up with a few of her local friends. No visit was complete however (according to Catheryn) without buying a box or 2 of "sider delight", a local jelly type sweet (only found in Hebron!). She was right, it's definately a must-buy and at 5 shekels a box (around 2-3 pounds) a bargain! Be warned though, its seriously addictive!!

A box of "sider delight", yum :)

So then, that brings you guy's up to date with what's been happening over the past few weeks. I've made some great friends and had some really good experiences. Its all flying by very fast, a month today I finish here in Bethelehem and head to Tel Aviv to get ready for my flight home the next day. Still, 4 weeks left and I've still got plenty to do here, game on!

Thanks for reading everyone and I'll see you next time.