Day 1 continued

We were met at the Tel Aviv airport by our tour guide, Naim, and directed to load our luggage into the luggage bay of the bus. After we left the airport in our big bus (it's similar to a hawkey stages bus, about 40 passengers), we got a nice surprise. We were taken to Jaffa, a mediterranean port city that was not on our original tour schedule. Since we had plenty of time, Naim explained that we would be able to spend a little time in Jaffa.
Jaffa is a port city right next to Tel Aviv, kind of like the twin cities. We visited a park at the top of the hill and had a marvelous overlook of the Mediterranean Sea. 70 degrees, beautiful blue sky, sunshine and waves crashing made this a feast for my eyes.
There is a church here in Jaffa, called the church of St. Peter, which is built to commemorate Peter's ministry in Jaffa - the conversion and baptism of Cornelius, and Peter's dream of the sheet coming out of heaven with all the clean and unclean animals and foods. (Acts 10-11). The inside of the church was magnificent, the altar painting depicts Peter's "sheet dream", the pulpit was unbelievably gorgeous! Can't wait to share the pictures from this place, the birthplace of the spread of Christianity into the Gentile world.
After leaving Jaffa, we journeyed south through the mountains/hills through the outskirts of Jerusalem into Bethlehem. It's a bigger city than I thought it would be, certainly not the little town we sing of at Christmas. We went through a checkpoint into Palestinian territory, of which most of Bethlehem is a part. Our bus driver could only take us so far, so we were unloaded about six blocks from our guesthouse, in front of the Bethlehem Star Hotel. You would not believe the backing and parking job that driver had to do! there was not room to put a blade of grass between the bus and cars that were trying to go around us - I am serious! We all held our breath and applauded the man when the 15 minute process was over with. Imagine trying to back up and turn around a bus in a street that is, at best, eight feet wide, with cars trying to travel both ways and some parked alongside, in addition to pedestrians, hundreds of them, walking along.
We walked to our guesthouse in the "compound" of the Lutheran Christmas Church. Our luggage was brought by porters, who also delivered it to each of our rooms, up and down many flights of stairs. I will have buns of steel after all the stairs I am doing here, back and forth between my room and the main building, where we gather for meals and our meetings.
We took some time to explore a little of the area where we are staying. open air markets on every street around us, shops with all sorts of food, clothing, jewelry, handcrafts, it's amazing and noisy! We finished the day relaxing in the sunshine then enjoyed a delicious meal of chicken, rice, and vegetables. Many of us enjoyed sitting out on the open air roof, drinking bottled water, local beer, or soda and relishing in the summer night like temperatures.
It was a long and tiring day, and I don't think my body will catch up to this time zone until it's time to come home!