Oh Little Town of Bethlehem

Hello all,

Sorry I haven't sent out an e-mail for a while, I know I say this every time but they really do keep me busy over here. Anyway, we're finally done with our mid-terms, but there's always a paper or a project or an interview so i've decided that I have to stop waiting for that break and just keep working. Although, the world cup is severely interfering with my studying habits. It's so much fun because we're only an hour away from South Africa time here so we can watch the games live and so many people here are into soccer so we get a huge group together to watch. Sometimes I wonder where all these people have been all my life. So here are some highlights from this past week:

-I discovered the greatest treasure ever: 1 shekel popsicles just outside the lower gate of the center. Also every time we go there the same group of little kids come out and play soccer with us in the street. There was this one little girl who was so sad when I last week and she yelled "Amira (everyone here thinks thats my name-apparently that's what it sounds like) Amira- I love you!" and then when I went back yesterday she ran out yelling Amira Amira you back!!! Last week I was also wearing a Brazil jersey so when the kids saw me come back yesterday they all ran inside and came out with Brazil jerseys hahaha. I love it here.

-On Sunday I got to go to the Israeli Zoo!! But. . .. it's exactly like and American zoo.

-On Monday we went on a field trip to Bethlehem. This was probably one of my favorite field-trips so far. It was amazing because Bethlehem is in the West Bank so we had to pass through the seperation wall and see all of the security and we stopped at the Palestinian "think-tank" headquarters where they pretty much study and look for a solution to the conflict. We had a presentation there and learned first hand their opinion and everything. It's always hard to know what to think because we get such biased opinions from everyone but this was really helpful because they went through specific UN agreements that Israel has broken.

-We also got to go to Bethlehem University-one of the first universities in the West Bank. We got to talk to 5 college students our age and it was sooooo cool to be able to talk to people our age and realized how much like us they are, and at the same time how different their lives are because of the conflict. I got to walk around on campus and talk with some of the girls there- I tried to attach a pic of that.

-Ok, Bethlehem is one of my favorite places EVER!!! It was crazy cause here we were in one of the most conlict-ridden places in the world and I felt so much peace and calm in this little city. We went to the Church of the Nativity where they believe Jesus was born and laid in a manger.

-So once again, I have had an amazing week. I sometimes have to pinch myself to see if this is all real or not. Tonight I think we're gonna go to some light show in the Old City. Should be saweeet. Love you all!!!!!!!