Today's Challenge!!

I have much to catch up on with this blog, however, I have had difficulty getting on line ,but importantly, getting this to be in English and not Arabic! I believe the problem is resolved at least for now. The first challenge of today was too many hair dryers going at the same time and on the wrong voltage, the result being no power for most of us. We pooled hair dryers and outlets to get everyone ready. We arrived in Tel Aviv Saturday evening and met our driver, Abraham. All checked luggage arrived and we were soon on our way to Bethlehem. We checked into the international center and had an amazing dinner. It was actually Christmas Day here for the Orthadox church. Manger Square and all of Bethlehem is dressed for the season. After dinner we took a walk to see the sights. This morning the day began with the minarets starting chants at 5 am! The street noise soon began under our window as the street vendors began to set up for the day. at 6 am the church bells began to ring! Oh little town of Bethlehem was not silent! At church at Christmas Lutheran Church we all sang Oh Little Town of Bethlehem...far more meaningful when you are IN Bethlehem! After church we went for coffee hours with the congregation and had great Turkish coffee. Even though the service was in Arabic, we could participate because the formate was the same. This afternoon, a wonderful man, Adele, took us for a tour of the back streets of old Bethlehem. We went off the beaten tourist path most of the day. I have many many pictures already -no great surprise for those who know me! I will do my best to post some significant ones.