Even More Questions about Bethlehem!

Our friends from Wisconsin wrote a few more questions. I am now sitting in a hotel in Amman, Jordan and reading them. I have a few more posts with pictures of Bethlehem which I want to put up, but I will answer these questions first.

I am sorry that I am not with my friends in Bethlehem who would be the experts on the answers.

What types of beds do people sleep on?

The beds in the house that I stayed in was very similar to our beds. I think that maybe it did not have a box spring underneath and the mattress was harder. One difference was that instead of blankets and sheets like we are used to there was one blanket wrapped in a sheet (that was made sort of like a pillowcase. It was too hot to use this, so I mostly slept without covers.

If there is a shortage of water, what do people do for showers? For cleaning and washing dishes?

If people do not have water they cannot shower OR wash dishes. People definitely shower less often and in the house where I was staying (and I am guessing in most houses) they had a bucket in the tub so that you could save all of the water instead of it going down the drain. That water could be used to flush the toilet or to water plants outside. 

Most of the time people have some water, but there is not much pressure, so it trickles out. Now and then when there is NO water they have to buy water in big gallon jugs or maybe they have a family member in another part of town that has water and they can go fill up jugs there. At least then they can wash dishes and do sponge baths.  

Do people have air conditioning in their houses?

Most people do not have air conditioning. I did visit a house that had some air conditioning. I doubt that anyone has air conditioning in the whole house. If they have it they only have it in the living room. Some people have fans.

What types of jobs do people do in Bethlehem?

Lots of the jobs that I saw were people who had little shops that sold things or fixed things. For example, the brother of the woman I visited had a small shop fixing watches and he also sold new watches. There are jobs doing construction although not much construction is approved in Bethlehem and so there are not many paying jobs doing this. Some make things and sell them to tourists. There are hotels who employ desk clerks and people to clean rooms. There are taxi drivers, bus drivers, and tour leaders. There are restaurants with cooks. There is a university, so there are professors and schools with teachers. 

I have heard that unemployment is really high. I think that many of the jobs in Bethlehem depended upon tourists visiting and now that less people are coming there it is not easy. Most tour agencies stay in Jerusalem hotels and only come to Bethlehem for a short time. 

I did not see many beggars or any homeless people. 

Do families have pets? If so, what kinds of pets?

There were not many pets that I saw. However, one of the people I know has two bunnies in an outdoor cage. Some people have chickens. I think that those are more for eggs than they are pets. I did see cats and dogs, but they seemed to be outdoor animals that people fed outside.

Do people there have TVs? If so, what shows do they watch?

Everyone has a TV. The couple I stayed with were older, so I am not sure if the shows that they watched would be the same for everyone, but the TV was on most of the time. They turned it on first thing in the morning and even though they weren't watching Catholic masses were going on in the background of everything they did. They also liked to watch the news and what looked to me like soap operas or maybe ongoing adventure shows. These shows were made in Turkey mostly. They said that Egyptian shows had been more popular in the past, but now Turkish TV was better. Lots of people were watching the World Cup whenever a game was on. 

One thing that I thought was interesting was the observation that when you watched old Egyptian shows or movies from the 50s women were not wearing head coverings and the society seemed more open (men and women were relating more openly), but now it is different. Women in shows wear head coverings.

What American sports do people there know of? How do they know about the sports? Do people there watch the Olympics?

I wish I could give you a better answer for this. The couple I was staying with were not very interested in sports. Since the Olympics were not happening I am not sure if they were followed with as much interest as the World Cup of Soccer. 

What kinds of stores do people go to and what do they buy there? We are especially interested in what the kids buy.
This picture from http://www.radiofreepalestine.co.uk

shows what the downtown shopping place looks like.

 Stores are smaller than what we are used to. Most food is bought from the outdoor market. This might be like the Farmer's Market if you have one. However it is bigger. There are all kinds of things that you can buy there including household goods like sponges and pots and pans. There is also goat meat hanging in shop windows and lots of eggs and chickens. 

In the outdoor market there are lots of boys with shopping carts (some like we have and others home made). They will take people's groceries from the market to their homes or maybe to a taxi. Most people walk from their home to the market and if they buy a lot it is hard to get it all home. They pay a small amount to these boys and get their groceries home that way. In this picture from http://cache.virtualtourist.com/2443587-Bethlehem.jpg you can see the boys with carts in the back.

What I saw kids buying was candy and soda. There are lots of small markets, like our mini-markets around and kids had pocket money and went to buy snacks. Junk food is becoming a problem there. Kids really like it and it is easier for parents to give them a little money than it is for them to fix a healthy snack. Does that sound familiar? 

Do any Americans ever come to visit or stay in Jerusalem? Only 2 of us have ever met anyone from Israel, so we are wondering if people there meet any Americans besides you?

I am not in Jerusalem yet, but I think that there are LOTS of Americans in Jerusalem. Many are tourists, but there are also Americans who have come to live in Jerusalem. 


This map shows how close Bethlehem and Jerusalem are. Jerusalem is in the yellow part (Israel) and Bethlehem is in the green part (Palestinian Territories) 

Even More Questions about Bethlehem!

Our friends from Wisconsin wrote a few more questions. I am now sitting in a hotel in Amman, Jordan and reading them. I have a few more posts with pictures of Bethlehem which I want to put up, but I will answer these questions first.

I am sorry that I am not with my friends in Bethlehem who would be the experts on the answers.

What types of beds do people sleep on?

The beds in the house that I stayed in was very similar to our beds. I think that maybe it did not have a box spring underneath and the mattress was harder. One difference was that instead of blankets and sheets like we are used to there was one blanket wrapped in a sheet (that was made sort of like a pillowcase. It was too hot to use this, so I mostly slept without covers.

If there is a shortage of water, what do people do for showers? For cleaning and washing dishes?

If people do not have water they cannot shower OR wash dishes. People definitely shower less often and in the house where I was staying (and I am guessing in most houses) they had a bucket in the tub so that you could save all of the water instead of it going down the drain. That water could be used to flush the toilet or to water plants outside. 

Most of the time people have some water, but there is not much pressure, so it trickles out. Now and then when there is NO water they have to buy water in big gallon jugs or maybe they have a family member in another part of town that has water and they can go fill up jugs there. At least then they can wash dishes and do sponge baths.  

Do people have air conditioning in their houses?

Most people do not have air conditioning. I did visit a house that had some air conditioning. I doubt that anyone has air conditioning in the whole house. If they have it they only have it in the living room. Some people have fans.

What types of jobs do people do in Bethlehem?

Lots of the jobs that I saw were people who had little shops that sold things or fixed things. For example, the brother of the woman I visited had a small shop fixing watches and he also sold new watches. There are jobs doing construction although not much construction is approved in Bethlehem and so there are not many paying jobs doing this. Some make things and sell them to tourists. There are hotels who employ desk clerks and people to clean rooms. There are taxi drivers, bus drivers, and tour leaders. There are restaurants with cooks. There is a university, so there are professors and schools with teachers. 

I have heard that unemployment is really high. I think that many of the jobs in Bethlehem depended upon tourists visiting and now that less people are coming there it is not easy. Most tour agencies stay in Jerusalem hotels and only come to Bethlehem for a short time. 

I did not see many beggars or any homeless people. 

Do families have pets? If so, what kinds of pets?

There were not many pets that I saw. However, one of the people I know has two bunnies in an outdoor cage. Some people have chickens. I think that those are more for eggs than they are pets. I did see cats and dogs, but they seemed to be outdoor animals that people fed outside.

Do people there have TVs? If so, what shows do they watch?

Everyone has a TV. The couple I stayed with were older, so I am not sure if the shows that they watched would be the same for everyone, but the TV was on most of the time. They turned it on first thing in the morning and even though they weren't watching Catholic masses were going on in the background of everything they did. They also liked to watch the news and what looked to me like soap operas or maybe ongoing adventure shows. These shows were made in Turkey mostly. They said that Egyptian shows had been more popular in the past, but now Turkish TV was better. Lots of people were watching the World Cup whenever a game was on. 

One thing that I thought was interesting was the observation that when you watched old Egyptian shows or movies from the 50s women were not wearing head coverings and the society seemed more open (men and women were relating more openly), but now it is different. Women in shows wear head coverings.

What American sports do people there know of? How do they know about the sports? Do people there watch the Olympics?

I wish I could give you a better answer for this. The couple I was staying with were not very interested in sports. Since the Olympics were not happening I am not sure if they were followed with as much interest as the World Cup of Soccer. 

What kinds of stores do people go to and what do they buy there? We are especially interested in what the kids buy.
This picture from http://www.radiofreepalestine.co.uk

shows what the downtown shopping place looks like.

 Stores are smaller than what we are used to. Most food is bought from the outdoor market. This might be like the Farmer's Market if you have one. However it is bigger. There are all kinds of things that you can buy there including household goods like sponges and pots and pans. There is also goat meat hanging in shop windows and lots of eggs and chickens. 

In the outdoor market there are lots of boys with shopping carts (some like we have and others home made). They will take people's groceries from the market to their homes or maybe to a taxi. Most people walk from their home to the market and if they buy a lot it is hard to get it all home. They pay a small amount to these boys and get their groceries home that way. In this picture from http://cache.virtualtourist.com/2443587-Bethlehem.jpg you can see the boys with carts in the back.

What I saw kids buying was candy and soda. There are lots of small markets, like our mini-markets around and kids had pocket money and went to buy snacks. Junk food is becoming a problem there. Kids really like it and it is easier for parents to give them a little money than it is for them to fix a healthy snack. Does that sound familiar? 

Do any Americans ever come to visit or stay in Jerusalem? Only 2 of us have ever met anyone from Israel, so we are wondering if people there meet any Americans besides you?

I am not in Jerusalem yet, but I think that there are LOTS of Americans in Jerusalem. Many are tourists, but there are also Americans who have come to live in Jerusalem. 


This map shows how close Bethlehem and Jerusalem are. Jerusalem is in the yellow part (Israel) and Bethlehem is in the green part (Palestinian Territories) 

Growing up in Bethlehem

A friend asked, "The earth, the ground looks white and dry... I'd like to know how food is grown, and what is the typical meal like?"

It is very dry here most of the time and so the ground is very dry. However, there are farms in different areas that produce many things. Right now it is the season for plums and grapes. I think that cucumber and tomatoes might be grown in hot houses, but they are also abundant. In the market you can buy watermelon, apples, plums, grapes, bananas from Jordan, eggplant, eggs, meat and chickens, and so much more that I can't remember. 

This is part of the reason that water is such an issue. For the farmers to grow crops they MUST irrigate and when there is no water the crops just die. There is just not enough rain to sustain most crops. You can really tell the areas that have water and those that don't. Land owned by Israel has plenty of water and so it looks more lush and green. For more information on the water issue look at:  http://www.ifamericansknew.org/cur_sit/water.html.

A typical meal always has pita bread. Often there are things that you can dip torn pieces of the bread into. One thing I really like is zaatar which is thyme ground into a powder and mixed with sesame seeds and other things. There is also hummus and thick plain yogurt. They eat a lot of eggplant and make it in a lot of different ways. They also use lots of different forms of sesame seeds. Tahini is one of them. They mix it with cooked eggplant to make a dip. They also use lots of olive oil and eat olives. Lorette, the woman I am staying with is an excellent cook and most days that I was here she cooked something delicious for dinner. On Sunday she roasted chickens filled with rice and then served them with bulgar wheat (boiled and then cooked with sauteed onions), rice, yogurt and a plate of fresh vegetables. She also makes something that she calls upside down which is fried cauliflower, carrots, onions, and other things cooked with rice. For lunch we eat Shwarma (like a gyro, sort of) and falafel in pita bread. 

I was really going to write to you about growing up here, but I have gone on and on about food, and I could go on more! I will write more in the next post, but first I want you to think about what it would be like if your parents could not live in the same city, but had to live separated by only about 15 minutes drive. Maybe it would be like one of your parents was only allowed to live in Georgetown and the other lived in Austin and the parent who lived in Georgetown had to get permission from the Government every time he wanted to visit the other parent. The same with the kids! Enough for now...

Growing up in Bethlehem

A friend asked, "The earth, the ground looks white and dry... I'd like to know how food is grown, and what is the typical meal like?"

It is very dry here most of the time and so the ground is very dry. However, there are farms in different areas that produce many things. Right now it is the season for plums and grapes. I think that cucumber and tomatoes might be grown in hot houses, but they are also abundant. In the market you can buy watermelon, apples, plums, grapes, bananas from Jordan, eggplant, eggs, meat and chickens, and so much more that I can't remember. 

This is part of the reason that water is such an issue. For the farmers to grow crops they MUST irrigate and when there is no water the crops just die. There is just not enough rain to sustain most crops. You can really tell the areas that have water and those that don't. Land owned by Israel has plenty of water and so it looks more lush and green. For more information on the water issue look at:  http://www.ifamericansknew.org/cur_sit/water.html.

A typical meal always has pita bread. Often there are things that you can dip torn pieces of the bread into. One thing I really like is zaatar which is thyme ground into a powder and mixed with sesame seeds and other things. There is also hummus and thick plain yogurt. They eat a lot of eggplant and make it in a lot of different ways. They also use lots of different forms of sesame seeds. Tahini is one of them. They mix it with cooked eggplant to make a dip. They also use lots of olive oil and eat olives. Lorette, the woman I am staying with is an excellent cook and most days that I was here she cooked something delicious for dinner. On Sunday she roasted chickens filled with rice and then served them with bulgar wheat (boiled and then cooked with sauteed onions), rice, yogurt and a plate of fresh vegetables. She also makes something that she calls upside down which is fried cauliflower, carrots, onions, and other things cooked with rice. For lunch we eat Shwarma (like a gyro, sort of) and falafel in pita bread. 

I was really going to write to you about growing up here, but I have gone on and on about food, and I could go on more! I will write more in the next post, but first I want you to think about what it would be like if your parents could not live in the same city, but had to live separated by only about 15 minutes drive. Maybe it would be like one of your parents was only allowed to live in Georgetown and the other lived in Austin and the parent who lived in Georgetown had to get permission from the Government every time he wanted to visit the other parent. The same with the kids! Enough for now...

Water Shortage

It has been very hot here and so there are a lot of problems with water. Some people have not had water for several days. The way water works here in Bethlehem is that the water comes through pipes in the ground like we have at home, but it does not come every day, so people have tanks on their roofs to collect the water when it is running. In cool weather it works well, but when it is hot there is not enough water. I think that it evaporates and maybe people need more water. This is a picture of some tanks on the top of the house.

This afternoon I saw a bunch of kids getting water in bottles and bring them back to their house. 

Below is another video that the kids made!

Water Shortage

It has been very hot here and so there are a lot of problems with water. Some people have not had water for several days. The way water works here in Bethlehem is that the water comes through pipes in the ground like we have at home, but it does not come every day, so people have tanks on their roofs to collect the water when it is running. In cool weather it works well, but when it is hot there is not enough water. I think that it evaporates and maybe people need more water. This is a picture of some tanks on the top of the house.

This afternoon I saw a bunch of kids getting water in bottles and bring them back to their house. 

Below is another video that the kids made!