Bethlehem and the ER

Day four and we are rocking Jerusalem. The storm really hit last night but this day was full of rain. It was pouring. I mean pouring. We had hope for snow, they were saying it might snow and let me tell you it was cold enough too but nope we woke up to rain. We ran over to the Dome of the Rock after a good time at our new coffee stop Aroma. The Dome of the Rock was closed but still beautiful to walk around. We ran back home in the rain and got a taxi to take us to Bethlehem. I’m not sure what I expected but it wasn’t what I saw. I guess I expected a small little farmer town and we came across a mini city. But non the less we were in Bethlehem during the Christmas season, listening to Christmas tunes and saying hearing the wishes of Merry Christmas for the first time. We were having so much fun but at the same time I was being hit with a lot of pain. We walked the wall that divides the Palestinians from the Israelis. I’m not totally sure about the complete history of that wall but I know it’s gnarly and there is a lot of graffiti on the wall that exposes the oppression and jail that wall represents upon the Palestinians. We went into this church that was super crazy huge and it’s the place that they think Jesus was laid in the manger. Again with seeing a place that has turned into a place of worshop, a place of rituals and less of a place of remembrance of our savior. But it also was really cool to think that I was in the town that Jesus was born, who cares about the specific spot. And as we walked to the Milk Grotto we saw the sunset. And that hit me. Seeing the sunset in Bethlehem, the same sort of sunset Mary and Joseph may have seen as they came into the town looking for room for their child. ☺ We found some cpic scarfs in Bethlehem and after that called it a night. Again with admitting the pain of being sick hit me really hard this day. I tried to suck it up through because well we were in Bethlehem after all… and even though we walked all day long, I couldn’t do it much more. I was excited to find the bus station and get home. We got home and went to Aroma again and that is where I just couldn’t do it any more. I felt like my kidney was going to explode and there was no hope for breathing, taking any breath deep or shallow was killer. So there I found myself in the ER. Yup the Israeli ER it was. After being ripped off for the taxi and the first place being closed - Robert and I were checking in to the hospital. I was admitted, charged thousands of shekels, poked with the wrong needles, poked with the right needles, blood drawn, tests drawn and I had a kidney infection. Robert and I got some good bonding in while we waited for the test results and the mention of bathroom rating... Robert gave the hospital bathroom and 4 - that gives you an insight to what I was dealing with (lowest rating so far on the trip!) From there it was paying for another taxi and back to the hostel. That night was a little taste of torture. I shivered all night, couldn’t sleep, and was in so much pain I couldn’t lay on my back, my side, my head… it all hurt. All I could do was pray I fell asleep from fatigue and finally I did!