Betlehem! The city of the white houses.

This winter I decided to travel to Palestine for a short study visit held in Betlehem

The city of the white houses. The stony city. A poor city. When you came from Tel Aviv to Betlehem you can realize the difference. It remembers me those  Balkan’s capital which are divided in the old city and the new city. In Betlehem Muslims are majority and Christians minority (around 35%). Like Jerusalem, it is also known for its multiculturalism and interreligious harmony and dialog. You can find Muslims studying at Talitha Kumi (Christian madrasah from German missionaries) but you can find Christian to Ahliya University.

All the people around claims that Betlehemi is the most calm cities in Palestine. It seems to be true and you can feel it in the moment you travel out of the city borders: the tension starts to smell in the air.  You feel anxiety in every check point, you feel it from the walls among the country and you feel it from the presence of soldiers and policy everywhere. 

We eat falafel (which are vegetable fried balls from ground chickpeas). We tasted also kunafa served from a functionary of the Ministry of Education, such a modest lady. They say the best kunafa ever is Nablus and we tried that too (although I personally prefer the Turkish one).   

I felt in love with this place and yes I would like to come back at to rediscover new memories.

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