People come in all shapes and sizes and surprisingly so do Palestinians. If you knew what a Palestinian was then you probably imagined a beardy Muslim brandishing a rocket goat in the olive grove. I am disappointed with your stereotype, mainly for the reason that about 4% of West Bank Palestinians are Christian, with a 75,000-strong diaspora currently residing in Chile (yea, I dunno either). The highest concentration of Christian Palestinians is in the three "Jesus" towns in the West Bank (those are Jesus's delivery ward Bethlehem and his local hangouts Beit Jala and Beit Sahour). I have partaken in Jesus veneration in Bethlehem about twenty times too many so this time we decided to admire him in Beit Jala, a town which I personally find really fresh and awesome. We were received by a super nice Beit Jalean (?) family who showed us around the hot spots: a Christian community center which induced bouts of jealousy in my childhood, Beit Jala's very own little mighty rugby club and--oh!--I almost forgot--a church.
Million dollar question: Can you find the recurring theme in this picture? (Hint: It looks like giant flying lipstick tops)
East coast Jesus and (literally) bloody Mary
--Jesus you must be reaaaly happy to see me, bro
--Oh yea well at least I don't look like a Hasidic yeti (Matthew 4:20)
Man I love churches. Almost as much as this:
Our trip ended with the usual: amazing Palestinian food, home-brewed olives and body spasms induced by 200 cups of Arabic coffee and football-sized baklava at the mayor's house. On a sentimental tear-jerking note though I have to add that the hospitality of people in the West Bank makes me question what I previously believed about Ukrainian human nature.
I enjoyed eating this almost as much as I enjoyed my black eye and olive shower when I tried to open it
As an ending touch I will throw in some controversy. Ta da!
PS have you SEEN the size of this pussycat??
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