Updates from the Holy Land: Seminarian Dave Schalk 12/16/06

Here’s another email from the Holy Land! I should let you know that I write these emails from my room in a Word document early in the morning. When I have some free time during the day, I make my way over to the internet café in Bethlehem. It’s an awesome place. The owner, George, is a Latin Catholic and has taken to the Mundelein seminarians. His perfect English and knowledge of American culture lets him tell jokes. He is hilarious.

Most of the people here in Bethlehem really enjoy having pilgrims/tourists around. It’s true that we boost the economy – which is hurting badly due to the overall civil unrest in this part of the world – but this particular Middle-Eastern culture places a tremendous emphasis on hospitality. It is difficult to walk down the street and not have someone offer you some coffee or tea. They genuinely want to make all visitors feel welcome, and sometimes “welcome” is the only English word people know. There is a friendliness to the people here that reminds me of the people of Guadalajara in Mexico.

The people in Bethlehem are Palestinian, which means there are no Jews here. (They’re laws actually prohibit them from living here. They live on the other side of the wall in Jerusalem and in the Jewish settlements that are scattered throughout the West Bank.) The majority of the population is Muslim; the minority is Christian. But everyone gets along in this town. The University of Bethlehem, a Catholic University, is known for opening its doors to all people and sets the tone for the entire community.

On the days that we do not travel to pilgrimage sites, the seminarians have two classes in the morning and a presenter in the afternoon. The classes right now are the Gospel of Luke and the Spirituality of a Pilgrim. The afternoon presenters are usually locals who come to speak about the various issues that are pertinent to life in the Holy Land. The last three talks have been about Islam.

I’m also spending time catching up with the rest of my class. As many of you know, my grandmother passed away on December 4th. (Please pray for her. Her name is Berneda.) The time I spent with my family in Ohio around the time of her death and funeral delayed my departure one week. I missed four days of classes and a few important pilgrimage sites. This means I spend most of my evenings listening to MP3s of missed classes, reading missed assignments, etc. Today we have the afternoon free, so I am going to visit Shepherds Field. This is where they believed the shepherds were keeping watch on the first Christmas night. All my friends who have already visited tell me it’s an impressive place.

And tomorrow we leave for Galilee for three days. We’ll see Nazareth, Jericho, and many other sites. You’ll probably hear about them in emails to come. Much love from the Holy Land until then. I have to run now. Please keep me and all of the seminarians from Mundelein in your prayers!

dave
12/16/2006