The Best Christmas

In the midst of studying for finals today, my friend, Lara, started to spread the word in the library that we should go to Bethlehem for Christmas. I had already had plans to go out with some other classmates, but decided that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
As the day went on and we got more and more giddy (due to the amount of hours we spent in the library), we decided to make an evening out of it. So we had our traditional Chinese food on X-mas (as Jews do), and then we met up with classmates at school to walk to the Church where we were told that after midnight mass (at 10pm), there would be a hundreds of people walking to Bethlehem. When we got to the church, no one was there. Confused we wandered around for a little and soon discovered that the midnight mass was actually at midnight and that the walk to Bethlehem would not take place until around 2am.
The group at this point split, and I stayed for the midnight mass at the Dormition Church. The Church was beautiful and it was definitely a nice (and tiring) experience. We left early and Lara and I decided we still wanted to go to Bethlehem but that we couldn't wait until 2 am and walk (especially since we knew it was a long walk). So instead, we found a cab to take us there.
The cab experience was wonderful. Our driver was from Bethlehem so he knew where to take us when Lara said, "we want to see Christmas". I'm not going to lie, there were a few uneasy moments in the cab when our driver, Ruddy, would show us where the wall was and then we would ask what side we were on, and he said the Palestinian side.
We did make it to Bethlehem safely and got to see the beautiful Christmas lights, Subway, Star & Bucks, and of course the Church that was built around the site that Jesus was apparently born. All the more so, tonight's experience was a once in a lifetime one.
It's now 3:15 am, and I have lots of work to do tomorrow, but tonight is a night that I will always remember, and so if it means studying a little less tomorrow or being a little more tired, it's all worth it.

Laila Tov for now!

p.s. I'll post pics later...too tired