in need of a little tourist downtime, part one

i have come to discover that the entirety of the world does not function on the five day work week followed by two consecutive days off. for the hope flowers school, the work week is punctuated with a day off on friday, followed by a work day on saturday, and another day off on sunday... not a situation conducive to traveling or getting those errands run...

on top of this, transportation on a friday can be sketchy -- friday is the holy day for muslims, and shabbot (the jewish holy day) begins at sundown. add to that the fact that leaving bethlehem requires maneuvering checkpoints. managing these constraints and figuring out the necessary logistics can make for a rather tiresome day off. so what's a girl to do???

... head to the pool.

it is summer, after all.

and it's been darn hot in palestine!



these are pictures of the intercontinental hotel in bethlehem. this five star hotel is located a stone's throw from the separation wall (literally) and next door to a refugee camp. the irony of it all is something that i still can't seem to wrap my head around.

this place felt strikingly similar to the resort i went to with the fulton family last summer in mexico. i kept expecting one of them to show up on the pool deck for a cocktail and plate of nachos. only here, everyone was speaking arabic and drinking carlsberg (a strange phenomenon).