$
I was skeptical of our ability to enter Bethlehem since it was inside the West Bank. The cautious warnings shared with us throughout the day made me question if I wanted to be allowed to enter. The scene outside Bethlehem resembled our failed border-crossing attempt the previous day; soldiers and military vehicles surrounded a barricaded West Bank entrance. Unlike the day before, it appeared that cars like ours with yellow Israeli license plates were allowed entry as well as the Palestinian cars with white and green plates.

An Israeli soldier stopped us, asked passport questions, warned us repeatedly to be careful then allowed us to cross the line into Palestine! Once inside, I feared that we really had crossed the line. Upon entering the West Bank and seeing what we had been warned against, I sided with Nick's description for me and my traveling partner: dumb and dumber.

We squeezed past cement barriers along unpaved roads in a residential neighborhood. Burnt cars and piles of blown up concrete from bombed homes lined the streets. Residents walked along dirt roads. In the distance we caught a glimpse of a boy herding sheep.