It was so much fun!!!
First we did a walk of the walls and we started at Jaffa Gate and from there we went around the south western quarter of the wall. It was so awesome. It was a little bit daunting because of the height and the sketchy stairs, but other than that it was cool to explore. It was especially fun to explore the little rooms and tunnels that were hidden within the wall. It gave us a nice view of the city and we got a breathtaking view of the countryside. I've gotten quite a few of those lately.
After walking the wall, Mike, Greta, Erin, Aubrey and I went to the Western/Wailing Wall with a few others. It was quite the experience. While I don't hold the wall in the same reverence as much of the people there, there was definitely a tangible feeling of sanctity and reverence for the place. The noises and craziness of the city just kinda faded away into a peaceful quiet. It was very nice to be able to have that experience. You could really tell that people have some incredible experiences at that place.
After that my group headed into the city a little bit and went down a quiet looking street to eat lunch. We sat down and were eating in that nice quiet place when all of a sudden a local kid comes up and starts kicking at Mike. It was so funny! He couldn't have been more than 5 years old. That was quite an experience. He finally went away, but the whole experience was bizarre.
After winding our way through the Christian quarter, back to the Western Wall to see if the Dome of the Rock was open (it wasn't) we then went back through the Jewish quarter and Muslim quarters to the Armenian and Christian quarters again. It was really fun to go through the city and see some of the stuff that was available. I got the Lion King in arabic!! :)
After walking back from there a few of us went exploring around Hebrew University, which was frustrating but educational. The campus is gorgeous albeit confusing/built like a fortress.
Pretty much after that we were fairly tired so we just did some homework and called it an early night.
But then monday we went on our first field trip. We went to Nabi Samwil, a cool spot north of the city and Augusta Victoria Lutheran Church. We also went to Mar Elyias Monastery which was located just a hilltop away from Bethlehem. Bethlehem is in the West Bank and is one of the two places we'll be going there on this trip. But it was definitely cool to look out over the hills which haven't changed for thousands of years.
Monday night and all of today have been spent in getting better acquainted with classes and doing homework. I'm going to really enjoy my Hebrew class. The teacher is very nice.
It's starting to warm up here finally. I've been freezing for the past week. It's been hard to tell since I'm about 10 shades darker than when I left Utah. But there has been relatively little cloud cover, and I have been outside more in the past week than I normally am. Ha, maybe I'll come back looking like a native!
I'm planning on eventually visiting Mary Magdalene's tomb and head over to West Jerusalem. But we'll see how homework goes. It's really piled on for the next two months. But I leave for Egypt the week after next!!! I'm so excited!!!
And I get to see Professor Shalom Goldman from Emory tomorrow. That's going to be so much fun. :))))
Life is just moving along. I'm trying my best to get the most out of this experience. This is quite an interesting place.
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