My Last Week

Everything here has been business as usual for me, and although on Wednesday I cooked the most amazing toast I’ve ever had, I mostly spent last week relaxing.

I have very diverse classmates. About half are American, and in the other half we have representatives from Germany, Norway, South Africa, Korea, Jordan, Finland, France, Italy, Holland, and Canada. We figured out we speak about 16 languages between us.

On Monday I went to Bible study at one of my classmate’s house. He’s the Lutheran pastor from Finland, and he has the three blondiest children ever, who only speak Finnish. The youngest one (2 years) is a goofball and once I learned the phrase “What is that?” in Finnish he was quite eager to talk to me, albeit in a language I don’t understand.

On Wednesday Claudia and I went to Ben Yehuda Street, a popular place for Jerusalem nightlife. We met up with Kate and Taylor, two people from my class, and we spent our time rummaging through the overpriced tourist-targeted stores, practicing our Hebrew, and of course, eating falafel.

On Friday a bunch of us traveled to the city center movie theater to see The Dark Knight Rises. As it happens, Israeli movie theaters often have an intermission during the movie, and I was perplexed to have the screen go dark and the lights come up in the middle of a tense scene.

This week will be a bit more exciting. We’re planning to spend a day in the Old City, a day on the Mt. of Olives, and a day on Mt. Zion. Hopefully a trip to the Dead Sea will happen this weekend, and maybe a visit to Tel Aviv before I fly back. As much as I love Israel, I’m ready to be home.

Holy Bagel!

I’ve noticed a marketing trend here in Jerusalem. The first indicator I saw was HolyBagel, a restaurant I’ve seen in two locations. I’m trying to figure out what exactly they’re trying to get across with their name. I have two thoughts- one, they are peddling their bagels as sanctified and proper to be consumed inside the incredibly religious city of Jerusalem. The second possibility is that the name comes from a Robin-like exclamation of delight (“Holy Bagel, Batman!). I think the only way to solve this conundrum is to eat as many bagels as possible.

The second factor in this bizarre trend of marketing the religious is located in the narrow streets of the Jewish Quarter. The Holy Rock Cafe, which is only accessible to those who get hopelessly lost (from personal experience) is a fun little place that holds no reservations about poking fun at both the traditional Hard Rock Cafe and the even more traditional Holy city. Here is a picture from a blogger who found this quaint hole-in-the-wall as well.

Third, and the most interesting of all, comes from a recent trip into the city. We were walking through Damascus gate and approaching a line of restaurants and food kiosks when a man advertising a certain eatery informed us that we could be the lucky few to eat at the exact same place where… wait for it… this is huge… Jesus ate his first falafel! What an opportunity! This marketing, though, did prompt some questions. How do we know that Jesus ordered the falafel, and not, for example, the quail shawarma? Did Jesus and His family order individual plates, or did He get just the one and then multiply the food to feed the multitude of the evening dinner rush? Also, keep in mind that this place was where Jesus had his first falafel. Maybe He tried it out, then found a better joint up the street. I, for one, am skeptical of this claim.

I only have two weeks left in Israel, so I’d better eat all the religious food I can find.

Pictures #1

Here are some pictures you can browse through, the captions are below the pictures (blue pants not shown):

Me at the Kotel, Temple Mount, and Mount of Olives

The rooftop fence between the Jewish and Arab quarters.

We climbed onto the ramparts over Jaffa gate to snap this shot. You can see Jordan (the country) there in the background.

The Israeli baklava I had was orange, had the consistency of hair, and tasted not as sweet as I would have expected.

Pictures #2

Jordan (the person) at her second favorite site, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in the Russian quarter. 

We went to the Shiloah Pool today. Claudia and Jordan went through Hezekiah’s Tunnel first, but I backed out at the last minute when I looked at the dark, narrow entrance and I almost cried from potential claustrophobia. So I mostly spent my time waiting at…

David’s tomb, in the City of David.

I also had a lovely conversation with some elementary school Israeli children who were selling Popsicles. I asked them how much it cost, what kind they were selling, and their names in…… Hebrew! Completely in Hebrew! I managed to have a somewhat stimulating conversation in which I get my point across entirely in Hebrew! Plus I got a cheap, yummy orange Popsicle out of the deal.

Shabbat Shalom!

Muzeon Israel (Israel Museum)

I would be mad at myself forever if I was in Jerusalem and didn’t see the Dead Sea Scrolls, so despite the blazing heat today, Claudia, Mariana and Kate (two of my classmates) and I decided to go to the Israel Museum. Since we weren’t sure of the exact route to the Museum, I was able to use my newly learned Hebrew phrase for “Excuse me, do you speak English?” several times. I accidentally used the feminine “you” to a bus driver, who didn’t seem too happy about it, but we got to the museum with otherwise no trouble at all.

The Israel Museum is huge. There are several parts- the outdoor art garden, the Jewish art and life wing, the Shrine of the Book, the Second Temple model, the archaeology wing, and then the modern and children’s art sections. Plus two gift shops. You have to walk outdoors between each exhibit, which to me felt like cleansing the mental and emotional pallets.

Claudia, Mariana, Kate, and I are all studying religion in one form or another in college and we jumped right in to the Shrine of the Book. The building the scrolls are kept in is cool and humid and immediately I saw a giant Torah wooden housing roller, and by giant I mean the top extended up and up into the domed/Hershey’s kiss-shaped roof, three times my size. There was a photograph of the Essene Torah scroll wrapped around the housing. All around the room were pieces of the original scrolls, in their tiny, shining glory, including  the largest piece found intact- the Isaiah scroll. I don’t have any pictures, since the alert security guard pounced on anyone who so much as thought about using their camera, but it was amazing to see the manuscript that was the guiding book for the ancient Essenes as well as modern-day Bible readers.

We spent our last two hours wandering through the archaeology exhibit that showed Israeli history in conjunction with the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, and the land. Here is a picture of a Hadrian statue that I most definitely did not take with my sneaky camera phone:

Hadrian, who has a ridiculously threatening breastplate

I forgot my point and shoot today, so Claudia was nice enough to capture all the classic standing-by-the-scenic-second-temple-model photos of me. She’s asleep right now, however, so I’ll be sure to upload those pictures tomorrow. Until then, here’s a picture of an American circus we passed on the way home:

Circus Americani.

Safety update: I’ve been here more than a week and so far have heard no hostility towards me for being an American. When in doubt, I wear pants and long-sleeved shirts, and I always carry a scarf for extra modesty. Jordan, Claudia, and I have also heard that Americans tend to get price hikes on market goods, so at the shuk we generally pretend we’re Dutch. There are bag checks going in to school, museums, and the bus station. I have never felt threatened and have always felt safe. Don’t worry, and please keep me in your prayers for continued safety.

Tourism

Today was by far the most personally profound day I’ve had here yet. Claudia, Jordan, and I decided to do the tourism thing and visit the Old City: the giant bazaar, the Wailing Wall, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

We dressed in floor-length skirts, long-sleeve shirts, and set out. The light rail in Jerusalem is really clean and got us into the city for only six shekels each.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is mind-boggling, and if you scroll through the pictures that are provided on the page I linked, you’ll see what I saw. Since this trip was decided upon last night, we hadn’t done much research, and the only information we had while touring was a brochure we picked up at the front door and our knowledge from various religion classes at Wellesley, plus whatever the tour guide whom we followed around a bit told us. I’m glad it worked out this way. I’ll have time to visit the Old City again, possible multiple times, so I decided to experience the church at face value. The three of us stopped on many occasions on our walk to look up and around us and admire the building. Every room was filled with images hundreds of years old, on a piece of land that has been held sacred for millennia. For a brief moment I considered becoming a nun just to worship in that church forever. Luckily, that moment passed. I’m going to do some research, buy a guide book, and return to the church in a week or two to appreciate it on a full historical scale.

As the Church is Greek orthodox, I was happy to be able to understand the plaques, the words on paintings, and inscriptions in the architecture that were Greek. Hooray for my otherwise-useless dead language knowledge! I sounded out much of the Hebrew words too, although I had to ask Jordan to translate.

The Wailing Wall also provided a memorable moment. I don’t know about you, but I hadn’t thought about the size of the wall. I knew it was big, but in my head I never thought of it in relative terms. For example, how small I would feel next to it.

To my bargain-hunting, coupon-clipping big sisters: be proud! I successfully talked down a merchant and got some olive wood camels for half the original price. Sure, it might have been accidental, but it still counts. To abbreviate (I’ll brag about the whole process later), I felt genuinely sorry when I only had a little more than half the asking price. I tried to talk the merchant down, like I’ve been advised, and he refused. When I started to walk away saying that I would come back with more money another day, he called me back and sold me the souvenirs at my price. Woo!

Tonight is my first Shabbat in Israel, and Jordan, who is Jewish and likes to celebrate Shabbat by cooking, is going to make lovely eggplant parmesan for the three of us tomorrow. I’d like to pay her back soon by cooking challah bread, so if you have a recipe please let me know!

A towel, dishes, and outlet converter

Those are the things I forgot to pack.

Well, here I am in the Holy City!

My flight was peaceful and sleepful. A mother with a half-New York, half-Israeli accent and her baby Esther snoozed in the seat next to me. An old Iranian lady in the other seat asked me if I knew any Iranian Jews, because in her words, she knows them all, and tried to set me up with her 24-year old grandson who was getting bar mitzvahed in Tel-Aviv. Then she complimented my scarf, so all in all, it was a good flight.

I arrived safe and sound in the airport, and besides some light grilling from a passport inspector who seemed quite bored, I got through security and into a sherut, or shuttle taxi, quite easily. There were eight other passengers who got driven to their destinations in Jerusalem before me, giving me an excellent pre-tour of the city. The buildings are almost all white with the occasional red tile roof. The landscape is much more hilly than I expected, and the combination of brown bushes and green trees gives the area a dual desert/mountain feel.

I met my two friends from Wellesley when I got to campus, and we went shopping for groceries.

Claudia is very excited about buying chicken. We think. The packaging was in Hebrew.

I went to sleep exhausted.

Today was my first day of class, and it certainly was fun. My instructor spoke about ten words of English the whole four hours, and I can definitely feel the immersion process working. After school  I walked back to the dorm under the bright sheshem (sun), with my degel (flag), matanah (present), gleedah (ice cream), and har (mountain). (Not really. As you can tell, I didn’t really learn any super -useful words.)

In the afternoon, Jordan, another friend from Wellesley, and I ventured on the bus system to the city center. We couldn’t find a map or schedule for transportation anywhere, so we spent a while walking and waiting for the right bus, but eventually made it to a busy part of town with lots of shops and eateries. I bought the most beautiful pair of bright  blue pants with gold trim for only 20 shekels, about seven dollars, and I can’t wait for my mom (hi!) to see them and laugh. The weather was perfect: sunny and hot during the day, and chilly when we started to head back to campus.

Speaking of campus, I really like my dorm. I’m living in a flat with four other girls, one of whom is Claudia (see picture above). I haven’t met two of them, but Alham has been living in the apartment for three years now and has the place nicely decorated and equipped with a toaster oven and microwave. We share a common room, kitchen space, and bathroom, but I have my own room. Here’s the view:

Do you see the Dome of the Rock right there in the middle? I can. The view from my desk where I’m kotvim (writing) this post is the holiest city in the world. The Muslim twilight call to prayer is being broadcasted from the Dome, and the many hills and buildings surrounding the speakers make the song echo into my open window a dozen times over. It meshes beautifully with the sound of my Israeli flatmate playing a melody on her violin.

The jet lag hasn’t hit me too hard yet, but it’s 10pm, I’m sleepy, and I have class at 9 tomorrow, so I’d better say shalom and get some rest.

Here’s a picture of a bridge Jordan and I saw today. It’s fantastically tall; the picture only captures about a third of it. I’ll give a shekel to the first person who tells me what it is. I’d really like to know.

Can anyone tell me what this is?