The Old City

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Yesterday was the first official day of classes and our first feild trip into the old city of Jerusalem. We had class at 8am from 10am and then got on the bus to travel to the old city, which is only about a 30-35 minute drive from the Moshav. The first thing which is visible from the bus were the city walls, which kind of reminded me of the Great Wall of China in some weird sense. The old city is where the Dome of the Rock is located, The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Mount of Olives , and the wailing wall and many other sites as well. Non-Muslims are not allowed inside the Dome of the Rock, and today we didnt even walk near it on our walk through Jerusalem.

We first stopped at a hostel which is located each inside the western wall of the city. We were able to climb to the roof of the hostel and get a great view of the city. From the roof the Dome of the Rock, Church of the Holy Sepulcher and Mount of Olives was visible.

The main street which runs through the old city is pretty narrow and is filled with tons of shops, mainly owned by Arabs. We walked through the street pretty fast because we will be able to go back into the old city to shop later. We were able to exchange money with Shaaban, who is a muslim money changer in the city. I got sheckels for my american dollars, but have yet to pay for anything with them..so we will see how that goes.

The church of the holy sepulcher is where tradition states that Jesus was crucifed and buried. Jesus wasnt actually crucified in the church of course, but a church has been built on the spot. As we sat at the steps of the church the muslim call to prayer was being sang loudly in the background. I love that sound, and i was so very excited to hear it for the first time! The church itself is very gody and has turned into this huge supersitituous thing where people kiss this stone and walk backwards while crossing themselves and then kneel to the ground and kiss it....WEIRD!!! Corie and our friend whitney had an interesting bathroom experience in the church. I guess they only had turkish bathrooms!

We packed a lunch and ate on this street in the old city. For some reasons there are a ton is cats in the old city, everywhere. And they are ugly, sick and most likely diseased cats. Its gross. they wouldnt leave us alone while we were eating.

We went to the wailing wall next. They have pretty tight security there, so we all had to go through metal detectors and such. we didnt stay very long at the wall but where able to see it and the people praying there. i am sure i will return multiple times this semester.

The most interesting part of the day was when we visited the site of the pool of Bethseba, where jesus healed an invalid. the pools are still there and there is, of course, a church on near the site. for some reason the church has amazing echoes and sound, so the whole group went into the church and sang amazing grace. it sounded wonderful.

it was a long day and we didnt leave until about 4:30pm. I was so tired and wanted to go to bed but i am still fighting this jet lag and needed to stay up later than 8pm. i was able to stay up until 11pm and i didnt wake up this morning until 6am, which is better than 4am and 5am. I think i am slowly adjusting and should be normal by next week.

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Photos

The Old City
Here is the view of the old city from the top of the hostel roof. you can see the dome of the rock in the background

the streets in the old city
they are really narrow and full of shops