Jerusalem Update

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29 June 2010
1616 (GMT +3)
Jerusalem, Israel

In an effort to lead with my mistakes, in my last post I mislabeled a picture, which I have since gone back and corrected. It was a picture from the Mount of Olives, of a number of stone boxes. I labeled them as sarcophagi when they should have been labeled as ossuaries. The difference is subtle, but a sarcophagus was an ornate coffin designed to entomb the entire body after death. This was widely used in ancient Egypt, and several examples can be seen at the Egyptian Museum. An ossuary, on the other hand, was part of a Jewish burial tradition that was practiced for about a hundred years or so right around the time of Christ, and would contain only skeletal remains. I’ll get into more on this later, but note the difference.

Yesterday marked the end of my first week in Israel, and I finally have a steady internet connection at my residence. Al Hamdu Lillah. Or, as is probably more common here in Israel, Barukh Hashem. I've decided to take up studying Hebrew on my own here. I think it will help me get around easier.

I mentioned before that in Cairo people would insist on speaking English to me, even as I was speaking Arabic to them. This is not the case here. Pretty much everyone starts off the conversation in Hebrew. I think that some of this has to do with the demographic differences between the two countries. I'll just come right out and say that I do not look Egyptian. I'm white. Thus, on the street, people would walk up to me and automatically assume that I speak English. Israelis, on the other hand, seem to be more mixed. Since Israel has drawn people from all over the world - in particular, large numbers from Eastern Europe, Spain, Ethiopia, some Islamic Countries, and of course the United States - it is not as homogenous as, say, other countries. Thus, I am better able to blend in here than in Egypt, though I don't speak the language. Look, I'm not trying to start a race debate here, these are just my observations. I'm not sure how much I'll learn in my during my time here, but every little bit helps. Reading is another matter entirely.

Otherwise there is not much to report. Class started on Thursday, and we run six hours a day, five days a week of straight Modern Standard Arabic. It is very grammar-intensive, and by the end of most days my brain is fried.

There is still plenty to see, though.

-MG

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Photos

Ossuaries
...not sarcophagi

Blockbuster
I can read some Hebrew

Danger!
In three languages. Little room for ambiguity here.