Palm Sunday in Jerusalem!

Sorry this is late but I'm going to try to get the Easter week posts up soon. Installment #1!

It was amazing, to say the least. And it wasn’t even the whole Christian
community, just the western church. The Orthodox think they’re so cool with their different calendar that their Holy Week is this week, which is very inconvenient for me since I’ll be in Jordan most of the week and will therefore miss Orthodox Easter. Very sad.
Okay, angry rant over.

For Palm Sunday Chelsea and I and some friends decided to get up early for the Catholic service in the Holy Sepulcher. So much fun. The entire service was in Latin so I understood absolutely nothing and there were tons of people crammed into a pretty small space so at times I couldn’t see much either but the liturgy was beautiful and at the end all the clergy had palm branches and they made a procession around the tomb of Christ singing and shaking their palm branches. Everybody else got olive branches and followed along behind them and it was amazing hearing all the rattling branches and the singing and then thinking “Oh we’re walking in circles around the spot where Jesus was resurrected.” No big deal. Thankfully there were policemen telling me to hurry up and stay in line every now and then so I knew it was real.

That afternoon there was a city-wide march down the Mount of Olives following the path Jesus would have taken. Me and several friends then walked to the Mount of Olives, up it, and over down the other side a ways to get to the place where we would then walk over and down. That was a work-out, but it was so cool to walk across the Kidron Valley where all kinds of cool Bible stuff happened and look out at the city from the Mount of Olives. All along the way were tons of little kids probably from thirteen to four years old selling water bottles and palm branches. I couldn’t help but think that if I were a kid, this would be my favorite time of the year. You go out to your backyard, pick some branches off the nearest olive or palm tree, go out to the street, look cute, make a buck off a dumb tourist who doesn’t realize that if you want a branch you just have to look on the ground and find one. Some of the kids were so cute though I was tempted.

So pretty soon we’re all waiting around on the Mount of Olives for the procession to start and there were a TON of people. Nuns, priests, tourists from everywhere in the world, students, you name it and they were there. We even found a lady from Ipswich which was pretty cool. When the procession started we ended up in a mass of people and palm branches behind a group of
Spanish middle and high school students who were singing Spanish worship music at the top of their lungs. It was wonderful! We drifted a little bit and ended up traveling with another Spanish group of musicians with a microphone and sound system. They sang wonderful Spanish songs and we all danced while we walked. It was so beautiful to be rejoicing with those thousands of people celebrating the triumphal entry of Christ into the city. I couldn’t help but wonder if it felt something like this for the people walking with Jesus that day, except on a
slightly smaller scale.

A Month of Adventures

So yeah...it's been a month since I wrote last. Not that any of you were terrible affected by this since you all have many other, better things to do, but I wanted to stay on top of this for my own sake as well. So what's been happening since I last wrote a month ago? TONS!!!

Two weeks ago was midterms time and I also had a ten page research paper to do which I conveniently did not start until the week before it was due. All in all I wrote about 20 pages in 6 days, plus the research for the one paper. Two take home midterm and research paper=death. My paper was for my Modern Israel class and I decided to do it on women suicide bombers, which was so interesting and so heartbreaking at the same time. So the whole week I was locked in the library reading about suicide...very conducive to a healthy mindset. But it's over now so I'm happy again.

The field studies we've been going on are so incredible and so far we've gone on two multi-day trips, one to the Negev and one to the Galilee. Growing up in the Midwest and New England doesn't really prepare you for miles and miles of desert hills stretching as far as you can see in all directions and it was so incredible. We also did this hike up out of a dry river bed and it was literally climbing stairs carved into the side of the cliff. I felt like Frodo and Sam climbing the secret stairs into Mordor in Return of the King except it was prettier and not quite as steep. It still felt hardcore.

Then we went to Masada and Dr. Wright had us climb up the siege ramp the Romans used to attack the city during the Jewish Revolt. It was huge! By the end of it I was very tired and I had a newfound respect for the Roman soldiers. All I can say about Masada without going on for three pages was that it was beautiful, Herod was insane, and I could've spent all day there. Then we took a gondola down (thank goodness!) and had ice cream at the bottom.

The Dead Sea was even more amazing! It's about 10 times as salty as the ocean and because of that you float. I knew that, but experiencing it was so cool. You literally don't have to do anything, and it takes effort to swim or stick your feet down. It finally was able to put my feet straight down underneath me and I just bobbed there like a cork, no treading water necessary. The downfall is that since it's so salty, it'll dehydrate you if you stay in too long, and if you have a cut it burns. I also unfortunately swallowed a mouthful and my tongue was tingling for about half and hour afterwards. Gross but fun!

Our trip to the Galilee was amazing as well. We took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee (that's what the picture is from) and learned about ancient fishing techniques, visited Capernaum, spent the night in Nazareth at an old monastery, went to an old army base on the Golan Heights, saw one of the springs of the Jordan River, and climbed down the Cliffs of Arbel. No big deal. There was so much green and flowers and cows everywhere and I loved it!

And then I went and saw Hunger Games with Hebrew subtitles and it was so good. I am currently reading the books now instead of doing my homework.

It's nice to be back in the normal swing of things and do normal life for a few days until the next adventure, though.

All you need is love

So there's this school across the valley from our campus, we think it's an art or music school, and instead of having a bell to signal the beginning and end of class, meals, and other events, they play a little bit of a song. The Beatles song "All You Need is Love." It sounds like a lovely, creative idea until you realize the implications. One section of one song played every hour or so all day long every day. Agony. I'm not even that much of a Beatles fan to begin with (sorry Kelly), so it's even worse.

On the bright side it has sparked quite a bit of fun on campus. This was posted by our student life coordinators on our JUC facebook page and anyone who loves Bible and ancient history will understand how much I love this:

"On the 9th of Av in 70 C.E., Titus and the Roman army marched upon Temple Mount and destroyed the Second Temple as a response to the fact that the temple priests had positioned a loudspeaker at the Place of Trumpeting and were blaring the 60’s B.C.E. popular rock song “Raq Tsarich Ahavah” every time the Jerusalemites needed to take a miqveh bath during the day. After burning the temple, they discovered that the priests, who lived in the Upper City, also had loudspeakers positioned in their homes on the eastern edge of the Western Hill, where they continued to play the same song at least 30 times a day, when they needed to take their miqveh baths. So, after besieging the Upper City for a month, Titus and his army invaded the Upper City on the 8th of Elul and buried the priest’s loudspeakers under more than a meter of destruction."

Love it!

Hiking a Wadi

So this past weekend one of the grad students sent out a message that he was going hiking around the Dead Sea area and anyone who wanted to join him could. So naturally, me and a bunch of people went. And oh my goodness it was beautiful!

The weather was fabulous, about 80 degrees, and, after thoroughly sunblocking myself (just for you mom) we started climbing. Of the big group most of them were guys who decided to do the "extremely difficult" trail as fast as they could. That was not really my style, especially since looking up at the trail all I could see was a very steep slope of very slippery, small, sharp looking rocks. So instead me, Chelsea, and a wonderful girl named Anna decided to do the other trail to the hidden waterfall.

Everywhere around are the giant red stone mountains and the biggest boulders you've ever seen. A wadi just means a river bed which cuts through the mountains, so we were following a little stream of water all the way up. We ate lunch at the waterfall, Anna fell in, it was great.

The Western Wall and the Gypsies

So yesterday me and a few friends realized we had a few hours of free time and we were in Jerusalem so we should go out and do something cool.
After much deliberation we decided to go the Dome of the Rock because that's pretty high up there on the list of must-see things. We're getting much better at finding our way through the city so we got there no problem but right as we were about to walk on the platform several soldiers with very big guns (which is a very common sight everywhere you go) blocked our way and informed us that it was closed at that time. Slightly disappointed we headed back to campus. On the way though, we had to walk through the square where the Western Wall is. For those who don't know, the Western (or Wailing) Wall is the retaining wall of the original Temple which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. The Dome of the Rock was built on top of the platform the Western Wall creates, hence why we walked by it. We had planned to come to this spot later when we had more time, but as we now seemed to have a lot of time, we figured we'd stop.
There were many bar mitzvahs going on which was super exciting. The area around the wall is fenced off and separated so the men go in one half and the women go in another, much smaller half. The bar mitzvahs take place right near the dividing wall and the women stand on chairs to see over, sing, clap, pray, and throw candy at the boy turning thirteen. We watched and laughed and clapped with them and it was thoroughly delightful. We also found some of the candy on the ground and it was delicious (it was wrapped so don't get grossed out). After that I went up to the wall itself where the mood is much different. Everyone is silent, some are praying in Hebrew and rocking back and forth, some are crying, and some just stand with their hands against the wall, silent. Every crack in the wall is stuffed with paper, the prayers of hundreds of people who've come before. Standing and looking at the huge stones, the people, and the hundreds of tiny folded prayers was beyond description. There's an incredible feeling of awe and peace you get when you stand in a holy place and there's nothing to do but stand perfectly still and silent and rest in it. That wall and those notes represent such hope and perseverance that is beyond me. Through thousands of years of persecution and despair the Jewish people can still stand in this wall's shadow that represents ruin and destruction and celebrate a boy's coming of age. They see and touch these stones and it brings them to tears. They bring their hopes and prayers and stick them into the cracks of the walls because they know that this wall stands for something great: God's presence among His people. I stood for a while with my head and hands pressed against the wall and just prayed. It's definitely going to be a place I visit frequently.
After that I visited a gypsy community center! We are encouraged to volunteer somewhere while we're here to get connected with the community and I chose this place, called the Domari Center. The gypsy population in Jerusalem are the Dom people and they represent a small, minority that is considered neither Jewish nor Arabic and are often marginalized because of this. The community center provides all kinds of services from tutoring and child care to a women's center where they make and sell various crafts. I love crafts and children so I volunteered. We walked into a room painted bright shades of green and blue with a wall of embroidered pillows, jewelry, and knitted afghans all for sale. We met the woman who runs the center, Amoun, and several young German girls who are helping out. They made us apple cakes and black tea with mint and we talked about the center and what we could do to help out. We decided to come every Thursday and just do whatever is needed. I'm so pumped I could explode!

Various Wierdness

So I've realized that it's very daunting trying to write about everything that's been happening so I think I'm going to give up trying and take a new approach. Instead of writing about everything that happens in a certain day I'm going to give random snapshots of important things that happened. So here goes.
There are a few random, funny details about life in Israel that I never would have thought of before but that make life a little more interesting.
1) Most Middle Eastern bathrooms do not have soap or toilet paper. They have sink, just no soap. I find that odd. And now I carry hand sanitizer with me.
2) It's very strange being illiterate for the first time since first grade. Most things are written in English as well as Hebrew and Arabic, but not everything. The menu of the coffee shop is in Hebrew (but the nice barista gave us paper English menus), all receipts are printed in Hebrew (so good luck trying to figure out a group bill), and the labels on the shampoo and conditioner bottles are only in Hebrew (so if you want to figure out which one is which you have to open it and squirt some out). I was never that interested in learning Hebrew, but now I really wish I did.
3) You must always keep in mind that whatever you pay in shekels is four times what you would pay in dollars. So if you pay 16 shekels for a chocolate croissant (delicious by the way) it seems like a lot but it's actually a little less than $4. I'm constantly having mild panic attacks about how much things cost and then have to calculate it out and then I feel better. It's stressful.

These are some wierd things about Israel. There will be more I'm sure.

The First Few Days

I can hardly believe how much I've done these past few days. It really just blows my mind and I don't even know how to start. The flights went great and everything went down pretty much without a hitch. I finally met Rissy who is a perfectly delightful human being in every way and I'm so glad I had her with me. I also met up with Amy, a super nice grad student at the Tel Aviv airport and she took us all with her on the sherut (a combo bus/taxi for those non-Israeli people).

The school is pretty small and that makes it really fun. There are about 60 students, half of them undergrad, so we all got to know each other pretty well and by the end of the semester we'll probably be one big happy family. I share a room with three other girls and half of the room is a loft with two beds on it, one of which I stole. All the dorm rooms are kind of tucked in random corners of the building which I love and ours happens to be right down the hall from the lounge. Pretty much all the staff have apartments on campus so we've been to visit everyone and they're all so welcoming and wonderful. The campus also has a resident dog named Lucky and three cats, Dopey, Angel, and Mr. Orange (guess what color he is). The gardens are beautiful and overlook the whole city and the weather is very cold and slighty rainy, but that makes it that much more fun.

So far we've had a photo scavenger hunt in the Old City and a tour of both the Old and New City. There are so many amazing things to see it just blows my mind everytime I walk outside. The campus is situated right next to the old wall of Jerusalem which was built by the Ottomans in the 1500s and a section from the time of Herod. Awesome! I've also been to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the traditional site where Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected, the upper room where Pentecost and possibly the Last Supper happened, the Wailing Wall, the Dome of the Rock, and several other famous churches and synagogues. There's something amazing about walking past and into all these holy sites. You can't help but get quiet and think of the enormity of where you're standing. It makes me want to just sit down on the floor and bask in the reverence of it all. So far the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is my favorite.

You walk down the streets and they're lined with little shops selling all kinds of things from scarves, skirts, and rugs to wood carvings and icons. In the Jewish Quarter of the city you walk down the streets and every man you see is wearing a yarmulke and all the little boys running down the streets have little side curls and it is pretty much the cutest thing you'll ever see. I love it! I'm too lazy to post pictures now but I will later I promise.

Practice Post!

This is my first blog and the first post of said blog. I am technologically impaired so this is a big deal for me. This post is to see if I actually know how to do this. So far I have set up the blog (with help) and can upload pictures! I figured this would be a good first picture.

Five days from now I'll be in Jerusalem starting my semester abroad. I'll be taking classes at a college in Jerusalem, living in the Old City, and going on trips around Israel on the weekends. I'll be studying biblical history and geography, church history, and Israeli history. And I'm so excited I think I'm going to explode!

We were given a packet of maps and a study guide to do before we get there. It's 108 pages of reading and map marking and it's fascinating. The problem is I'm only halfway through and leaving in five days... And haven't started packing yet either. We'll have to see how this goes. The adventure begins!