The Old City for the first time

Leaving for the old city from the Jerusalem Center was so exciting that I practically leapt up and down with it. Actually, I probably did leap up and down, which would explain why people looked at me strangely...

Just exiting the gate and walking down the street was fascinating becuase the houses are so different here, they really aren't houses at all, mostly apartments in really old looking, very middle eastern buildings with laundry hanging out the window, dogs barking and old grocery stores smattered around. Every building in the entirety of Jerusalem is faced with rough cut Jerusalem limestone. It is a very beautiful, yellow creamy color which gives the city a look as though it had not changed for thousands of years.

Lest you be confused, the word village is used here in the middle east to basically mean a neighborhood that has a name. So don't picture a tiny basin with little shacks seated next to each other like the villages in Africa--these villages are made up of tall but frequently old apartment complexes just like the ones you see in those video games placed in the Middle East.

After exiting the valley, we walked through the Kebron valley where Joel said the final judgement would occur (it is really shallow, more like a small dip between hills than a real valley) and then up into the old city, walking by the wall of Soluman the Magnificent which he built after he reconquered the old city from the crusadors. From there we were in part of East Jerusalem which is the Arab part of town, and they showed us where the money changers are and who we should go to for what. We met several people who have sent their kids to byu or have been there to sell their things to Mormons in salt lake (like olivewood carvings of certain things) then we actually went into the city via Damascus gate.

I was astounded by how much the old city looks exactly how it should. Layers was my first thought. Layers of people, of history and of haphazardly placed buildings from almost every nameable period of time. It was so much fun to walk through the old, windy streets and see all of the merchants selling Muslim, Jewish and Christian merchandise as well as some really delicious looking desserts and completely random stuff. While walking, we passed some of the 14 stations of the cross and went up to the roof of an Austrian Hostel so that we could see a really incredible view of the old city.

Jerusalem is something they call a tel, or a city which has been destroyed and built up again so many times that it creates a man made hill where the more you dig, the older the city is beneath. There are some things which stick up from generations that have long been buried otherwise, things like the Dome of the Rock and the Church of the Holy Sepluchre. Because of this building up, the tiny valley that the old city is built in has become shallower over time, and the things on the tops of the taller hills tend to be older than the things at the bottom of the valley because it is harder to build on top of buildings on hills instead of valleys. We wandered around for a while in the old city, some streets are covered on the top completely by tin or blankets to keep the sun off, so it is like walking thorugh a dark, highly populated alley. Other places are more open and less crowded.

There are some parts of the streets which they've found from the time of the Romans and raised up so that we can walk on them, basically meaning that the stones we walk on are the ones Christ would have walked on. We didn't eat or drink anything while in the Muslim quarter because of Ramadan, but the moment we got into the Christian quarter, we had some really good Middle Eastern bread with zatar or thyme (dried) that you sprinkle in the middle. I bought some pomegranate juice which the guy made right in front of me by squishing five pomegranates with this really nifty machine. It was awesome food... we then went to western jerusalem which is a lot more like europe than the middle east because it is more modern and primarily jewish. I was amazed how different it is that close to the old city.

We thankfully took a bus back (we'd walked 7 miles) and spent the rest of the day doing MORE orientation, if that is possible. After our classes today (which were Old Testament and Ancient Near East) I wanted to go into the old city with everyone else, but unfortunately, I had to go to the airport in Tel Aviv to see if i could find my large knee brace which I had checked onto the plane on Thursday and never picked up. They didn't have it so I'll just have to be extra careful that I don't redislocate my knee. I'm still wearing the small brace all the time though, don't worry.

Today was fast Sabbath and I went to Gethsemane in the morning with a few people from the center. We walked through the Orson Hyde park which the Church actually built on the mount of Olives (the government of Jerusalem wanted to preserve it as a green zone so the Church offered to design the park) but unfortunately, now the park is a hang out for druggies, forcing us to go there in groups of 5 with at least one guy. It was a beautiful park though, full of olive trees and terraces. From there, we walked down an extremely narrow street with stone walls on either side and on which the local people seem to love to drive down or up extremely quickly. Needless to say, it was a little precarious, but all worth it when we saw the arch in a wall which led to the garden. Unfortunately, the actual olive trees, each about 3000 years old, where they think that Christ knelt are off limits. We can walk around their peremater, and that is certainly enough to feel the incredible spirit of the place. I was amazed again by the love of Christ for me that he would do something like that. The church they've built over the location is quite stunning, it had been destroyed three times, the latest rendition is built after the model of the old Byzantine church which had stood there and it is controlled by Italian speaking, Fransiscan monks. After Gethsemane, on our way back through the Orson Hyde garden, we ran into a minister from a church in DC and his camera crew which was getting ready to film him doing a bible study about the final judgement day. We stayed to watch him discuss Jesus' teachings at the temple, and to see a man who had been born in Jerusalem but had converted to their church, give the geographical background for the occurances there. That was great fun, and church at the center was wonderful as well. I was greatly pleased with the members of the branch. As it was fast and testimony meeting, I bore mine quite happily. The rest of the day was fine, we returned to the Orson Hyde garden this evening in a large group, and now I'm sitting in the computer room staring at the screen while everyone else plays signs in another room. Maybe this is my hint to get up and go play...

Stay tuned.