Alright,
So I made it safely to the city of Jerusalem. My Turkish Airlines flight was amazing, I caught up on movies that have come out and I sat next to two Jewish people that were very pained over the fact that all the food served was left over passover food on the plane.
My driver from Te Aviv to Jerusalem, tried very hard to give me the history of Judaism in 45 minutes, I really admired his effort, but I have to say that the tour guides do a much better job.
I am staying at Abraham Hostel in Jerusalem, and it has a very diverse group of people, awesome breakfasts and a great location. They also play quite a bit of the Beatles and Bob Dylan, I cannot complain about that. It is a great break from hearing Prince on the radio 24-7.
Today I went to the old city, and I came to understand so much that I do not know if I can even get it all down on this. I realized as I sat down to enter this blog post that, I took all of my pictures on my camera and I do not have the ability to put them directly on my computer. So this post will be picture-less.(other than pictures I uploaded from the internet)
Rivi was my tour guide with Israel experts, and I was very thankful to have her, we were able to get to know each other very well. Also, she was very open to talking about topics that many would shy away from, we talked about gay marriage and contested land, and education system. I really enjoyed her insight and her openness to talk about many perspectives.
Rivi, also talked about the spirituality of the places we were going regardless of my personal spirituality, the number of prayers that have been made at the western wall, have to resonate a power of some sort, just as they do at the Temple Mount and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. These places absorb so much emotion that, it would be very hard to consider them just a wall or just a rock.
I walked through a tunnel up to my knees in water, that was an awesome experiential piece that physically got me involved, which reminded me of the important of experiential education. I forget sometime that I may be the only one in the room who is excited about a subject, these types of activities of walking through a tunnel that was used to bring water to a people 2000 years ago is absolutely amazing.
I cannot mention everywhere I went, partially because my memory is failing, as jet lag is beginning to set it, and also because of just how much we saw. Hearing the prayer call from a Mosque was an experience I will always remember, as this last semester I have been working with the Muslim community in Minneapolis. They always refer to how magic it is to hear the prayer call from a mosque rather than from a phone. The place of Women's worship at the Western Wall was also a memorable experience, I had my shoulders covered, but some of my chest was showing because of my scarf shifting. A women turned to me and fixed my scarf. As a midwesterner, I have to admit that that felt odd, but she also proceeded to let me take her place next to the wall and she prayed behind me. Rivi said that this was a great example of how Israeli culture works, also many people stopped me to ask about my tattoos, and them proceed to suggest I come into their shops for the best goods I would find in the city. This reminded me of Guatemala, and I really enjoyed it.
We went to the christian church where Christ's tomb is, which though I was raised episcopal, was more of an opportunity to understand the symbols and the power of the Christian religion than a particularly religious experience. The tomb was beautiful, with its Catholic entrance and Greek orthodox entrance, the city is divides up by so many different religions from the 4 quarters to the divisions with in each holy site. I understand that this is a hot area and violence exists, but as Rivi and I stood on the top of a rooftop looking at the domes of the major Christian, Jewish, and Muslim sites I had to reflect. If Abraham was who we all thought he was, is he was the father of Monotheism, then seeing all of these places of worship so close to each other all in light of the idea that one God exists, I am sure he would be a very proud man.
For lunch we grabbed a schwarma and that reaffirmed that being vegetarian is not particularly for me. That wrap was amazing, other than breakfast it was also the first time I had non-airplane food in 24 hours. I took a nap at the hostel in hopes of maybe, working out this jet lag and I checked out my itinerary. Tomorrow will be the day of Remembrance, I an excited to see a memorial treated as a memorial and not as a day for barbecuing. Tonight I went to the market up the street from the hostel, paid 28 shekels for 1 kilo of cherries, which I think was probably a rip off but I was not ready to argue it down. I got these chocolate pastries that are wonderful, and I went to the liquor store. At the liquor store, I found some awesome local beer, and the man the owned it was hanging out with his friends outside, they offered me some whiskey and we all sat and talked for about an hour. People here are so friendly, I also taught them how to chase Whiskey with chocolate, they loved that and he ended up giving me the beer I had planned to buy for free because I drank it while we all sat and talked.
Living in Minneapolis has made me very interested in locally brewed beer, and I got to try some from Negev today! To be drinking and eating with locals that I met on the street, made me feel more at home in a city that I have never been. They asked me all about what I saw at the old city, and went on to tell me stories of their own about Israel and Jerusalem.
I am going to paint a bit, and head to bed soon, I have become very interested in going to Petra, so hopefully I can fit that in after this fellowship. I am sure I will have much more to say about today after I can reflect and process everything I saw and felt.
Ill check in tomorrow about the day of Remembrance and the National Holocaust Museum.
I can leave on the thought that has been popping up in my head all day, with an ever presence of God in life, how did this place, this little patch of land become the pinnacle of so much passion, how do we direct that passion into coexistence and not violence?
-Jliv
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