The First Day in the City

It's a hard, dry wind that blew in the evening of my first free day in Jerusalem, and what a day it has been. But you'll have to wait a bit, because I have to update you all on how it's been in the days before today.

We started classes on Thursday, and the first thing I can say is that there is a ton of reading. Like over 50 pages for one assignment. I'm so glad that I read fast, because I would be overwhelmed by my Palestine class alone. But the classes themselves and the discussions are amazing. I've only had three classes, but I feel like I've been stimulated and challenged already. These classes give back what you put into them, so I'm doing my best to stay on top of everything. Right now I'm actually ahead. :) So yay. 

The view from my balcony. The Dome of the Rock is on the left.
There were 3 fires in the city Saturday so there's smoke in the air.

Saturday is the Sabbath here, and there is actually a branch here in Jerusalem. It's mostly made up of the BYU students, but there are also families of people who came to work, students from Hebrew University, and tourists. I'm excited to get to know the members better. We have sacrament meeting in the auditorium, while looking out on an amazing panorama of the city. Needless to say, I was very distracted, but the spirit was also very strong the entire meeting. We talked about record keeping in Sabbath school (note: not Sunday school) and had a combined meeting since it was a fifth Saturday. The people that we have here at Jerusalem are all spiritual giants and very smart. It will be great to spend four months learning from them. 

Me in Orson Hyde Park. You can see the Dome of the 
Rock next to the tree on the left.

After church most of the students went to the Orson Hyde Park. It's a beautiful stone path the winds down the mountain on the Mount of Olives, maybe 10 minutes walk from the center. It's in that park that Orson Hyde dedicated the land of Israel to the gathering of the Jews, so it was very cool to visit. We reached the end of the park and were let out right near the garden of Gethsemane, so we decided to visit there as well! 

But not before we sang I Stand All Amazed. We like singing, but we aren't allowed to sing "Mormon hymns" in most of the sacred places we visit. So we sing on the street outside instead, which makes me sort of nervous, because we are not supposed to do anything overtly religious that might draw attention to ourselves.  

The ceiling in the church of All Nations.

The garden of Gethsemane, or rather one of the gardens because there are a couple scattered around, was a path built around a couple of ancient olive trees. They were beautiful, so old and gnarled, and it was a lovely thought to think of a whole garden full of them. The church of All Nations was part of this garden, so we stopped for a visit. I learned about the beautiful art of these churches in my art history class, but it is entirely different to see it first hand. The church of All Nations was built to reverence the Rock of Agony, which many revere as the stone where Jesus suffered for the sins of the world. The most fascinating part was the people who approached and bowed before it with such reverence, then stood to take a selfie with it. For me the most important part is that the Atonement happened, not where, but I'm learning to reverence the things that other religions hold sacred. 

Our group heading out for the first day in the city.
Emily, Me, Amanda, Emma, Cody.
Crystal hadn't joined our group yet.

The rest of Saturday was spent doing homework and planning for the free day. Sunday we have no classes, no obligations, and all day to do whatever we want. So Cody, Emily, Crystal, Emma, Amanda and I went into the city. We started with a trip to the money changers, because we all needed some shekels to spend. I took out a lot of money, so that I don't have to go back. We keep our valuables in a safe in the administrative offices, so I'll put it there and pull some for shopping every once in a while. 

First we wandered through Damascus gate looking for where we buy tickets to the rampart walk, where they let you up on the wall around the city and you can walk around. My group foolishly decided that I knew where I was going and should lead the way. I had no idea where I was going, but a large amount of this trip has been guessing where we go and when, and I seem to be pretty good at it. I lead us up and into the alleys, really just taking random turns. We ran into Abraham, a shopkeeper who told us where to go, but after he took us back to his shop and tried to sell us his expensive jewelry. Don't worry Mom. I will find you your widows mite. I know how to tell if they are real. :) 

Me over Damascus Gate on the rampart walk. It was so hot.

We went and bought our tickets, lathered on the sunscreen, and took off for our rampart walk. It took a long time, and it was very hot, but a cool way to start the day. We ate our lunches up above Damascus gate, just around the corner from the armed Israeli guard. There are Israeli police everywhere. Every citizen, male and female, serves for 3 years in the military in Israel. So they watch people with their hands on their machine guns, and if they think you look suspicious they can pull your aside, check your identification, and search you. I think that every person in the US who complains about being offended should come to Israel, because the US has it too good if you can sue someone for looking at you in a weird way. At least the police need a warrant to search you back home. 

After lunch we wanted to go somewhere cool, so we checked out Zedekiah's cave. It's a huge cave that stretches out under the city where people mined out limestone for centuries. Supposedly Solomon used the quarry's limestone to build the temple. It was really fun to wander around in the cold, and we found the first public restroom I've seen in Jerusalem. We talked to a woman from the military who needed to use the restroom as well. She only has 2 more months, and then she is going to study Psychology. Cool right?

We finished at about 1, and we had already been in the city for 5 hours. Wow! It was really hot. We decided to quickly visit Ali Baba's souvenir shop, which was run by a man named Shaaban and his son Omar. They have been serving BYU students for a while, so they give us presents, advice, and let us use the bathroom along with a student discount. The problem is that we could not find it for the life of us. But we eventually did, and Shaaban made all the girls in our group rings out of wires and beads while Omar gave us the tutorial on shops and souvenirs. Mom I found your t shirt, and you are going to love it! I bought two scarves, because I have a scarf addiction that can't be restrained. And they cost about 5 dollars each, or 20 shekels. Discounts are nice. I'll probably go back and buy another one. Dad and Josh, how do you guys feel about knives? 

Poor heat exhausted Jenna.
We decided to walk back instead of taking a taxi or a bus.
Cody carried my backpack, Emily gave me some wet tissues
to put on my forehead, and Emma let me borrow her hat.

On the way back I started feeling really sick, and by the time we got through the gate and around the corner I was dying. I had to go lean over a railing and try not to loose my lunch, and my dear group waited for me and gave me water--I drank my entire two liter bottle-- fanned me, and put wet towels on my neck. Classic heat exhaustion. Garments are wonderful, but my body was just not used to the extra heat. I had to stop 2 times more on the half mile trek back to the center, and I'm pretty sure Crystal was afraid for my life. 

Apparently I looked like I was about to faint. All I know was that I felt awful, very nauseous, and I was so sweaty. Like you could wring me out. I took a cold shower and a nap when I got back to the center, and drank a lot of water. I'm still feeling shaky though, so I might go to bed early tonight. 

But it was so fun. We didn't try to go a lot of places, because we have 3 more months and a lot of field trips to go. The old city is full of so many amazing things. It smells like smoke, because everybody smokes, and a lot of food stands smell either disgusting or amazing. My favorite were the places selling dry spices, all in tall piles like colorful sand dunes. There are a lot of shops for baby clothes, and t shirts that try to be American but aren't quite right. West Virgenia, eh? The shopkeepers recognize us on sight, and will yell things like "Mormons!" and "Go Cougars" and "BYU how are you" at us. It's funny, but also comforting, because they don't treat us like regular tourists. A lot of the shopkeepers will grab your arm and drag you into their store, but they know not to touch us. Which is nice, because I would get amazingly jumpy if random guys tried to drag me into their stores. 

We have a field trip tomorrow to the overlooks, where we are going to look at the city I guess. I can't wait until we travel a bit further. Egypt is in 2 weeks, and I'm excited for that. We'll fly out and stay for a week, half in Cairo and the other half in Luxor. Our first language classes and our Israel class start this week as well, so a lot to look forward to. 

I love you all, and I miss you all. I hope you are doing well in Provo! 

Love you lots,

Jenna