The Old City and the weekend...

Western Wall and

the Dome of the Rock

Day number two and up at 9am for the Old City of Jerusalem. We all dressed modestly for this day, girls in long skirts or dresses and shirts or sweaters below our elbows. Soon we realized this seemed to be a little over the top, as there were many women wearing pants and t-shirts. And I am definitely a pants girl! We still had an amazing day and saw so many interesting things. We were able to see the hill where Jesus prayed before Judas gave him up to the Romans. From the rooftops we were able to see the Dome of the Rock and learn about its history. We also saw the four parts of the Old City, one Jewish quarter, one Muslim, one Christian and one Armenian. These sections each hate each other, and many have walls and fences to block people from moving from one to another. There were security gates between the Muslim and Jewish parts when we crossed over. Only Muslims are even allowed in the Dome of the Rock, because it resides in their section, even though it is holy to the Jewish and Christian faiths as well. This is why Jewish people pray at the Western Wall. As we learned, the preferred spot to pray would be at the rock, as this is holy. However since they are not allowed in the Dome, they pray at the spot closest to the rock, this wall. I said a prayer here as well and wrote a prayer on a sticky note and put it in the wall. The wall is also split into two unequal parts, one for men and one for women. The women's side is noticeably smaller, another sign of the inferiority of women in this culture. 

Place of Christ's tomb.

We walked all around the city, but by far the most interesting part, to me, was the church built around the place were Jesus was believed to have been crucified, and where his empty tomb is. Then in the same area we saw some of the seven Stations of the Cross, and a group who was walking to all of them. All of this I had heard of and read about it books but that was nothing like seeing it in real life. We also saw the room where Jesus had his famous Last Supper, and the tomb of King David. So many of these things are just stories before someone actually sees them.

Tomb of King David

After this very long day, we went back to a different part of Jerusalem where there was a sort of scavenger hunt set up for us, to learn the city. We met up with different group leaders and different food places. We learned about the city and the Israeli army, and some fun Hebrew words (that I can’t even remember!) It was a lot of fun and very interesting.

This was Thursday. Friday thru Sunday are days off. There is not much to do because Friday and Saturday are Shabbat. Most things are closed, so I have been working on reading for my classes that start Monday.

Friday my roommate was very sick. She was very dehydrated, and had all of the symptoms, including fever and weakness. She didn’t drink enough water when we were in the old city and it was very hot. I went with her to the clinic. While I was there, I made conversation with an Israeli man. He had many questions about the American education system, like the cost of universities, what it takes for people to get in, how we are scored, and other stuff like that. When I answered all of his questions, he explained to me the differences between what I had told him and what it was like in Israel. In Israel, everyone pays the same amount for college, 10,000 shekels, which is only about $2,500. Here, colleges are considered much lower than universities. You are tested, like in America, to test you IQ almost, and that determines what school you can go too. Another interesting thing we talked about was the police in Israel. When I told him we were here studying criminal justice, and that many people I knew in my major wanted to be cops, he literally laughed out loud! In Israel, he said, it seems like cops are chosen if they have the lowest IQ. Police don’t have respect here like they do in the US. The Commander told us he wants to be a cop, and he wants to change the way it is, make the profession more respectable. Another very surprising thing the man at the clinic told me was that Jews are afraid to go to the old city now. Sure, there are some that live there, but he said the average Israeli Jew is afraid to go, because of the serious conflict with the Islamic population. He told me many people in the past few years had been stabbed when going to the city. I knew it was bad, I didn’t know it was to the point people were afraid to go to parts of their own city.

So far the first week has been pretty eventful and a great learning experience. Monday starts classes, and Wednesday we are off on another adventure…