Winding My Way Through the Old City

I'm currently sitting in my apartment looking out the window at a very abysmal night. In the past hour it's been freezing rain and hailing. It was the first time I've seen any type of percipitation since getting here let alone hearing any thunder. Thus, it's the perfect time to recount my wonderful exploration of the Old City yesterday and today. Our grand plan was to go to the Old City after going to the Shuk Friday morning to go to this amazing hummus place called Lina's that my friend Anna had told me I needed to go to, after which we were going to the Kotel to experience shabbat and try to get invited back to dinner with an Orthodox family. We got to the Kotel probably an hour and a half before sunset, but most of the shops were closing down. It was weird walking through the different quarters, not really knowing which one you were in because all of the doors were closed and locked and it just felt like an empty stone alley-way. Lina's was unfortunately closed but at least I knew where it was. We wove our way up and down on the stone "streets" and eventually made it to the Jewish quarter and the Kotel. There were a bunch of birthright groups at the Kotel, one particular group was from Argentina. They boys were in one large circle and the girls in the other, dancing around and singing basically every song in Hebrew they knew. Our group consisted of four girls and one boy so we designated a meeting time (because you can't use your phones at the Kotel) and went our separate ways. The wall was basically as I had remembered it from my trip two years ago. The women's side was probably 1/4 the size of the men's. Most of the women were wearing black although there were a lot of tourists dressed in pants, but moderately dressed. There was a group of women from somewhere in Africa along with some high school groups from within Israel. One of the women who was at the wall was dressed completely in white. I presume she was dressed as the "sabbath bride" or it was just the way she dressed when she came to the wall. We were probably there for about an hour. The women didn't really pray together, they mostly did their own thing, but the men on the other side were in large groups dancing around together and singing the same prayer loudly together. I've never really liked the idea of the mehitzah (the wall that separates the women's side from that of the men's), but then again I don't feel at home with most of the more religious groups so perhaps it was better for me to just be with the people I came with. I sang a few songs with my friends but for the most part I just watched and observed. I had forgotten that when walking away from the wall it was appropriate to walk backwards in order not to turn your back until you were a fair distance away. I obliged and followed suit with what most of the women were doing in order to be respectful. It was unfortunately a chilly Shabbat so we left earlier than we wanted and didn't end up finding anyway to take us back for a meal, but I came back and made a delicious Shabbat dinner with two of my friends here so it all worked out in the end.

Today was a lazy day which started at 11:30 with french toast with the roommates and then we went with our Arab-Israeli roommate, Nardin, to the Old City. (Nardin and her boyfriend while we were waiting for the Arab bus) Because it was Shabbat, none of the regular buses were running, so we took one of the Arab buses (much cheaper than the normal buses!) to the central Arab bus terminal right by the Damscus gate (one of the entrances to the Old City). It was so hectic with all of the vendors on the street that I almost forgot it was the sabbath in one of the holiest cities in the world. As we were walking down towards the gate we saw a group of Arab-Israelis demonstrating with signs that said "Free Gaza" and we passed by a little boy hanging over a railing holding a cap gun in his hand. I wanted to take a picture but we were winding in and out of crowds and I didn't think it would have been the most appropriate thing to do. We made our way through the Muslim quarter on Via Delarosa to the border of the Christian quarter and Lina's were we walked up a small set of stairs and settled ourselves in. The food was absolutley incredible!
The 8th station of the tour where Jesus supposedly fell down the second time with the cross


The place specializes in all kinds of hummus. Between five of us, we ordered masabaha (hummus with chick peans, tahina, olive oil, and corn), hummus with pine nuts and hummus ful (with fava beans). We also got an Arabic salad, which really just turned out to be the same as an Israeli salad which consists of diced up tomatoes, cucumbers, and onion. They brough piles of pita and we dug in. We ended up taking a container home for us to share. It was definitely well worth the find and will be on the list of places to go back. Right after we ordered, a man came bounding up the stairs and made his way towards our table. He was a dark man dressed in a heavy sweater and jacket. He was introduced as Nardin's friend (our Arab Israeli roommate) and our tourguide. His name was Abed and he is fantastic. He took us from station 8 of where Jesus walked with the cross through what is now the Arab quarter all the way back to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which is the holy site for many sects of Christianity. On the way to the Church we stopped off at the place where Jesus was held while awaiting his trial, where he supposedly fell the first and second time on his walk through the city, where he met his mother, and ending of course where he was crucified, his body anointed, and buried. One of the stops was what is now a hostel/hotel. The destination at this stop lay at the top of many flights of stairs but it was well worth the climb. From the roof you could see from the Mountain of Olives to the Dome of the Rock and the mosque to the Church and the Jordan Valley. The groupof us on top of the roof of the Austrian Hospice of the Holy Family (the hotel/hostel)
Views from the roof

It was a spectacular view and Abed gave us the most detailed overview of the history of the city from the time of Jesus to the present day. He was the best tour guide I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Not only is he fluent in English, Arabic, French, Spanish, and Hebrew (and I think Russian as well) but he never falters when he makes a stop and points something out. He knows every detail inside and out and he has a great sense of humor. The best part of this tour was that it was free because Nardin knows him. He offered to lead us around the Jewish Quarter when it wasn't Shabbat, because it deserved a day in and of itself. Nardin also told us that he may be willing to take us to the Dead Sea and give us a tour there as well. It's been great living with her, not just because of these opportunities, but because it's nice to have a different perspective from that of our collective western ideals.
Today I was led through parts of the Old City I don't think I would have ever had the opportunity to explore otherwise. At one point Abed took us through some back passages through the Arab area to get to a coffee and tea place that he wanted to take us to. On Shabbat there are more armed soldiers than usual and they block off particular parts of the Arab quarters to Israelis and Tourists. The coffee place was in one of these areas, so we had to take a back way to get around them. It was well worth the detour.

We had tea with nana (a type of mint leaf), which was the sweetest most delicious drink I've had. Another thing about Abed is that he knows EVERYONE in the city. It seemed like every shop owner we passed by, every guard or person sitting at the entrance to a site of interest, knew Abed and he would stop and say his hellos as we went by. I'm looking forward to going on another tour with him. Apparently he's the tour guide everyone asks for :-). Eastern Orthodox part of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Not a very good shot but it was goreous.
Nardin's boyfriend decided to play soccer with some kids in the street

The rest of the day was spent lounging around, eating and recovering from 3 1/2 hours of walking. Tomorrow is going to be a lot of the same: resting, homework, and hopefully I'll get myself out at some point. I need to make sure to get everything done before tomorrow night because we're going to watch the Super Bowl over at the student center at 1 am. I don't know if I'll stay the whole time, but I feel like I owe it to myself to go watch the beginning. Monday I have a session to sign up for my classes with my advisor, which I'm both nervous and excited about. I need to take a minimum of four classes, one being Hebrew, and the other I really want to and need to take for my major at home is Archaeology of Jerusalem. Other than that, I'm thinking of doing some kind of academic internship- although I'm not sure where I'd want to do it- so that leaves me with one class to choose. There are a lot of options but right now I'm leaning towards one called Iran: Its formation and Reformation. It's a topic I've never really explored before so it might be interesting to take. We shall see what I decide on Monday.
Next weekend is the ski trip to Mt. Hermon, although it hasn't snowed much there. Tentatively, our schedule is to go rock climbing, ATV'ing, and repelling along with visiting a winery before shabbat starts, after which its relaxing and mingling. I'm highly looking forward to it. It's getting late so I better turn in. Hope everyone is doing well!

P.S. Kristen אני עדיין פה I'll try to let you figure that one out :-)