Jerusalem Day 2

Today was another fun and exhausting day. First we took a trip down to the City of David, which is where David established his capitol back in the day (the original area of Jerusalem). It's on a different hill than the Jerusalem of today but because Jerusalem and the surrounding area was destroyed and rebuilt so many times the valley between the hills has gotten a lot smaller. There we saw this sweet 3D historical film about the City of David and the surrounding area which I thought was very helpful and informative. Walking around the City of David was pretty neat because it's just a lot of archeological finds and ruins that are still being dug out to this day. Then we went through Hezekiah's Tunnel, which was made when King Hezekiah wanted to ensure that Jerusalem had a water supply inside the city walls and so he had these builders cut am underground tunnel in the rock from the Gihon spring to this pool near the bottom of the city. This was definitely the coolest part of the trip thus far. We walked through this tunnel in darkness for 30 minutes with water sometimes up to my knees. We had 3 flashlights between the 12 of us so we spread them out - one in front, one in the middle, and me with my flashlight bringing up the back. I took a bunch of pictures using flash, I'll try to post one up sometime so you guys can experience it. Then when we came out at the bottom of the tunnel we saw the Biblical Pool of Siloam mentioned in John 9. That was fun; we got some funny pictures there.

Then we had some free time and so some of us had lunch near the Western Wall and then went up to the Temple Mount, where the Dome of the Rock is and where the Biblical Temple used to be. It was cool to think that at one time thousands of years ago, the very Presence of God dwelled in a temple that was at that very spot. The mosque that's currently there is also pretty nice looking, with its roof that's plated with gold. But after we had been there for about an hour some official looking guys told us to leave and that it was "over" or something and when I tried to ask what was going on the guy said there was a service soon or something. So then we came back to the hostel for a bit to rest and then went out to the markets to eat some bakery items and see about some nice sandals. The bakery stuff was interesting but I didn't really know what it was and I didn't really like the way the sandals looked so I'm going to wait a while and see what I see.

After that we just came back to the hostel and played some cards while waiting for dinner. Dinner was again a delicious three course meal with soup, an entree with some beef and pasta and veggies, and a dessert with some melons and a peach slice. Thinking bout going to bed after I shower soon (it's 8.30 right now).

Some pics

You ask, I deliver.  Here are a few pictures really quickly:

falafel

view from the hostel rooftop

Negatives and a Positive

A couple of negatives I forgot to mention. There's this Muslim prayer that's broadcasted over a PA system all throughout Jerusalem at certain times of the day and it's pretty loud. The first time? 4am. Yeah, that's right. So I definitely woke up last night and couldn't get back to sleep until it stopped 15 min later or so.

Negative #2: I got a bloody nose today. But understandable because it's so dry and hot here.

I'll end this on a super positive note: I got to talk to Esther today over skype! It was really good to hear her voice, so I'm really happy now.

Jerusalem Day 1

So today was a pretty long day. It's evening (8pm) right now and we had a full day of hiking, walking, and sightseeing. First we taxi'd up to the church of the ascension on the Mount of Olives and looked at the city from that side and talked about the ascension as well as Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. On the way walking back toward the eastern gate of Jerusalem (the Lion's gate) we stopped at the Garden of Gesthsemane but couldn't go in because we were wearing shorts. So instead we walked across the street to some random olive groves and talked about Jesus's prayer in the garden. Apparently the garden in the time of Jesus would have looked much more like the random little olive grove we were in rather than the ornamental garden that was built on top of the actual one. What I thought was really cool was that while we were there we read the Psalms that Jesus and his disciples would have sang after the Last Supper - the connections and parallels to Jesus's prayer when he was in the garden are amazing. Check out Psalm 116!

After that we went to the western wall of the temple mount, also known as the wailing wall because of all the prayers there. It was cool to see a Bar Mitzfah going on while we were there. It was also really interesting how all people were required to "dress modestly" which included men who didn't have a head covering putting on a yamakuh (sp?). I got a picture of Pastor Aaron wearing one =]. Then completely randomly we saw another couple from Highrock that was there touring with a different church from California that they had a connection to! Small (ancient) world!

After that we walked around the old city some more and went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where Jesus was crucified and buried. It had a very reverent feel to it and it was really cool to see the actual place where Jesus was crucified but it was nothing like I had imagined. Constantine (I think) had the church built on top of this place and it is very large and very decadent. But the thing that I was struck by the most was that it seemed as though a lot of people here were worshipping the place and te objects because they consider them holy, which I can understand. But I was definitely feeling like God is not in these rocks and nothing we build to commemorate these holy places can compare to His Glory. The whole reason Jesus came was so that God could bridge the divide and live with and in us. So God is with me and I didn't feel especially close to Him at any of these places in particular, which I guess is a good and bad thing.

Then we came back to the Ecce Homo Convent where we are staying and had dinner. Three course meal with poached pears for dessert! Yum. Time for sleep soon I think. Oh, also, I don't feel in danger at all. People just living there lives normally around here with the addition of hordes of tourists. Also, I've seen a few Israeli soldiers on the streets with their machine guns slung on their backs so I feel even safer. =]

-Will

In Jerusalem

We just checked into the hostel and are relaxing for now waiting for some of the others to arrive. The hostel is really nice and has an awesome view of the Dome of the Rock and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Maybe I'll post a picture up later.

Man the flights were long and I couldn't really sleep because the (random) people next to me took up the armrest and didn't allow me some personal space. At least I caught up on my movies! I'm hoping to just crash tonight (it's 7pm right now anyway) and then wakeup ready to go tomorrow.

Packing

We leave in a few hours, so I thought I'd post up a list of things that I'm packing (probably not complete, but you can get the idea).  I'm using a lot of dry-fit type clothing as it is very light, dries fast, and can easily be washed in the sink (which I plan to do so that I don't need to bring a ton of clothes).  There's also laundry near the hostel.  I am bringing 2 pairs of khaki pants and 2 long sleeve button down shirts because the culture is very conservative in parts of Jerusalem and long sleeves are necessary for some of the temples out of respect.  If it weren't for that, I think my packing list would be even smaller.

This picture shows pretty much everything I'm packing, including the clothes that I'm wearing.  A partial list:

- hat

- 3 dry fit short sleeve shirts

- 1 dry fit long sleeve shirt

- 2 button down long sleeve lightweight shirts

- 1 swimsuit
- 1 pair flip flops

- 1 short sleeve polo shirt

- 4 pairs dry fit boxers

- 4 pairs dry fit socks

- my main backpack (a 46 liter one from Osprey)

- my day pack (a camelbak type of pack with water pouch)

- toiletries

Also, not shown: a travel guide to Israel, small electronics, Bible, and some maps that we filled out and highlighted as part of homework assignments.

Some notes:

- rolling is the preferred method for packing - keeps the wrinkles out better than folding - try it sometime!

- fortunately all of my small electronics can take 220V for charging, so I just need a converter an adapter

- I'm excited to use skype on my ipod touch - free calling with wifi! - feel free to skype me while I'm there!
- I'm hoping to buy some nice sandals when I'm there, so I'm only taking my walking shoes plus the flip flops

edit: adapter, not converter; and added some things

Pilgrimage to Israel!

So as some of you know (and maybe most of you don't?) I'm going on a trip to Israel for two weeks.  There are twelve of us (I wonder if that was intentional?) going from my church and the young adult pastor, who's been to Israel before, is leading the trip.  We'll be touring around different areas, seeing a lot of the religious and historic sites, not only where Jesus walked, taught, and was crucified in Nazereth, Galilee, and Jerusalem but also where many other Biblical events occurred (battles and the like).  So I'll try to post up where we are and some of what we did here on this blog, so follow me if you want to read all about my trip to Israel!

-Will