Apologies for the gap between posts, but the internet is still not cooperating in the apartment. In other local news, I purchased 4 liters of fabric softener last week, and used a hefty sum on my laundry. I guess that explains why they felt oh so soft. Detergent is a powder here, and I was trying to avoid that, but to no avail. Still adjusting to that, but military time is fun...
Now for the meat of the entry. This past Tuesday, I bussed back to the Old City at four in the afternoon, with three friends, and two goals:
1. To get lost in the Arab Shuk (سوق)
2. To visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher
Both goals were managed with astounding ease. The Shuk brought us to a turn onto a wide street just in time to follow a pilgrimage of Americans who came to visit the same site. The first view of the Church reminded me of the Western Wall, in that it was very majestic in size, but crowded by neighboring buildings, and even a mosque less than 20 meters away (after the trip I did a little research, and although I still know near nothing, inside there's an insignificant ladder that rests near the top of the outer entrance, and hasn't been moved in over a century because of religious disputes). Once inside, I decided a few Kodak moments wouldn't hurt since it was rather empty. Photos ascended to the next level... (*I would suggest clicking on the bottom watching these in high quality by clicking on the bottom right arrow, and then the fullscreen button next to it)
Note that I tried to hide the camera. Basic thoughts concerning the Church included:
α. Huge! endless ceilings and a real mystique with the imminent darkness of the place (we were there as the sun set).
β. A variety and vast number of delicate and decorative sites throughout the structure.
λ. Millions of crosses etched into the stone walls, entrance ways, stairwells, etc.
δ. Everything in a language rare to the rest of the Christian Quarter as well as the Old City- GREEK!
Unfortunately, whereas Muhlenberg is offering Greek for the first time, Hebrew U. isn't, but any experts can gladly translate the words that appear in the Facebook album. Hopefully, one of my classes will include study of the site.
Following the Christian Quarter, we scurried through the slippery stone alleyways to the Jewish Quarter to pay another visit to the Western Wall, and then went out for [what I like: spicy tuna] Sushi!
Now today, two weeks before the Israeli parliamentary elections, one of the candidates, Tsipi Livni (who has a bumper sticker that says Believni) came to visit campus. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see her because Hebrew U. is a little bigger than 'Berg and therefore crowds more easily, and because I chose to attend a session where three Sudanese refugees who fled to Egypt and then Israel came to tell their stories. There's a grassroots organization teaching them English, recording interviews, as well as arranging an event at the famous Holocaust Museum Yad Vashem, where they'll have a tour in Arabic and be involved in discussion groups, etc. This session took place in the evening, while earlier in the day I sat through a Hebrew lecture by an Ethiopian woman who left her home when she was four in order to come to Israel. her story was also very interesting, and I asked her afterward about the possibility of working in Ethiopian communities nearby during the year.
That's the deal up to this moment, Wednesday night. I'm looking forward to another early day of class (1:15am EST), but at least I'm all caught up with 24!
...and here are two videos from my prior visit to the Old City.
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