First Day in the City

This is a picture of the outside of our room. The rooms are open to the outside and all have a patio that looks out over the city

Today we took a quick tour of Jerusalem and it got me so excited! We only had time to orient ourselves and get used to our surroundings a little so we didn't really go into depth on anything, but I can't wait to learn more.

We started out in the eastern and old cities which are closest to the center. The eastern part of the city is dominated by Palestinian Muslims and it is probably what most people think of when they picture Jerusalem. It is less industrialized and includes several "holy" sites such as the Garden tomb, the Dome of the Rock mosque, and the church of the Holy Sepulchre which is where most Christians believe Christ died and was resurrected. We walked through the streets of old Jerusalem which were filled with merchants vying for our business. We had to keep turning them away because this tour was just for introduction and we had to keep moving but I am excited to go back and see everything again because there is so much to take in! We also walked what is called the Via Dolorosa which means the "painful path" and is supposed to follow the path that Christ took when he carried the cross. It ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It is strange because this path is lined with merchant shops and so it seems like the rest of the old city, but while we were walking this path we passed a group of Christians (I think) that were carrying a cross on their backs and reciting some kind of prayers or scriptures as they went. This is apparently an act that many people perform when walking this path to show remembrance for Christ.

After we had done a quick walk through of east Jerusalem and the old city, we headed to west Jerusalem which is completely different than east and old Jerusalem. The difference is like night and day. West Jerusalem is more industrialized and there are a lot more "new" buildings. This part of Jerusalem is more Israeli Jewish. It felt more like other big international cities and there were a lot more modern shopping and tourist areas. This is the only part of Jerusalem that we are allowed to be in past dark. We wandered around for a little while and I got to try a falafel ball which was okay but I am told that the taste will grow on me.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. There were more orientations and getting informed on how things work.