So I want to say here and now that Jerusalem is far and away my favorite city in Israel. It's not the religious thing or the mix of cultures or how old it is or how important it is to nearly half the world. It's that you can walk everywhere. Living on the top of a mountain in Haifa doesn't allow us to walk, well, pretty much anywhere in Haifa. The University is the last thing before Carmel National Park begins so we have to take a 45 minute bus-ride just to get to downtown. It should take about 10-15 minutes but since all of the roads are a series of switchbacks down the mountain and the traffic is terrible, it is a mind-numbingly long trip. Jerusalem, on the other hand, is flat and easily walkable. On my most recent trip, I attended a Idan Reichal concert, whose band is made up of musicians from all over the world and play what can only be described as "world" music (lots of drums, no one wears shoes, and lots of dredlocks). Really a very good band, though. We went for free on a ticket sponsored by MASA, a group dedicated to continue the "in-gathering of the exiles." Which really means that there were about 7,000 American-Jewish college students on vacation in attendance. It was a rather interesting experience.
Tucker and I stayed with a friend, Rikke, for the next few days and walked everywhere we possibly could: the Old City, downtown, cafes, bars, falafel shops, markets, East Jerusalem and even walked around the Old City on top of the ramparts and outer walls. It was especially interesting to see down into all of the backyards and alleys, schoolyards and into homes. It is easy to forget in the hustle and bustle of the markets that some people still live in the Old City and their ancestors have done so for centuries. We made a concerted effort to walk around the Muslim Quarter which has a very different feel than its counterparts. Then we proceeded into East Jerusalem and ate a large Arab dinner at a very nice hotel that was full of Arabs and Swedes (no idea why). The line is very clear where these neighborhoods begin and end. No one needs to tell you, it's impossible to all of a sudden walk into a Muslim neighborhood and not know it. The people dress much differently and everything is written in Arabic and you hear Arabic being spoken. On top of that, the smells are rather different as is the food and there are no American brands or chains at least from what I could tell. We were a rather conspicuous group so there was a lot of staring involved as well: two six foot plus Americans and Rikke, our Danish friend, whose facial piercings and bright blond dredlocks make her stick out pretty much anywhere and East or West, Jewish or Muslim, there is no shortage of gawkers when she walks by.
The next weekend, the International School organized a trip to the Arava Desert which is located just North of Eilat and part of the larger Negev Desert. 80 international school students spent a night sleeping under the stars on some rocky ground just beside a row of mountains to the West. The weather was beautiful: hot and sunny so the hiking was great. We grilled all sorts of meat the first night and ate smores and sang songs around a giant campfire. We were forced to sign up for half-hour night watches (who we were watching out for I have no idea but one of the guides told a few stories of Egyptians coming across the border) and I signed up last so I got the 330-400 shift. The upside was that I was having a hard time sleeping anyway so I stayed up, read by the fire and got to watch the sun rise over Jordan in the desert. The third day we spent on the beach in Eilat enjoying the warm water and sneaking into the 5 star hotels to steal some of the "good life" in their flower or crown-chaped pools with fountains galore.
The last thing I want to say is that I am proud to report, for those of you who don't already know, that the Irish Rugby national team won the Six Nations Grand Slam this year for the first time since 1954. I was able to watch a number of the games, the first of which was when we were in Dublin, although I missed the last one against Wales where it came down to a last second kick to decide the winner. Go Irish!
Greek Orthodox proceeding from their Cathedral in the Old City
I think Che would have liked this shop in East Jerusalem
Muslim Quarter children playing in the street
Tucker, Rikke (pronounced Rega), and I. Gilded Dome of the Rock in the background.
In the Old City Wall
Looking out over the Negev (Jordanian Mountains in the distance)
