11 May 2011

Another day has come and gone. It was two weeks ago that I hugged and kissed my parents goodbye and got on an airplane bound for the Holy Land. The past two weeks have been unforgettable, some of the best weeks of my life. The fun, the excitement is just beginning. I have three more months to acquaint myself with this beautiful land: its peoples, its cultures, and its religions. But three months can pass in the blink of an eye. What may seem like an eternity when looked at in days, hours, or minutes, can be over before it is even realized, before it is even experienced.

Old Testament was the only class that I had this morning. I was happy…that is until another orientation was brought to my attention. We leave for the country of Turkey on Sunday and will be spending a week there, studying the travels of Paul as they were in the New Testament. So the faculty and staff saw it fit to educate us on the dangers of this foreign country. It was a long sit, but I got through it with the help of a notebook and pen. It is good to see that the faculty will spend two hours making sure we act properly in a country that carries risks so that no harm will come to any of the students. It makes me feel secure and in capable hands. I really am grateful for all of the hard work that is put into arranging accommodations, field trips, and more for each of us students. It makes this entire experience more meaningful and worthwhile.

After a quick Hebrew lesson in the afternoon, I headed out into the city with Jess, Fenton, Lindsey, and Jenny to explore the happenings of East Jerusalem. Our adventure began at the post office where I picked up stamps to send letters to Spain, Argentina, Paraguay, and the U.S. Our journeys then took us to Aladdin’s, the Jerusalem Center’s preferred money exchange bank. With quick decision making skills, we chose to go to the Tomb of the Kings. However, unknowingly, it is necessary to bring flashlights or headlights into the tomb. It is very dark into there. We will have to go back and soon. We walked down Saladin Street (I think) on our way back to the road leading to the J.C. We went into a few bookstores looking for Palestinian cookbooks. A few caught our eyes, but we will continue the search until we find the perfect book. After all, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Gelato seemed in order…after we found our first shop in East Jerusalem! It only took Jess and I two weeks to find one. We were delighted. She chose strawberry. I chose passion fruit. The two together were amazing.

Upon our return to the J.C., I sluggishly walked to the laundry room to wash a few things in preparation for Turkey. Dinner came and went at 6:00p. We then had a forum with a “Religions of the Holy Land” professor from Bethlehem University. He spoke on the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict from the eyes of a Palestinian Christian. It was a very informative forum with a lot of useful information. It has been nice to see the conflict from so many different lights.

This was my day. It wasn’t very exciting, but it was just what I needed for a calming day. I feel like I have been doing nothing but run, run, running for the past couple of weeks and that gets very tiring, very quickly. But I feel like it is necessary to go into at least part of the city for even an hour every day. This is what I am here for after all. It would be a waste to stay in the J.C. day in and day out. Plus, it is so much more exciting to get out into the city and interact with the local populous! The evening ended with a couple games of volleyball, as always, but most of us were so full of giggles that it held little competition. It was still fun to play and laugh with a few close friends, though. Nothing quite compares to a game of volleyball to end another perfect day in the city of Jerusalem.