08 June 2011

I walked out into the fourth floor lounge at 7:00a to go to breakfast. My hair, in my opinion at least, was like the untamed mane of a young lion. Whether my hair looked good or not, Dan greeted me by saying, “Good morning, Beautiful,” and instantly made my day. Not even a hurt toe can stop you when your day begins like that!

I have come to the conclusion that two hours of class should be the maximum number allowed to be given each day. We should always begin class at eight o’clock in the morning and end by ten o’clock in the morning. By doing so, students will have more time to study the material through text and through personal experience. Unfortunately, the academic supervisors at the J.C. and in Provo probably won’t even consider my suggestion.

It was nice to be able to spend more than three hours in the city today. We didn’t have to rush; we didn’t have to fully plan our time; we didn’t have to sit in the freezing, cold forum listening to professors spout on and on about Palestinian Nationalism and the like. It was nice to get out into the city. Doctor Chadwick would be so proud. I set off after lunch with Kymberly (who would have guessed!), Sharla, and Lizzie. My day consisted of visiting two sites: Zedekiah’s Cave and the Roman Plaza/Damascus Gate. While these sites held little significance to me, I enjoyed walking around them and learning more about their use.

Zedekiah’s Cave, also known as Solomon’s Quarries, is an underground limestone quarry that runs the length of five city blocks beneath the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. The stone from the quarry was best known to be used for the renovation of the Temple and its retaining walls, including the Western Wall, by Herod the Great. It is also believed that the current walls surrounding Jerusalem, built by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1537, contain stone brought from the quarry. The cave was a great way to escape the warm heat of the sun. Kym and I took a few pictures; however, many of them didn’t turn out quite as we had hoped! The darkness made them more blurry than hoped.

The Roman Plaza, located under the present Damascus Gate, is home to the most impressive gate in the walls of the Old City. The remains of the gate date back to the period of Aelia Capitolina. The gate was built during the reign of Caesar Adreanus (133 AD) and was made up of three entrances. There are two enormous guard towers by the gate made of stones which were reused from previous buildings from the Second Temple period. The ancient Damascus Gate marks the beginning of the ancient Cardo Road that extends through to the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. The plaza currently serves as a museum, showing the history of the Damascus Gate throughout the ages. It was cool to be inside of the ancient Damascus Gate and then walk through the present Damascus Gate five minutes later.

We walked around the Old City for the next hour or so, looking for nothing in particular. I got gummies to ebb the piercing and stabbing pain coming from my foot. However, they did little to take my mind off of it completely. Walking around the Old City with a possibly-broken toe is unfortunate and upsetting. We got back to the J.C. close to 4:30p, where I immediately filled up a baggie with ice, took a couple of ibuprofen, and took a one hour nap. My toe was still throbbing when I woke back up, but at least it wasn’t a piercing pain. Doctor Christine is planning on taking me to the doctor tomorrow to get it x-rayed. They can’t necessarily do anything about a broken toe, but they may be able to provide me with a boot to protect it and help it to heal quicker. Taping it to other toes just isn’t cutting it anymore. Maybe it’s not even broken. That would be a relief! The bump and bruise, however, tell a different story…

Khaled Abu Toameh, a journalist, was our forum speaker this evening. He is a Muslim Arab who writes for Israeli papers. He spent the evening talking about the freedoms that are nonexistent to Palestinian journalists and the truths vs. lies of journalism in the Holy Land. He also shared opinions and beliefs on the two-state system and what road the government should take. I hate to admit that I probably didn’t pay as much attention to him as I should have. I was more tired than anything so as I listened, I sketched a floor plan to a house (Mom, you are going to love this one). I got the gist of what he was saying but not much else. At least I stayed awake, though!

The remainder of the evening was spent updating pictures, laughing with friends, getting leaves dropped on my computer from above (thanks Dr. Chadwick), and reading the Old Testament. It was another amazing day in the Holy Land, in Jerusalem.