I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID THIS!

Shalom from Israel everyone!
I am here in the holiest city on earth!!  So excited to finally post.

Where do I begin?  The plane ride was long, I got about four hours of sleep even though it was like a 12-hour flight.  And of course I watched Tangled.  I mean this is when my life begins! Haha but who cares about the plane ride…The important thing is, I am here! Not only am I in a place where I have always dreamed of visiting, but I LIVE here.  Right now I can see the Dome of the Rock outside my window—the location of Jesus’ temple, which was Solomon’s temple before that and the place where Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac, and sacrificed the ram instead.  The Muslims believe that it was Ishmael instead of Isaac.  They also believe that Muhammad ascended to heaven on this location and that his footprints are on the rock.  Over this spot they built the beautiful golden dome.  All of that is right outside my window.  The Garden of Gethsemane is just a short walk away.   

            We arrived in the late afternoon Jerusalem time and we were all exhausted.  They didn’t want to let us sleep because we need to adjust to the time zone.  So far I haven’t had any jet lag at all!  I haven’t even been tired except when it was time to unpack and go to bed!  I just am on fire haha.  Everything has so much meaning.  Thanks to Jim and Bekah for giving me that awesome book, it really has helped make everything come to life for me already.  I love when the other people sometimes come up to me and ask questions…I’m used to being a total nerd when it comes to the scriptures, but now it’s really coming in handy! And there’s finally people here who appreciate it (: haha.   Sometimes they ask if I know Hebrew, which I don’t, I just know names of places and stuff.   I just love everything about the history of the New Testament and so it sticks in my mind.  Like I will flip out and say “OH look! It’s the Ma’ale Adummim!  That means the Way of Blood in Hebrew.  It’s the setting for the story of the Good Samaritan.  There used to be lots of highway robbers there.” And people look at me like what?!?  Hahaha but they like to learn stuff too and this is what I love.  If someone doesn’t care, well they shouldn’t be here. haha.

            So as soon as we got there we did a lot of orientation stuff, and then went to bed…and then we got up and went on a 4-mile tour of the Old City!!  It was the most amazing day of my whole life.  I think I’m going to have a lot of those coming up though (:  Let me just tell you some highlights.  We weren’t allowed to bring cameras the first day so no pictures… I think it’s because they wanted to give us an overview with no distractions.  So a group of eight of us (plus our professor) walked from the Center into the Palestinian neighborhoods that surround us.  The streets were mostly quiet because it’s Rosh Hashanah week—Jewish New Year—and all of the Jews are at home (it’s like the Sabbath).  We walked from there through Damascus Gate into the Old City of Jerusalem.  The streets are a few feet above the stones where Jesus walked… But nonetheless.  The feeling there is incredible.  There are many street vendors and people selling their wares, and pilgrims like us walking the streets (:

So, there are four quarters in the city.  We did a lot in the Christian quarter because it was busy and exciting.  We were very very lucky—the day we went was the day when the Greek Orthodox Church brings the icons of the Virgin Mary from the Mount of Olives back to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  We stood back while a man swung incense all around and the clergy sang a song and chanted.  They wore black robes and carried flowers.  Some of them had cell phones, it was really interesting.  The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was amaaaaazing.  It’s all dark inside, and beautiful and ancient.  There are candles and stained glass but it’s mostly dim hallways.  In the center is a place where you can touch the very ground where many Christians believe that Jesus was crucified.  There was a long line so we didn’t get too close.  So many churches lay claim to this place, and people from all over the world come see it.

Oh and we had a security guard with us.  I totally felt like Princess Mia when her bodyguard Joe follows her everywhere, you know? Hahaha.   He had the shades and the earpiece and everything.  He just walked behind us and kept us from going into certain crowded places.  It was pretty cool.  We bought bread from a vendor and ate it as we walked. In Jerusalem. Incredible. Haha.  The cool thing about bread is that it’s sacred to these religions.  They don’t ever let it touch the ground.  So even small pieces are set on benches and railings and around the edges of garbage cans—so that they can be eaten eventually, either by birds or animals or those who are very hungry.  It was something I had never heard of.  You see it a lot.

We only stayed for a couple hours but it was so cool.  We went to part of West Jerusalem, which was silent since it’s Rosh Hashanah. On the last day of Rosh Hashanah is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.  It’s a week of repentance and renewal.  Such a beautiful tradition.  I can’t wait to go out into the city by myself (well with like three other people) and explore.  I want to weep at the Wailing Wall and mourn for the temple which was lost so many centuries ago.  And write a prayer and put it in the stones there.  And walk the Via Dolorosa—the “Way of Sorrows” where Jesus carried His cross to Calvary.  It ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which I would like to investigate more.  There are 14 stations along this path through the City where you can see what happened there—like where Jesus was arraigned before Pilate, where He fell and Simon the Cyrene carried the cross beam for Him, things like that.  Such a spiritual journey.

Today was a class day, and a security briefing day, and we did a billion things but didn’t go to the city.  Tomorrow is Shabbat, so we’ll have church on Saturday. And it’s Fast Sabbath too because it’s the first Saturday of the month. Hahah.  It will be a fast of gratitude (:  and then maybe I’ll go to the Garden Tomb!!

Oh and the food! It’s so good.  Every day there’s something exotic that I’ve never tasted or heard of.  Although today we had apple strudel—well it was kind of an apple baklava but it was delicious.  And we eat while we look at the Old City and the Dome of the Rock.  It’s absolutely gorgeous.  Every day I look out one of the millions of windows and think, “How am I even here?”  I keep singing hymns like Praise to the Lord the Almighty…and Oh Savior, and anything that pops into my head.  It’s so fun.  I just pray a lot and say thank you.  I can’t believe this is happening.  AHHH it’s totally bedtime so I’ll send this off. I’ll try to post once a week or so.  Except when I go to Turkey and stuff. Love you all to the moon and back!

Love, Rapunzel.