I've finally been to the Old City! I went on Thursday night with some other students from my program, and we wandered through the Armenian, Christian, and Jewish quarters, and ended up at the Western Wall. We went on a tour of the tunnels, which was impressive. I took some pictures, but it was dark enough everywhere that when I looked back through them, I had no idea what they were ("Why do I have a picture of an elbow?!interrobang?!). Oh well, live and learn. Fortunately, I went back the next day with my friend Anika to get some more pictures. We went without a guide, and actually without really knowing what we were doing, but no major calamities befell us. We feel very smug about this.
We also went into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is supposedly where they buried Jesus. My burning questions: How in the world do they know? And most importantly, why does it matter? The point is that he isn't there anymore!
Last night we had a birthday party for my dear buddy Madeleine. She is a sweet French lady who is in my ulpan and goes to church with me. She fed us crepes and watermelon! So good! It was an international fiesta--we had people from America, France, Holland, and Denmark, and we were joined by Madeleine's Israeli roommate and his friend, who was covered in glitter. I never got the full story there. Anyway, it was splendidly fun. We sat around and talked/argued about school, stereotypes, cheese, etc. and ate more crepes than we should have.
How did your 4th of July go? I celebrated by eating hotdogs, but I missed out on the fireworks.
Have never heard of an interrobang. The perfect punctuation for Acts 2:12. You are so educational.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant use of the interrobang! Sounds like the old city is pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteFor the fourth I got sick and then worked all day, and then lost my electricity that night. But for the fifth, I went to Jacob's house, where his family celebrated the Fourth of July and Jacob's party in one big sha-bang. (Unfortunately for Jacob, it seemed as though none of the guests realized it was his birthday, even though his father acted as though his birthday had the main emphasis.) There was $600 worth of fireworks that we lit off, and it was strange wondering how much money I was burning with each firework. I also played with a whole bunch of little energetic children, and they all beat me up. It was a lot of fun!
caroline! the nighttime picture of the western wall is BEAUTIFUL. did you cry? i hear people tend to cry.
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