Jerusalem

So I'm 3/4 of the way done with Ulpan, which means that real classes start in about a week. In theory I should be able to haggle in Hebrew, rent an apartment and have a basic conversation with someone, but my actual speaking is pretty far behind that. Whenever someone approaches me speaking Hebrew, I try to respond with, "Ani lo medeberet Ivrit" (I don't speak Hebrew) but instead it comes out as a panicked, "Um... lo medeber!" and I run away as fast as possible.

On Thursday my program took us on a tour of Jerusalem. My favorite part was going to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is where Jesus' tomb is and close to the spot where he was crucified. It was really interesting, and different than the other things I've seen in Jerusalem. I plan to go back to be able to spend more time there--the church was huge. My friends and I decided to explore a little and we ended up entering this hole in the wall from inside a little room in the church. The hole led us down these narrow, cavelike stairs that eventually brought us to a giant lake! It was really cool. Apparently this was a cistern that was discovered when they built the church, and used to provide holy water!

After that we walked around the Old City on the top of the walls, and they eventually brought us to the Western Wall. The first time I was there, on my Birthright trip last year, it was a really powerful experience. But yesterday I was feeling tired, a little cranky and I couldn't really get into the mood. But the sun was setting as I approached the wall, and while I was standing there we could hear the Muslim call to prayer. It was a cool moment--it felt like the two religions were very close.

Some friends and I stayed the night, and we stayed in this crazy hostel. To get there you had to walk down an alley that led into another alley that led into a third. The inside was made completely of Jerusalem stone, like the rest of the city, and was almost like a tiny castle. To get to our rooms we had to climb to the roof, walk across and into another section of the hostel. It was definitely the most interesting place I've ever stayed. We managed to find some non-touristy nightlife, and ended up in a bar that played 70's disco/funk... it was pretty fun! We spent Friday morning at the market and came back in a sherut (a shared taxi) that afternoon before Shabbat.

I put my pictures from Jordan on my flickr account: click here to see them. The Jerusalem pictures will be up soon!