In Jerusalem: Sunday and Monday ... by Hannah

Ok ... time for some more pictures! I am sorry that I did not get these posted sooner. Our family has been trying to get settled in after our trip, and this past weekend, several of us took another short road trip to Illinois and Indiana to deliver one puppy and pick up another one!

Anyway, I am working on getting the Jerusalem pictures and movies posted, and here is the first one. These pictures were taken in Jerusalem on Sunday (6-12-2011) and Monday (6-13-2011).

On Sunday morning, we left our friends in Ashkelon, and rode the bus to Jerusalem. It was the most eventful bus ride yet. We were barely outside of Ashkelon when the bus stopped to pick up a woman who was waiting by the side of the road. She got in, put her purse on the seat in the front bench on the right side of the bus, and took a water bottle out of the purse of a woman on the bench behind her. The woman quickly retrieved her bottle, and the newcomer sat down on the bench, which happened to be right across the aisle from Tommy and me. She was talking most of the time, and I didn't know whether she was drunk, or mentally ill. People toward the back of the bus were laughing about what she was saying, but it was in Hebrew, so we did not understand.

After a few minutes, the woman said something to me, and I thought that she was asking for the water bottle that I was holding, but I was not sure, so I ignored her. She started talking louder and making a scene, and then the bus driver handed her his water bottle. She was quiet for a few minutes ... until a soldier got on the bus and sat down right behind Tommy and I. She started asking him for his water bottle, and eventually pestered him enough so that he handed it to her. I don't think he knew that she had the driver's bottle and that it still had water in it!

Things were quiet for a little while, and then another soldier got on the bus. By that time it was really full, and the only place for him to sit, was on the front step ... directly in front of the "crazy" woman. He was obviously on his way back to base, and was carrying a bag of chips and snacks along with his backpack and gun. From what we have heard, the soldiers do not get fed very well on base. Maybe this woman didn't know that, or maybe she didn't care ... she started asking him for his food. I was amazed at how politely the soldier declined and explained that he needed those snacks, even though I couldn't understand what he was saying! The woman continued to badger him, but eventually he ignored her, and she quieted down again.

After awhile, the woman took a sandwich out of her own bag, and started eating! That kept her content for some time, and she looked like she was going to fall asleep. Then another woman got up to get off the bus, and was standing beside her seat as she waited for the bus to stop. That's when we realized that our fellow passenger was a pickpocket. She started sticking her fingers into this other woman's pocket, but as soon as this other woman turned around, the "crazy" woman pulled her hand back and closed her eyes as if she was asleep. That happened to a couple different passengers who had to get off the bus.

As I mentioned, the bus was very crowded, and the only available seat was the one beside the "crazy" woman. Whenever a new passenger got on and asked if they could sit there, she would tell them "Lo!" (which means "no"). And I would think to myself; "They can be thankful for that!" If they sat down beside her, they may not have had any belongings left by the time they got off the bus.

The last outburst was when she started saying "oogiya", which means cookie. Apparently she wanted a cookie, and after awhile, someone handed her one. She did continue to ask the soldier in front of her for his snacks from time to time. It was a crazy experience, and I was relieved when we got off the bus with all of our possessions intact!

We got off the bus at the Har-El junction, which is about 10 or 15 minutes outside of Jerusalem, near Mevessaret Tzion and Maoz Tzion. We stayed in the latter town. Some friends of ours (Avi and Dina) have an apartment with several guest rooms, and they invited us to stay with them. We were very grateful for their offer.

We arrived at Avi and Dina's around noon, and spent some time catching up on emails and blog posts. A few hours later, Cathrin and Yunis arrived. We met Cathrin while we were in Ezuz ... she had come from Germany to volunteer at the Hirshfeld's. Yunis is her two year old son. We invited them to join us during the several days that we were in Jerusalem, and were glad they could come.

After visiting for a little while, we all took a bus into Jerusalem. We had to catch a bus from the street where we were, to the central station in the city. Thanks to Dina, we found that when we rode that bus, we could ask for a "cartis ma'avor" - a free ride on one of the city buses!

So we went to the central station, and then caught a bus further into the city, near King George and Ben Yehuda streets. From there we walked to the old city, and Cathrin, Yunis, and I had falafel ... I think Tommy got a shwarma :)  After we finished eating, we went down to the Kotel (Western/Wailing Wall).

Walking near the southern wall of the old city.

The Kotel.

While we were in the Kotel plaza, we heard drumming and singing and clapping ... and saw that a wedding party was making its way across the plaza. There was quite a crowd! We followed them up the steps, and to the hall where the event was taking place, but we did not go in :)

We spent some more time walking in the old city, and stopped near the Jaffa Gate to get Yunis a piece of pizza. My head was starting to hurt at that point, so I got an ice coffee from a nearby vendor. That helped  :)

We started walking back toward the bus station, on Jaffa street. We were surprised to find that a large section of Jaffa street is closed to automobile traffic. They are installing an electric tram system, but it is not in use yet. As we were walking along the sidewalk, Tommy saw someone on the other side of the street trying to get our attention. He thought it was a beggar, and didn't pay much attention! Then the person crossed the street and we realized that it was David ... a friend from here in Tennessee. We did not know that he was in Jerusalem, so it was quite a pleasant surprise! The funny thing is ... the only time we see him and his family, is when we make plans to get together or are at the same fellowship meeting. We never "randomly" run into them, and Tommy and I thought it was pretty funny that we "just happened" to see him on Jaffa street in Jerusalem, thousands of miles away from where we both are from!

We chatted with him for a few minutes, and then made continued our way to the bus station. We passed the Mahane Yehuda - a very large market in Jerusalem. It was getting late, and most of the shops/stalls were closing, but we bought some fruit, cheese, and olives for breakfast the next morning.

The Jerusalem bus station is quite large, and has a number of restaurants in it, so we ate supper there ... lasagna and veggie egg rolls. Interesting combination, huh?!

On Monday morning, Tommy and I got up early so that we could join a tour that Avi was hosting. We had to walk to the Har-El junction, and the tour bus picked us up there. We spent the morning and a good part of the afternoon visiting some really interesting places ... I will post the pictures of that in a different post.

The rest of these pictures were taken that afternoon, when we came back to Jerusalem.

This is on the northern side of the Old City.

The Old City wall, near the Damascus Gate.

This is just outside the Muslim quarter of the Old City.

Part of the wall.

This is Herod's Gate (Muslim quarter)

The bus circled the eastern side of the Old City. That is the Mount of Olives, with all the graves on it.

The Eastern Gate (or Golden Gate) is in this area, but I couldn't get a picture of it from where we were :(

That grey dome is part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

This is on the southern side of the Old City.

The Zion Gate

In the 1967 war, the Israeli paratroopers stormed this gate ... that's the reason for all the bullet holes.

We stayed with the tour group, and went to see a presentation at the Burnt House museum. During an archaeological dig, a house was uncovered, and it is believed that it was burnt during the time of the Roman invasion in 70AD. There was a stone weight found in the house, with the inscription "Bar Kathros", meaning "son of Kathros".

The presentation consisted of a movie, describing the fall of Jerusalem and what might have possibly happened in the home of that Kathros family.

This is the basement of the home.

One of these daggers was found next to the forearm bones from the finger tip to the elbow joint of a woman approximately 25 years old. It was evident that the house had been burnt in an intense fire, judging from the stones and scorched wooden beams.

Ceramic, stone, and metal vessels were found in the house.

Those are all the pictures for now. I will try to have the next post ready in a day or two :)  

By the way, when you are experiencing something, it is sometimes hard to describe it in a way that makes sense to others. I am trying not to leave out necessary details, but if I am not clear in the way that I am writing, please let me know and I will try to explain it better!