Not Home Quite Yet: My Week in England!!

By now you all know that I have returned to the one and only America. I (literally) hopped off the plane at LAX last night (I’m not kidding—as I was getting off the plane I did a little hop, just to say I did), and a few hours later I was back in the tan stucco structure I call home. Before all that, though, I spent a wonderful 10 days in England visiting Roni and travelling around the country, which is what I’m going to tell you about now.

On my first day I explored Oxford, with Roni as my experienced tour guide. When she asked what I wanted to see, my response was “Harry Potter stuff”, so we went to several places where exterior shots were filmed as well as the dining hall in Christ Church college, where they filmed the Great Hall and a different room which they used for the Hospital Wing in Hogwarts.

We also went to several other colleges, including Exeter where Roni goes, all of which have beautiful chapels and courtyards and just gorgeous buildings in general. The entire city is picturesque. That night Roni had a birthday/promotion/Champions League final party which was great for me because it meant meeting all her friends in one place. I finally was able to put faces to the names I’ve been hearing about and understand first hand why she loves her life in England so much. Her friends were great! And Barcelona played a beautiful game of soccer to win the final, and we ate delicious food….so it was a good first day/night in Oxford.

The next day Roni and I went Windsor Castle, the oldest and largest castle in the world that is still lived in today. You all know how I feel about castles, and this one (although not as medieval-feeling, which is what I really like) was no exception. There was this incredible doll house display that was huge and impeccably detailed with hundreds of rooms. We also spent a long time wandering through room after room and hallway after hallway inside the castle itself, filled with extremely elaborate furniture and decoration: tapestries, paintings, carpets, mirrors, statues, suits of armor, crests, shields. They were quite a sight to behold (unfortunately pictures were not allowed so you’ll have to take my word for it).

Roni had to work during the week so I went on the next few journeys on my own. On Monday I took the train to London to meet up with the lovely Melanie, who has been my friend since Kindergarten (since the first day of Kindergarten, in fact, when she famously sat down next to me and asked to be my friend….and I agreed). Melanie had been studying abroad in London so she took me to some of her favorite markets (including the one in the movie Notting Hill which I geeked out about). We spent the day gallivanting around the city, eating delicious food, and catching up. It was pretty awesome having the chance to see an old friend in a foreign country.

The next day I went to two places, the first of which was Stratford-upon-Avon: the home of William Shakespeare!! I am a big Shakespeare fan but was unfortunately unable to go to Stratford last time I was in England. The town itself was very small and adorable, just like what you would picture and expect a small town in the English countryside to look like. The house Shakespeare was born in and grew up in has been made into a museum with an exhibit about Shakespeare's works, life, and the impact of his plays on popular culture and society. There were also several house-museums around it in other parts of Stratford, including the home of Shakespeare’s daughter Susanna and the house he lived in during the last two decades of his life, after he came back from London. I learned a good deal more about Shakespeare and thought the historic bits were really well put together. In one of the houses they had several costumes used in Shakespeare productions, including an outfit worn by David Tennant when he played Hamlet, so I naturally enjoyed that.

After Stratford I went to Warwick (the second w is silent, by the way), home of Warwick Castle. Now, Warwick Castle is not just a castle (which would be awesome in and of itself)…it’s much more than that. It’s an entire experience. This medieval castle is an amuseument park of sorts, with live shows and exhibits and tours. I went on the Castle Dungeon tour which took me and the rest of the group of 9 frightened individuals through the dungeons and told us all about/quasi-demonstrated medieval torture devices and prisoner execution techniques. It was creepy to say the least. Each room had a different actor in gross make up creeping us out and jumping out at us and squirting nasty liquid that was supposed to be blood or some other bodily fluid at us. I was so glad I wasn’t first or last in our group because I would have been even more creeped out. It was just the right amount of scary to still be enjoyable. I explored the rest of the castle on my own. One section had a whole bunch of rooms each with wax figures showing the different stages of preparing for battle. There were horses, knights, blacksmiths and other workers, seamstresses, and other essential people. Probably my favorite “exhibit” was set up in a Victorian (or maybe a little bit later time period) theme and was devoted to royal secrets. The concept was that guests were invited to a “dinner party” thrown by the Earl and Countess of Warwick. Throughout the various rooms we learned all about scandals mostly involving the sexual rampages of the Countess of Warwick and the many guests at their home. I found it hilarious. There were kids in there who were being told very censored versions of the story. It was pretty funny. I also watched a joust and sword fight, visited a peacock garden on the grounds, walked the ramparts, and climbed to the top of the towers in the castle. I explored literally every inch of the grounds and loved every second. I highly recommend a trip to Warwick castle if you go to England.

In a very spur-of-the-moment fashion I decided to spend my next day on the Isle of Wight, which turned out to be a wonderful decision. I took a train and then ferry to get there, and spent my entire day walking around the island, on a public footpath that brought me from Yarmouth, where the ferry docked, to the Freshwater Bay, on the other side of the island. The first half of the path followed an estuary, through a meadow and a forest until I emerged from the trees at the end of the estuary near a bridge. At this point I took a detour to an adorable apple orchard where I had the most delicious apple juice I’ve ever tasted. This detour also took me through a residential area where I noticed that all of the houses had plaques with names on them!! I love that in places like this all the houses have names like in Pride and Prejudice (or Lexington, but that's a very different concept). It was very cute. When I got back on the path I ended up in a field of very very tall grass, and then after I passed through a gate I found myself literally in a person’s backyard. The rest of this public footpath consisted of segments separated by gates where I was honestly walking through people’s private gardens, but I guess they’ve given permission to have this path go through their land. I thought that was very cool. It was especially cool because each time I passed through a gate I felt like I was in a new little world. I also walked through a sheep farm and cow pasture (I’m sure you know how excited that made me). When I finally got to the bay I was absolutely awe struck. It was a little cove with a pebbled beach surrounded by really high white cliffs—simply stunning! However I don’t know where the name Freshwater Bay comes from because I tasted the water and it was definitely salty. I mean, it’s the ocean after all.

My last alone day in England was spent again in London. I started in Greenwich, where I stood on the Prime Meridian at the Royal Observatory (where I learned a lot about compasses and longitude and telescopes and other nautical things), visited Greenwich Market, strolled through Greenwich park (which had tall hills with an incredible view of London), and enjoyed the beautiful beautiful sunshine.

After that I took to the tube to the center of London and visited the Churchill War Rooms. This is a museum that has been made out of the actual Cabinet War Rooms used by Churchill and his cabinet during WW2. It was really really awesome to see the exact room where the Chiefs of Staff met with maps on the walls, pins in the maps, and everything exactly as it was the day the war ended in 1945 (someone had the genius foresight to seal off the rooms right after the war, knowing they would be viewed one day as historically significant). My favorite part was a blackboard in the “Map Room” that showed the “score” during the Battle of Britain. They used it to keep track of the progress during the battle. It was all just so so cool.

I spent the rest of the day wandering the classic sights of London, all of which I’ve been to, but don’t get old: Piccadilly, Trafalgar Square, the parks, Buckingham Palace, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, etc. I used to say “oh I don’t really like London—it’s too big, busy, crowded, blah blah”. Well, that’s a blatant lie. I love London. It’s a really great city.

My last day in England I spent relaxing with Roni. We took a nice long walk through a meadow by her house, down the canal, stopping at a very remote pub with a beautiful outdoor beer garden where we could sit and enjoy the gorgeous weather for hours. I was blessed with incredible weather the whole week. I’m so so glad I decided to tack the extra week onto my study abroad time and spend some time with Roni. It was a wonderful wonderful 10 days!!

Some Lists

I'm getting on a plane in about 8 hours to leave Israel, and while I'm certainly thrilled about the idea of first going to England and spending 10 days with Roni and then finally getting back to America, family, friends, all of which means I'm that much closer to getting back to Lexington, I'm not sure I'm ready to leave Israel yet. I wont go into detail here, I'll wait to do my reflective, penultimate, sentimental blog post until later. For now, here are some lists.

Note: These things are in NO particular order whatsoever. So don't read into it.

Things I’m going to miss about Israel:

1. Being in the same country as most of my family

2. Marzipan (delicious pastries)

3. Falafel/Schwarma/Schnitzel

4. Incredible Israeli snack food

5. Real hummus (do you see a trend, here?)

6. Hearing Hebrew all the time

7. Having the ability to use awesome phrases like “Kol ha’kavod”, “Yofi”, and “Yalla”, or mix languages like “I want some Meetz” and have people actually understand what I’m saying

8. My awesome friends I made here

9. Kfar dinners

10. The view of the Old City my walk to school every morning

11. The strange-shaped crack in my wall that I swear has been getting bigger for the past several months, keeping my hope alive that soon I will hear the TARDIS landing outside my window

12. The one-of-a-kind Israeli personality and culture that can’t be explained or duplicated and while at times annoying is mostly just incredible because it’s Israel.

Things I will not miss about Israel:

1. The uphill walk to school that makes you sweaty no matter what you’re wearing and what the temperature is

2. Kfar cats

3. 20 shekel Kfar laundry

4. Kfar kitchens with no ovens

5. The embarrassing need to ask for an English menu

6. Bus drivers who yell at me when I did nothing wrong

Things I’m looking forward to in America:

1. Seeing friends and family

2. Disneyland

3. Yogurtland

4. Having the ability to call/text my friends/family whenever I want

5. Getting back to LEXINGTON

6. California summer

7. Mexican Food

8. Freddie (my car/the ability to drive)

9. Planning my next trip to Israel

Unbelievable.

Anyone who's been to the Old City of Jerusalem, or really any marketplace anywhere in the world knows that shopkeepers will do and say anything to get your into their store. Yes, it's annoying, but I have passed the point of being upset about this reality and now just get a real laugh out of what these people come up with.

By now I'm used to the usual "My friend, I welcome you", "America? Obama?", "We love Obama" (these all must be imagined in an Arab accent to have the full effect), or if I'm with my friend Cody, the inevitable "You Mormon? We like Mormon" (Cody is not Mormon.)

In Turkey the man selling me and Dana scarves told me he liked my hair (which was in a braid), then my earrings (they were just studs), and then, after I told him the scarves (which he insisted he hand-wove. puh-lease.) were beautiful, he said "thank you, they are beautiful just like your eyes". Well thanks, bud. That's sweet.

"You from Canada?" Nope. "Germany?" Guess again. "Ukraine?" You can't be serious.

The boys trying to solicit customers for donkey rides in Petra got pretty creative: "Who wants taxi?" "Long walk nice ride" "We have air conditioning!"

I wish I had written down more, because there's been some gems that I can't remember. But this one certainly takes the cake. I heard it in the Old City the other day while doing some obligatory souvenir shopping: "Hello, can I touch your hair? You remind me of my cat."

REALLY????

If I had been considering buying your clearly mass-produced "authentic hand-painted ceramics" or tacky postcards, I certainly am not now.

Remember and Celebrate

This past weekend was a big one for the country of Israel: celebration of both Memorial Day (Yom Hazikaron) and Independence Day (Yom Ha'atzmaut). These two holidays are way different from the American versions for a number of reasons. First of all, Memorial Day (who’s official title is Israeli Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism Remembrance Day) is much much more observed and serious than in the US (where its really only marked by lots of sales, barbecues, American flags, and outdoor pools finally opening). Not only has nearly everyone in the country served in the army, but because of this and because of the small size of the country’s population, virtually every Israeli knows someone who has died or at least who has been directly affected by war or acts of terror. The day is extremely somber and respectful, many people wear white in solidarity, and there are ceremonies all over the country. The holiday starts the night before, with a siren at 8 PM that is heard throughout literally the entire country. Everyone stops what they’re doing for the moment of silence. Again, everyone in the entire country, standing together at the same time—it’s a really powerful moment. The same thing happens the following morning at 11 AM, but the siren lasts for two minutes. I saw a picture in the newspaper of a major highway where all the cars had stopped in the middle of the road and people got out to stand in observance of the moment of silence. I went to a ceremony in the community part of my family lives in on the eve of Yom Hazikaron where they shared stories of soldiers from that community who had fallen. Families of these soldiers spoke on behalf of “bereaved families” and a former soldier spoke on behalf of “comrades in arms”. They lit a memorial torch, laid ceremonial wreaths, and sang beautiful songs, making for a really personal, powerful ceremony.

The next morning I went to another ceremony with my cousin Rotem and Roni (who FINALLY arrived, about 3 weeks late) at the Air Force Memorial, which is on a mountain between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. This was the official Air Force Ceremony so the commander of the IAF, many foreign attaches, and tons of IAF officers were there. The format of the ceremony was similar to the previous evening, but much more ceremonial and official. There were cadets from the Israeli Air Academy who marched in and out and stood at attention the whole time, and even a fly-over after the two minute siren (they did the missing man formation which I’ve always been really moved by). The whole Yom Hazikaron experience was really cool to witness and I’m so glad I was able to be here during this really special time in Israel.

After the ceremony Rotem finally took me to her secret Chumus place in the Old City and let me write here officially, for posterity, that I have now found the most delicious chumus in Jerusalem. It took me a few months but the reigning champion Chumus Lina has been surpassed by this delicious establishment. So if you want quality chumus when you go to Jerusalem, talk to me.

Part of the magic of these two holidays in Israel is the scheduling. Memorial Day takes place and then as soon as the sun goes down and the next day begins, it’s Independence Day! So you flip a switch from somber, reflective remembrance to patriotic excitement and celebration. It’s an interesting concept, and one that makes quite a strong statement.

That evening, the eve of Yom Ha-atzmaut, Roni and I got the awesome opportunity to go to the official ceremony at Mount Herzl, held in the military ceremony where Theodor Herzl is buried, on the plaza surrounding his grave. This was the ceremony shown on TV, attended by lots of government officials, where the Speaker of the Knesset gave the keynote remarks—basically a really awesome place to be to welcome the arrival of Independence Day. I wont go into all the details of the ceremony, but included was the lighting of 12 torches, representing the twelve tribes of the people of Israel, and each of the lighters of the torches represented a different part of Israeli life: old, young, native, immigrants, holocaust survivors, intellectuals, doctors—lots of really awesome stories of really awesome people. Since it’s Israeli’s 63^rd birthday there was a procession of 63 soldiers each carrying a different banner who made formations with their marching. Some of the coolest were the symbols of the IDF and Magen David Adom (Israel’s Red Cross), the word “todah” (thank you), the number 63, and my personal favorite, an Israeli flag that was animated as waving. Each new formation brought exclamations of “ooh”s “aahh”s and “wow”s from Roni and myself. There was also a CRAZY song/dance show, complete with what I called an Israeli gospel choir, dance troupe of about 250 kids, fire, fireworks, a boys choir, and men’s choir, a singer who fell flat on her behind during her performance, and lots of other great stuff. It was a grand old time.

(Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin lighting main the torch)

(opening procession)

(Atzmaut Israel: Israel Independence)

(Dancing pillowcase kids)

(part of the Israeli gospel choir)

All in all, I’m thrilled I was able to be in Jerusalem for such a big weekend in the Israeli calendar, and even more thrilled I was able to be a part of the nation’s “official” celebration! Last year I was in DC for 4^th of July, and this year in Jerusalem for Yom Ha-atzmaut. Next year I have to be in Berlin for Tag der Deutschen Einheit!!! (probably not…..)

Now its Turkish Delight on a Moonlit Night

From my earliest beginnings of thinking about the possibilities of travelling during my time in Israel I have had a burning desire to go to Greece and Turkey. Don’t ask me why but those were two places that I badly wanted to go. Although Greece has continued to elude me, I did get the chance to go to Turkey for the last part of my Spring Break and let me tell you, it was too amazing for words.

Instead of giving you a play by play of every single thing we did, I’ll share some highlights and stories and favorite memories, as well as lots of pictures. You can ask me for details in person should you so desire!

For anyone going to Istanbul, there are several “musts” to see: the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Basilica Cistern, various palaces, and other mosques. All of these were incredibly beautiful and I can see why tourists and pilgrims flock to Istanbul to see these masterpieces. I think the Hagia Sophia was my favorite. It was originally built by Justinian in the 6^th century, over the ruins of 5^th and 4^th century churches that were destroyed for various reasons, but it was converted into a mosque after the Muslim conquest of 1453, so many of the brilliant Christian mosaics were covered in favor of the Muslim-style decoration (tiles and decorative Arabic writing). But the plaster used to cover the mosaics ironically helped preserve the mosaics so when the building was converted to a museum of sorts during the 20^th century many of these mosaics were uncovered. What remains now is a beautiful mix of architectural and decorative elements from both Byzantine and Ottoman periods, with incredible myths, legends, and stories surrounding each piece. With the help of Rick Steves’ incredibly informative and enjoyable tour we spent several hours roaming and marveling at the stunning monument to religious, history, and culture.

I don’t want my raving about the Hagia Sophia to make you think that I didn’t appreciate all the other amazingly beautiful sites Istanbul has to offer. One of the things I loved most about the city was that when you walk around it feels like every single building has some kind of significance. In contrast to synagogues, and to a lesser extent churches, mosques are anything but inconspicuous. With towering minarets and huge domes, even the smallest and most modest mosque is a sight to behold. We went in probably half a dozen mosques (and still left dozens unvisited) yet each was its own masterpiece. You probably know that it is against Muslim practice to have any decoration that portrays a face or animal of any kind (at risk of showing an image of the divine), so all the decoration is floral, patterned, or decorative writing in Arabic. This makes for a striking interiors, especially when combined with the sheer majesty of the architecture of the domes. Mosques are just amazing. We went to A LOT.

(Me in front of the Blue Mosque)

(inside the Blue Mosque--it's HUGE and every inch is covered in gorgeous tiles)

(inside the Rustem Pasa Mosque)

No one can visit Istanbul without taking a trip to the various bazaars. We went to three, the Book Bazaar, the famous Spice Bazaar, and the even more famous Grand Bazaar (but these are just the pieces that are defined on a map….really the entirety of the old city is a huge bazaar, with the many sidestreets surrounding each of the big sites containing shop after shop of beautiful pottery, scarves, lamps, jewelry, and rugs, as well as the typical kitchy postcards, magnets, shot glasses, tshirts, etc. I just got so overwhelmed in all these places I didn’t know what to do. There was just so much…stuff. The Spice Bazaar was fantastic because every shop wanted us to sample THEIR Turkish Delight, which we were more than happy to do.

This brings me to a discussion of the food. Wow. What do I even say about the food. People have asked me what they eat in Turkey and my response has always been: lots of meat and great desserts. I had meatballs about a gazillion times but I wont complain because they were delicious. Bourekas or other bread-cheese-meat combinations for breakfast were amazingly delicious and SO cheap. We also had gallons of Turkish Tea, which I simply could not get enough of, and dessert after every single meal because there were so many to sample. My favorite was chocolate pudding which sounds ridiculous but there must have been several secret ingredients because this pudding (on several occasions from several places) was the most amazing pudding I’ve ever had. And of course baklava and Turkish Delight and other cakes and things were just incredible.

We also experienced a few authentically Turkish things: a Turkish bath (I’ve never felt so pampered in my life) and a Whirling Dervish ceremony. The Whirling Dervishes were VERY cool. They are Sufi Muslims (Sufism is the mystic form of Islam) and part of their prayer service is song and dance. The spinning they do in their dance gave them the nickname Whirling Dervish, and we had the chance to go to a cultural center to watch them. I was really impressed by their ability to spin so fast so long and remain so steady while doing it.

Here are some other observations/memories I have:

· Turkish Airlines is amazing. They had the most delicious airplane food I’ve ever tasted and endless options of free entertainment (I watched 4 episodes of How I Met Your Mother back to back nonstop. I wish it were a longer flight).

· One night, Dana and Zach and I had the urge to dance but didn’t want to go out because it was late and cold but we discovered that our hostel had roof access and there was a dance club next door so we could hear the music. This gave us the perfect set up for our own dance party. At one point we decided to play limbo with a large wooden rod we found leaning against the wall. It was wonderful. I will never forget dancing on the rooftops of Istanbul in the middle of the night…

· Finally, I feel I should say something about the unique nature of Istanbul itself as a city. It’s certainly like nothing I’ve ever seen before. People told me it was a very unique place but seeing it first hand (of course) showed me just how true that is. First of all, there is an incredible mix of very old and very new. Jerusalem is like that too, but since the Old City is walled it feels more fragmented. In Istanbul you can walk down the street and see mosque after mosque separated by huge European-style mansions, beautiful Orthodox churches, and hundreds of street vendors, while one street over will be a huge classy, modern, commercial shopping street. You really can see Asia and Europe coming together in one place, and the culture is really vibrant. I highly recommend a trip to Istanbul if you get the chance!!!

(view of the Golden Horn and Istanbul from the Galata Tower, an old toll tower and overlook in the new district, where our hostel was)

(what would we have done without our trusty guidebooks?)

Just As He Has Said

After less than 5 hours of sleep I very confusedly woke up to my alarm at 5 am this morning, wondering what on earth that obnoxious sound coming from my phone was (despite the fact that it’s the exact same alarm I use every morning). Then I quickly remembered: it’s Easter!!! I met up with friends and went down to the bus stop at 5:30, making it to the Garden Tomb just a few minutes before the gates opened at 6. We enjoyed some confused looks from the bus driver wondering what on earth three foreigners were doing on his bus before dawn.

There was already a huge group of people waiting at the gates of the Garden when we got there, but we actually managed to file inside in a quite orderly fashion and found seats just next to and a little behind the podium they had set up. Now to back up a bit, the Garden Tomb is the place Protestants believe the tomb of Jesus was located, (meaning the site of Jesus’ burial and resurrection). The reasoning behind this belief is that this tomb is cut out of the rock, items found around it indicate it was the tomb of a rich man (so it could have belonged to Joseph of Arimathea), it’s located near a garden, and a rock face very close by resembles a skull (Golgatha). These all match up with descriptions of Jesus' tomb in the gospels. The pastor opened the service by saying, “On a morning quite like this one, almost 2000 years ago, an incredible event happened in a tomb in a garden. And it very well may have been this very garden we’re sitting in today”. Talk about a powerful statement.

Up until now I have been attending all Catholic ceremonies relating to Easter, so it was nice to be back in my comfort zone of Protestantism with songs I know, a format I follow, and a congregation similar to me. It was an incredibly beautiful time of worship with lots of singing (which is the mark of a good service in my opinion). The sermon was focused on the disciple Thomas, and asking the question of how we can believe that the Resurrection happened. I thought the pastor was an excellent speaker, so that, the music, the atmosphere, and the location combined made for an absolutey amazing service. The joy and energy of the place really was something to behold. I’m so glad I am lucky enough to be here on this geat day!!

Following the service, we made our way to the Old City into the Church of the Holy Sepluchre (we decided to double dip our church services to get our fill of some Resurrection happiness—plus, we wanted to cover our bases and go to both the Catholic and Protestant-believed sites of the Resurrection just to be able to say that no matter who’s right, we were there).

After waiting for several hours, most of which were spent standing in a very small crowded space, the mass began. Oh boy was I in for a treat. The entire thing was in Latin. Beginning to end. And, it lasted 2 hours. 120 minutes of all Latin….standing. Oy vey. It was certainly an experience. Let’s add to this the fact that there were entirely too many people packed into one space to be even remotely safe, and to make matters worse, there was some maintenance man who felt it was necessary to wade through the crowds carrying wooden benches from place to place (for no apparent reason) and nearly knock me and several old women out in the process. Oh and lets not forget that we’re all holding Easter candles. That are lit. I feel like the fire hazard alone is something to consider. When they brought the hosts out to perform the Eucharist I legitimately thought I was going to get trampled in a stampede, but then a procession began which has now been deemed “the Procession that never ends”, meaning we couldn’t even get out of the building because they closed the church doors. Finally the mass was over and they opened the doors, giving us a taste of freedom, but it was shortlived because soon after a tidal wave of people waiting outside the doors descended on us poor mass-goers who were just trying to vacate the darn church. At this point everyone starts throwing elbows, screaming, pushing, and performing every other extremely counterproductive action to get where they want to go. I’m pretty sure I crushed the bones of the poor fragile old lady standing in front of me because a huge man and woman behind me were two arm shoving me into her. I was squeezed so tight I could not breath for half a minute or so. It was intense.

Yet, I made it out in one piece, found my friends, and we practically ran out of the complex to the gate of the Old City. However, I’m making this sound like a huge miserable disaster, which it was not. As we were walking away all three of us said that we were SO glad we had gone. I mean, Easter Mass in the Church of the Holy Sepluchre is bound to be a zoo, but it’s definitely a must. Who knows if I’ll ever be in Jerusalem on Easter again and I’m so glad I got to have this experience. Seeing some really big guns in the Catholic church (judging by the elaborateness of their hats of course) process around in this incredible building where they believe the Resurrection happened, accompanied by Fransiscan monks, nuns, other priests, and pilgrims from all over the world was pretty darn cool. Plus it was really interesting to contrast the Protestant service of the morning with the Catholic Mass….I definitely know which I liked better (for the record, even my Catholic friends felt the same way, and assured me that this was NOT normal procedure for the masses they usually attend).

So Happy Easter from the Holy Land!! He has risen and it’s a beautiful beautiful day in Jerusalem. I leave tomorrow morning for Turkey so you can look forward to tales and pictures from that in about a week’s time!!

Sooooo Holy

One of the things I was most looking forward to about this study abroad experience was being in Jerusalem during Easter. Well, Holy Week has arrived and it is even more insane than I expected. The Old City is absolutely packed, there is security everywhere, hundreds of tour buses line the streets of the city, and signs directing pilgrims and/or tourists to all major sites in the Old City have been specially posted for the occasion. I’ve tried to take full advantage of being here during this special time, and though it means being pushed and shoved and groped and yelled at and suffering through surprisingly irreverent crowds, it’s been awesome. Here’s a recap of what I’ve done so far:

Thursday morning began with a Jewish event actually, the twice-yearly Birkat Kohanim. During Pesach and Sukkot a special blessing is given out to the Jewish community by the Kohanim (priestly class). Thousands of religious Jews gather at the Western Wall for this priestly blessing so I went down to check it out. A news report I read said 10,000 people were there throughout the day, reciting their own prayers, receiving blessings, or just watching. It was a very cool event to witness. I took a video but it didn’t come out well so I’ll just give you a link to my friend Cody’s video because his camera is way better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ru5IhojZRk&feature=player_embedded

From the kotel we headed to the Coenaculum, or the room of the Last Supper, the site tradition recognizes as the location of Jesus’ last meal with his disciples. It being Maundy Thursday and all, a visit to the room of the Last Supper was a must.

That afternoon we attended a Feet Washing Mass in the bascilica of the Ecce Homo convent in the Old City. It was one of the few English masses we found for Holy Thursday so I thought it was going to be really crowded but it wasn’t at all. It was actually a really nice, small, peaceful service. Since it was the feet washing mass the priests washed 12 peoples’ feet in the front of the church and then set up hand washing stations for the rest of the people in attendance. Each person went up to the table, had their hands washed, and then stepped to the other side of the table to wash the next person’s hands. In that way we were all being served and then serving ourselves, taking the words of John 13:14 to heart. Despite not being incredibly familiar with the procedure of Catholic Mass, I really enjoyed the service a lot. The church itself was also gorgeous.

From this mass we walked from the Old City to the Garden of Gethsemane (just like Jesus did...minus the cars and streetlights and city walls and tour guides to dodge of course). Here was our first experience with the Holy Week mob scene. They had not yet opened the gates to the garden so there were tons of people just waiting outside. Once the gates opened we rushed into the church and despite getting there an hour early just barely managed to find seats in the Church of All Nations (the church inside the Garden). Also known as the Basilica of Agony, this church is absolutely beautiful, but I have never seen it so full as it was Thursday night. The Holy Hour we attended consisted of scripture readings, singing, and prayers, but they were conducted in about 7 or 8 languages. First would be a song in Latin, then a reading in French, a song in Arabic, a prayer in Italian, another reading in English, and so on. It was a really interesting idea and a very beautiful event.

The next morning, Good Friday, we again went down to the Old City to take a walk down the Via Dolorosa led by a group of Fransiscans. The Via Dolorosa follows the path of the 14 stations of the cross (which, not being something really discussed or emphasized in the Protestant church, I didn’t know too much about in detail before I came to Jerusalem). At each “station” there is a marker on the wall and a church belonging to various Catholic and Orthodox denominations. We had a hard time navigating the Old City because lots of streets had been blocked off by police barriers but made it to the first station just in time for the procession to begin. At each station one of the brothers would read allowed what the station was in Latin, then English, then Spanish, and between each station the whole procession would speak or sing Our Fathers and Hail Marys. While it’s difficult to be particularly reverent while in a huge procession through streets that are now packed with stands selling falafel and baklava and stores hawking kitch touristy merchandise, being part of this huge institutional event was so awesome. The last 5 stations take place inside the church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was an absolute zoo. I definitely almost got trampled several times. But that’s okay because it was really cool anyway.

Today was the event I have been REALLY looking forward to: the miracle of the Holy Fire. Every year on Holy Saturday there is a procession into the Church of the Holy Sepluchre, during which an Orthodox priest enters the sepluchre itself holding a bundle of candles (after being checked by an Israeli soldier to ensure he has no matches or a lighter) and after saying a special prayer, comes out with the candles lit. He then leads a procession around the sepluchre and passes the fire to the thousands of people gathered. Witnesses say the fire doesn’t actually burn you. This fire from God is supposed to be the oldest regularly recurring miracle in Christianity (it’s been recorded as occurring yearly since 1066). While I’m not sure I buy the whole miraculous fire bit I was still really really excited about going to the ceremony and being a part of the event. This morning we got to the Old City with about 3½ hours to spare, allowing us plenty of time to navigate the crowds and hopefully secure some kind of place in the church. What we were met with, however, were worse crowds than I have ever seen in my life (we were at a standstill for a good 20 minutes on one street) and every single pathway to the Christian quarter blocked. We tried literally every possible street and route to where we needed to go but kept finding ourselves trapped by police barriers. After over an hour of wandering we finally asked one of the policemen who informed us that we were not allowed to go into the Christian quarter because only those with a police pass were allowed entrance, and the police passes were given out to only 30,000 people thus we could not get one and therefore we were not getting into the sepluchre, or really any part of the Christian quarter until after the Holy Fire ceremony was over. This was certainly news to us because in all our reading about the ceremony and talking to people about it (including the folks at the Christian Information Center in the Old City) we had NEVER heard of this pass business. We found out later that passes are distributed by local parishes, and since none of us belong to an Orthodox parish we probably couldn’t have gotten one anyway. REALLY???? Jesus died for me too, people. Come on now. Anyway, super disappointed we dejectedly left the Old City making lots of bible puns about being denied three times and having no room at the inn and other such witticisms. Holy fire fail. I’ll settle for a poor-quality video instead.

http://www.oodegr.com/english/ekklisia/holylight.htm

The plan for tomorrow is to attend a sunrise service at the Garden Tomb and attempt again to get into the Sepluchre. We’ll see if they have room for us this time….

I feel like this post is ending on a sour note and I don't want that. Holy Week stuff has been AWESOME so far. This small disappointment is just a little glitch in the plans, and my most anticipated event (tomorrow's sunrise service) is still to come. I'll be back tomorrow with (hopefully) good stuff to tell. Happy Easter to all!!