Overlooking Walls, Wine, and Cheese

Well, the bats are gone, as far as we know, and we are in the process of getting the entry points closed up and the mess cleaned up.  There have been some tender mercies and some extra mile helpers there.
Life is going smoothly here, maybe a little faster paced than back home, but that's partly because we want to get the most out of every day and every week.

We haven't tried it out yet, but we found a sushi restaurant near Hillel street.  Carrie, who didn't come with us, is crazy about sushi.

We headed to Ben Yehuda street one day to get a watch battery replaced, and just to see what was available there.  One of the side streets had Chinese lanterns, and another street was adorned with sombreros.

Here are some views from the "stairmaster" walking around the perimeter of the Jerusalem Center in the cool of the morning.  First is an olive processing wheel, next is a grape processing vat.

And here is a view down the corridor of the Anglican International School of Jerusalem.  Eye candy everywhere you go!

Emily and McKenna had a playdate with their classmate Eva and her brother, and here at pickup time we have lots of friends gathered around in their red P.E. shirts.  That day, Emily and her friends held a pretend wedding between Emily and her friend's water bottle during lunch .

 They played for a while at the Anglican school, then we drove home through the happy traffic to the Jerusalem Center.

Everyone enjoyed the Jerusalem Center playground.  Emily caught a little lizard by the tail, and to her surprise, soon she was holding just a tail!  And it was still twitching!  Ha Ha!

We joined the students in walking to the Western Wall just before sunset on Friday to watch hundreds of Jews welcoming the Sabbath.  We touched the wall again, prayed, and read from the prayer books of the promises of the Lord to those who obey his word.

 Sunday morning, we headed out for a faculty family field trip to the old city.  Amanda wore her favorite hat and tried to suppress a smile. But we know she's smiling on the inside!

Stop number 1: The Green Playground, just below the Jerusalem Center in a public area of East Jerusalem.

There is some fun equipment, but it has had some vigorous usage in the past few years and is not quite as safe as I remember from four years ago.

 After the Green playground, we went down the hill, crossed the Kidron Valley, walked up the other side to the old city, and crossed through the city to Jaffa Gate.  Jaffa or today's Yafo is on the coast, which is on the west, which helps us remember that Jaffa Gate is the gate on the west. Ditto with Damascus gate on the north, and Zion Gate which leads toward the rest of Mount Zion.  Then we ate cheese and wine and we liked to eat boiled bats (This was added by Emily ;-)

Our field trip of the day was walking along the walls of the Old City.  Suleiman the Magnificent (his name means Solomon) built (or in some places, repaired) the current walls in 1536 with seven gates.

  There is a path along the crenellated top with watchtowers, arrow slits, and thankfully, an iron fence which offers some protection from the dizzying drop below.  Here is part of the group getting ready to ascend.

 The watchtowers rise another 4 feet or so above the 40-foot walls.

The watchtowers provide a little bit of shade, and their lower stories were once used as barracks or stables.

We got some great views of the Christian Quarter, the northwest segment of the city.  Here, a cast iron Christmas tree waits for the holidays.  In the distance, the Notre Dame was built outside the walls in the late 1800s, necessitating the creation of "New Gate" which is over 120 years old.  So now there are 8 gates around Jerusalem, but the Golden Gate or Gate of Mercy has been sealed for most of the last two millenia.

 Lisa is standing over "New Gate" which is a simple arch in the wall, unlike the huge, elaborate, "L" shaped gates from the 1600s.

Arrow slits watch over Damascus Gate.

We walked around just a fraction of the walls at a leisurely pace, perfect for a three year old, or a camera-happy mommy.

After about 2 hours of walking on the walls, we headed down for falafel (fried chick-pea balls in pita) or schwarma (roasted chicken in a pita), and a quick look at the Austrian Hospice chapel.  Then half of us got a ride home in a van and the other half walked back, a fun but very warm end to a great outing.  

Later that same day, Amanda had a class party with some school friends from Belgium and France.  They played musical chairs, mafia, and blackjack.  Amanda was very good at musical chairs and very lucky at blackjack (played with m&ms).

Then on Monday, I sent the kids to school and hopped aboard the student field trip to see Jerusalem from several overlooks.  Here is the BYU Jerusalem Center from the Augusta Victoria Tower.  I learned a lot of impressive things about the World Lutheran Federation's work to bring health care to thousands of people in the West Bank each year.

Here is a handsome guy at the Nabi Samwil overlook, which gives a view from the Judean Hills out across the Benjamin Plateau, not far from the prophet Samuel's hometown.  The location of Joshua's battle against 5 local kings happened nearby, as well as Samuel choosing Saul as king.  This site houses a synagogue and a mosque for those who want to come revere the memory of Samuel.  It was fun to be able to ascend to the roof of the structure, which was closed when we came years ago.

Emily Ashcraft is a dear friend from Orem who has come on the program.

Here is the view from the South of Jerusalem.  The original Jerusalem of David's time was much smaller and located downhill from the current old city.  

 

Frank enjoyed having Jared Ludlow along on this field trip.  Jared teaches all the students the ancient history of this area of the world.  Frank teaches half of the students Old Testament while Scott Esplin teaches the other half, then they switch for New Testament.  This picture was taken at a location overlooking Bethlehem, which is south of Jerusalem.  In the background is the kibbutz Ramat Rachel, where BYU students once stayed before the current facility was built.  

Here you can see a cave with a man-made low wall to partly enclose the opening.  This could very well have been a shelter for shepherds, maybe bringing the lambs within for extra protection while the other sheep grazed outside.

This is Mar Elyas, a monastery commemorates the prophet Elijah fleeing from Jezebel and receiving heaven-sent food.

Other fun recent events:  I hosted my artist friend Shulamit Near, who lives in the north of the country but had some errands to run in Jerusalem.  She joined us for dinner and dessert, brought me some of my favorite cheese (it's a salty, tangy, creamy cheese kept in a brine), met some of my new friends here, and enjoyed the view which she painted for so long.  Shulamit's panoramic painting of the view from the BYU Jerusalem center hangs over my piano.  If you want to see jaw-droppingly beautiful artwork, click here:  http://www.shulamitnear.com

Also this week, we went to the Anglican school one evening for  a wine and cheese.  This translates into "Munch and Mingle" in Utah-speak.  Yes, there really was wine and cheese, but also a beautiful arrangement of nuts, dried fruits, roasted vegetables, and lemonade.  We met several teachers and some parents, also the PTA president, who invited me to participate in a musical theater production put on by a group of parents for book week.  That would be fun...and different.

So basically, this week we have been all over the place, circling around the old city to see it from many angles and circumnavigating the city of Jerusalem to see it from many angles, then entering homes and schoolyards to partake of hospitality and opening our home to share it.  What a pleasure it is to become better acquainted with more of the amazing natives and transplants who call this place home.