Finally, I spent all day today exploring Jerusalem. I mean, really exploring the city. I have heard from friends who went abroad that they spent so much time traveling outside of their host cities that they never really get a chance to get to know their area. I don’t want to go home and say, “Oh… um, I didn’t really get around much… I don’t really know how far away Ben Yehuda is from the Jaffa Gate, one of the gates to the Old City.” Or “Oh yeah, that’s definitely the Arts and Crafts Lane” and then have my visitors go there on their own and then find out that it’s not really where it is on their maps. (The answers to both: 1) It’s about 5-7 minutes walk from Ben Yehuda/Jaffa St intersection all the way south to the Jaffa Gate, which takes you in the Armenian Quarter, and 2) It’s not an actual street, you have to go across the park to the other street and walk north). I used my map very well in this area that it’s literally falling apart now! I need to get one of those waterproof ones that Mom and I had for Madrid.

I started off by riding the bus with Nora and her roommate, Laura. They invited me to come over for Shabbat since I said that I didn’t really have anywhere to go (Zev’s friends all had good excuses for not being able to meet up). I offered to bring some chocolate covered strawberries for dessert (Dinner would be meat). I nervously followed them to the shuk because it’s Friday and Shira told me that it’s a madhouse. Well, Agrippas was definitely crazy but inside the shuk wasn’t as packed as I fear. Israelis still pushed their way through. We bought lots of vegetables for the stir-fry and vegetable soup. Challaot were abound and people just take them off the bakery carts and put them in bags. After seeing such amazing quality of the produce on a Friday, I decided that once I get back and start classes, I will shop through this madness for great food instead of early in the week.

We ran into a girl who is Laura’s best friend. She’s one of those stories that my parents fear- studied abroad for a year, met an Israeli boy, graduated college, married him, and then make aliyah last July. She isn’t going to serve in the army because she aged out and her marriage status also affected her eligibility. She was really nice and so we talked a lot while Laura and Nora shopped for some household goods. We discussed how common English is in Jerusalem versus Tel Aviv. I guess I didn’t do a good job of researching cities with various levels of spoken English- she said that Jerusalem has the most English speaking people than any other cities. I thought Tel Aviv would win because of one of my professor’s comments that Tel Aviv is much more like New York City- fast and never stops. Oh well, I’m still glad that I didn’t go to Tel Aviv because I didn’t like it as much and there’s quite a bit to do in Jerusalem anyway. Also, despite having lots of English here, Jerusalem is much more real and cultural.

After we finished food shopping, I ditched the group since they wanted to go back and I didn’t. I wanted to have a sabbiyah, a fluffy pita sandwich filled with eggplant, hard boiled eggs, some humus, mint, little bit of onions, some Israeli salad, and yogurt. It’s all cheap for only 15 shekels ($3.75). So in an Israeli fashion, I eat my sandwich on the street as I walked towards the Great Synagogue on King George V. Israelis simply eat their sandwiches in a paper bag and stand there- there’s basically no sitting down service like McDonalds. It’s bit of an art to be able to eat these big stuffed pitas without spilling anything all over myself. The sabbiyah is really good- I think I might actually prefer it over a schwarma.

The Great Synagogue was amazing. For some reason, I felt like I could be really proud of this place. It is huge and beautiful with a dome on the top. As I finished my sabbiyah, I read the inscriptions on the building. Certain portions of the synagogue had donations in memorial of some of the Holocaust victims. In large, the synagogue was a memorial to the Holocaust victims as the large inscription read: “This house of prayer for the Jews of the World is dedicated by Sir Isaac and Lady Wolfson to the memory of all those who died so that we, the Jewish people may live. To the six million Jewish victims of the European Holocaust and all those Jewish men and women who sacrificed their lives and in defence of the State of Israel.” There are a lot of memorials in Israel for the Holocaust and State of Israel’s War of Independence- Jews don’t forget their tragedies. Six million. Six million. I feel that Israel likes to make the world feel guilty that if they had stopped Hitler from taking over Europe and killing all the Jews, those six million could have made it to Israel. Anyway, I went inside to see what it was like. Since it wasn’t really open for anything, it was mostly dark. I couldn’t find any signs that would lead to the shul but I did some wandering around to see if I could find that big room. No such luck- only found a small one and a Torah reading room. I found a sign about services at the synagogue and I hope that I will get a chance to join in sometimes during the semester as I’d like to experience “religion” in there. They have a talk by a former US Ambassador to Israel for tomorrow night. The topic was nothing new- Israel in Conflict. I’ve already heard this kind of talk several times when I was interning in DC.

Then I made my way down King George to Kikar Plumer (a square). I walked past Dan Panorama, where my parents will be staying for Passover. It’ll be quite a walk to Kiyrat Wolfson for them but not so bad for to downtown Jerusalem though it’ll be uphill. Then I made a turn up to King David St where the famed YMCA and King David Hotel were. I almost did not realize that beautiful complex on my left was the YMCA. It was nothing like I saw in the U.S. where they tend to house in old 1970’s architecture buildings. Here, the YMCA’s architecture was beautifully blended with Islamic, Byzantine, and Art Deco styles. The Empire State Building’s architecture firm actually designed this to reflect the cooperation of different communities under one roof. Straight in front of me was the tower which I tried to get climb up but the reception desk said that minimum of two people was necessary for the tour. Ugh, oh well, I can always come back. I saw the repilica of the London Room from when the YMCA was founded in 1844 in the lobby. Remembering my experiences in Spain about the importance of looking up to the ceilings, so I did. The ceilings immediately reminded me of the cathedral in Cordoba- different styles and beautiful colors of fresco.

Then I went across the street to King David Hotel (bottom picture). Shira told me that it has one of the grandest lobbies that she had ever seen. Personally, I thought it was quite grand only for Israel, not for the U.S. It was kind of dark- no beautiful chandeliers to light up the area. It did have a luxurious library style sitting area in the back of the lobby with leather chairs and dark wood furniture. The hotel had two wings so I walked up and down. Mostly they contained jewelry displays from various jewelers around Jerusalem A business, H. Stern, housed in one of the wings. I followed down to check out the lower level services including the beauty parlor and fitness center (pretty well air conditioned!!). Before exiting the hotel, I saw a poster listing some of the world’s top hotels. For Israel, the most prestigious ones were King David and Tel Aviv Dan. I searched Washington DC and NYC- Waldorf Astoria didn’t make it! I tried to find out who make up the list- no such name.

Once outside, since the weather was still undecided between cloudy, light shower, and sun, I kept going. I followed one of the streets down to find the Hutzot Hayotzer Arts and Crafts Lane. It took me down to Yemin Moshe, one of Jerusalem’s little enclaves. It looked like I would need time to fully explore it and it was a little after 2 PM. Public buses stop running about 2 hours before Shabbat starts so for today, they should stop running by 3 and I was nowhere near my bus stops. Time to start looking for them.

I made a shortcut through a small park to get on Hativat Yerushalayim, a road that would eventually turn into Jaffa. I walked next to the walls of the Old City. I felt really spiritual when I saw the old walls looming over me. As I walked up, the signs for the Arts and Crafts Lane appeared. I took a peek into the lane and realized that it wasn’t really a street but just a market area for shops. Obviously they were closed for Shabbat. I made a note in my guidebook about its location. As I continued, I noticed a little domed tower and wondered if that was either the Christian Quarter or the Muslim Quarter but figured it was Christian since there were a lot of signs relating to Christianity. I entered, what I didn’t realize then, through the Jaffa Gate by following the signs for the Tower of David. Immediately, I could tell just by looking at numerous CHANGE shops and signs for tourist information that this was not exactly a good place to be in terms of my wallet’s safety. I hugged my purse closely as I walked along the cobblestone streets to the Tower of David (figuring why not get a quick look). It was closed so I turned around and tried a street, thinking it would take me out towards Jaffa. Then I noticed signs for Armenian goods and taverns. Holy cow, I had walked into the Old City’s Armenian Quarter by accident and this would most definitely not take me where I needed to go. I really wished that I had more time to see more of the Armenian Quarter but I turned around quickly and walked towards where I had entered. Noticing a lot of men and not so many women, I sensed that I needed to get out of their way and I shouldn’t be on these streets at this time when Shabbat was coming to close and all the women were at home preparing for Shabbat, including me.

Back on Hativat Yerushalayim, I consulted my map to make sure I was heading in the right direction. I wasn’t so sure because I had that parts of Jerusalem wasn’t exactly pedestrian friendly and I had no idea of this busy road (sort of like an expressway going under a tunnel towards Mount Scopus). Actually, it is but there’s a road that breaks off that follows along with the Old City’s walls which is Jaffa. There weren’t signs indicating the change in the name or even for the Jaffa Gate itself. I was surprised. Anyway, I quickly found out pleasantly that the Old City is not seriously far away from the busy area of Jaffa St that most people congregate- only about 5 minutes walk! Basically, where I usually get off the 4 bus, it is only 5-10 minutes walk to the Old City. Things are not truly that far from each other in Jerusalem as the map likes to believe its users. Cool. I can visit the Old City a lot easily then.

I caught the bus just fine and made it home without it dumping me in middle of some random street in Jerusalem where I’d have to figure out my way home.

I really am learning a lot about how Jerusalem works in terms of finding places. If you can’t find it on your first try, it will just come to you naturally- whether it is only a few minutes or days later. A lot of times these places are tucked away from public view. The signs aren’t clear or obvious. For example, the other day, I was looking for this bakery called Samboosak which sold stuffed breads. Well, it was further up Jaffa from where I was looking for it, not as close to the intersection as my guide said. Since I was walking from the opposite direction, I saw it. The place looked fabulous and I made a note of its location in my book. Patience is the key here. I hope to find many of the places before I leave Jerusalem in June, especially before my family comes next month so we can go straight to it instead of wandering around looking for them.

Tonight, I went over to Nora and Laura’s place for Shabbat. Moti was there and so was their roommate, Michelle. It was a very nice evening especially after Moti blew out the electricity and we used candles. We tried to fix the fuse box to reset the electricity but it didn’t work so we ended up lighting a bunch of candles to light up the table. It has been so long since I’ve eaten by candlelight like this and it was a nice change from the harsh normal fluorescent lights. Nora served vegetable soup with homemade matzoh balls, baked chicken, stir fry vegetables, beets, and pasta (I skipped that so I could eat more challah!). Moti did all the prayers, being the guy, and he did them really nicely. After dinner, we tried the fuse box again and called up the maintenance (24/7 on call) to come and to help us. While we waited, we chilled out on the couches and talked for a while. After the guy came to fix the electricity, Nora served dessert with my chocolate covered strawberries (everyone was very pleasantly surprised- it’s still a novelty!), chocolate croissants, and some kind of strudel. We talked for quite a while and then the neighbor, Ryan, came over to hang out.

I still can’t get over how much I love Shabbat in Israel. I love how people just share a good meal and quality conversations that last for several hours. No more being alone on Friday nights because people want to party and to drink instead. Shabbat is meant to bring people together to celebrate just for the sake of being together. I really can’t wait for Grandma and Zev to come so I can invite my friends over for Shabbat so they can meet them even if it’s really probably just one time.

On Sunday, the class is taking a field trip to Mister Zol's, our local supermarket, to do some food shopping for our little party! It won't be fun and games as the instructors are going to give us a worksheet to do-a scavenger hunt.