Anti-Coins

Something about coins makes you feel like things are cheap. Some guy asked if I wanted a slice of bread, I said yes, I paid him 10 shekels for it. After walking away I realized that I paid more then I should have for an entire loaf of bread. He bested me, but I’m still standing.

History

I went to the Augusta Victoria church, one of the thee big towers in Jerusalem. I also went to Elias Monastery where we looked into Bethlehem. After that we went to Nabi Samwil, (they thought that was the place that Samuel was buried; they were wrong). My favorite place is when we looked over the city of Gibeon. This was where Samuel stopped the sun to prolong the day so he could keep fighting and protect the people of the Lord. I went to the Garden tomb. It has a sacred feel to it, the best part wasn’t the place but the people who gathered from all over the world singing and praising the risen Lord. My personal highlight was when I celebrated the Jewish new year with the Jews at the western wall. So many people, some humbly praying, others partying, all in different attire. I danced with them, tried to sing with them, (I was in my Jewish Kippa) and I prayed at the Western Wall. I loved the western wall it’s a special place.

School

The title in itself makes me sick in side. I’m doing pretty well. Arabic is a killer, wow let me tell you, I’ve never been closer to God then in Arabic the whole time I pray that the teacher won’t call on me. I imagine the teacher is very smart, he looked at me and asked if I had any siblings go to school here, I told him Shane did and he immediately replied, Oh Sadie I love her and I tried so hard to get her to marry someone else, oh Shane what a bad student! He told me to tell them both high (I think he really liked Shane). All know Shane and Sadie most have been excited to hear about their lives. The director of the center has periodically said things pertaining to them. I enjoy their legacy.

The other day I stayed awake in a 2 hour Islamic class and right near the end I started to drifted off (I was on the front row). My eyes closed for two seconds when suddenly the teacher was asking me to read the text to the class. While I was reading I was doing my best to wake up and slow my heart down, meanwhile the teacher started laughing at me and so the other 80 students felt like they could join in. One kid from the back said under his breath that I sounded “so American”. I guess that’s not a good thing. Anyway I had to stop three times to let the teacher ketch his breath. I’m not the biggest fan of him already.

Conclusion

All in all the weeks been pretty well, nothing is broken and I’m still alive. Jerusalem is a pretty amazing place; I can’t believe I’m really here. I can’t believe how dirty it is and I can’t believe how touchy everyone is. Anyway I best get on my way, I need to start my prayers early tonight because I have Arabic tomorrow.