Orientation Walk

Sunday was awesome because it was our first time actually going into the old city!! It was absolutely AMAZING!! I know I am totally the naive American girl who has never been anywhere in her life and I am pretty sure it is obvious by my reaction to everything!! When we left we split up into small groups of about 12. We walked down into the Kidron valley and right back up. That is really the only way that you can get into the city. The Jerusalem center is situated on the Mt. of Olives so in order to get in and out of the city we have to go up hill both ways hahahaha J So, we walked for about 4 hours. We went all around the city. They showed us where to change our money and what shops are really good! We finally got to walk through the old city and it was totally sensory overload. There were things everywhere! It is shop after shop after shop shoved into small alley ways! There were people everywhere!

We went in through Damascus Gate which was pretty awesome! We then walked through and went to the Austrian Hospice. We went to the roof of the hospice and looked out over the old city. It was really neat to see it from the top. It was interesting to see because it is so compact that no matter where you look there are houses and buildings and churches. It really was beautiful in its own way. From where we were, you could see many groups of people going on their pilgrimage. In the old city there is a path that you can take that takes you on the walk that Jesus took into the city after he was captured. There are 14 points along the path that have churches that commemorate something that happened.  For example there is a stop that commemorates where Simon leans down to help Christ carry the cross. So this walk eventually leads to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where many religions believe is the site. We only got to glance in but it was beautiful. I was really neat because right when you walk in, you see a stone which represents where the anointing of Christ’s body would have been done. On that spot there were many different people that would kneel down and pray over the stone it was really cool. We didn't get to spend much time in there but I definitely wanted to go back.

 After that we walked to Jafa gate which lets out into West Jerusalem. The division between East and West Jerusalem is mainly the religions. There is no official division but there just seems to be a division in the city. When we got into West Jerusalem it was incredibly modern. It was a lot cleaner and there was a mall!! We went to one of the main streets and kind of got to explore for a while. We saw a McDonald's and went in because we wanted to see the prices and it actually didn't seem too horribly priced. After that some people stayed out but My Roommate Sarah and I decided to go back so that we could study for a huge test we had coming up (which was a very very good idea on our part!)

It was really neat for my first time out actually exploring the city every though It was more like a tour. It is definitely a culture shock being here but it is an experience that I wouldn't change for anything!! I am sooo incredibly grateful for this opportunity and I am going to enjoy every single moment of it!