"Shabbat shalom! *clap* Shabbat shalom! *clap* Shabbat, shabbat, shabbat, shabbat shaloooom!"
Sorry about the random beginning. I just thought I'd share with you the lyrics to the song that's been running in my head all day. It doesn't help that people keep randomly singing it in the cafeteria, either. Kind of a repetitive song, isn't it? :P
So, they finally decided to let us into the Old City yesterday! They've put on a couple extra restrictions, mainly that we have to be in groups of five instead of three, but I really don't care--I'm just glad that we're finally free! Yesterday, my group and I decided that it would probably be best to save the shopping for another day because we knew the lines at the money changer would be so long, so we explored the Church of the Holy Sepulchre instead. That place is really cool, though the scent of the incense becomes a bit overwhelming after awhile. Right in the building's entrance is a rock that Christ's body was supposedly laid out on after his burial, so we took pictures of us kneeling down and touching it. I highly doubt it was the actual rock, especially since Brother Huff (one of our religion professors) told us that the original stone was actually replaced 500 years ago. That's probably not common knowledge to most Christians, though, because a lot of people were praying over it and rubbing their precious belongings against it, believing that it had been touched by Christ. In the end, maybe it doesn't matter--it was still very touching to see their faith.
We ended up spending a couple hours there, which is maybe a little much for that place, especially if you place any value at all on good, clean, incense-free air. :P We did meet our professor there, though, and he made things much more interesting. For instance, there was one room that we had wandered around taking pictures of crosses inscribed on the wall, and only when our teacher brought us back to it did we find out that the room was the cistern where Constantine's mother supposedly found the cross, and that all of the crosses inscribed on the wall were left by crusaders and pilgrims. Honestly, though, my favorite part was taking pictures of the candles. :P I don't know why, but I have at least 15 pictures of candles--from the top, from the bottom, to the side, close up... Don't worry, I'm not alone in my strangeness. Everybody else was taking pictures of the candles, too, and we all know what a great excuse that is. ;)
Today I finally got to go out and actually shop, and it was probably the better day to do it, because it was pouring outside yesterday! We stopped by the money changer Aladdin (who is, by the way, hilarious, and he totally called me a "Molly Mormon." That's when you know he's been spending too much time around BYU students :P), and then we headed into the Old City. They told us that most of the merchants know us, and they weren't kidding! In almost every store we went to the merchants told us they had "special deals" for the Mormons, and there was even a merchant who sang to us everytime we passed! "Mormons, we love you coming to Jerusalem...", basically to the tune of "Oh Come All Ye Faithful." It was awesome.
My favorite store by far, though, is the 5 shekel earring store. Well, that's not what it's called, but for reasons that are probably obvious, that's what I call it. Basically, he sells earrings for less than two American dollars. Oh yeah, and his scarves? 10 shekels each--less than three dollars. I managed to only buy two of those today, and one set of earrings, but I doubt I'll ever be able to escape from his store without paying at least 15 shekels. Luckily, we don't go shopping every day, because my money supply could definitely deplete over time from doing that, even though it's so cheap!
There's so much more I could write, but this post is already too long, so I'll stop myself here :P Feel free to comment if you have a question. Jackie, it was great to hear from you--I always think of you whenever I see any sort of exotic food around here. Well, for now, "Shalom, y'all!" (No, seriously, I saw a wooden sign for sale that actually said that. It was great :)
Sorry about the random beginning. I just thought I'd share with you the lyrics to the song that's been running in my head all day. It doesn't help that people keep randomly singing it in the cafeteria, either. Kind of a repetitive song, isn't it? :P
So, they finally decided to let us into the Old City yesterday! They've put on a couple extra restrictions, mainly that we have to be in groups of five instead of three, but I really don't care--I'm just glad that we're finally free! Yesterday, my group and I decided that it would probably be best to save the shopping for another day because we knew the lines at the money changer would be so long, so we explored the Church of the Holy Sepulchre instead. That place is really cool, though the scent of the incense becomes a bit overwhelming after awhile. Right in the building's entrance is a rock that Christ's body was supposedly laid out on after his burial, so we took pictures of us kneeling down and touching it. I highly doubt it was the actual rock, especially since Brother Huff (one of our religion professors) told us that the original stone was actually replaced 500 years ago. That's probably not common knowledge to most Christians, though, because a lot of people were praying over it and rubbing their precious belongings against it, believing that it had been touched by Christ. In the end, maybe it doesn't matter--it was still very touching to see their faith.
We ended up spending a couple hours there, which is maybe a little much for that place, especially if you place any value at all on good, clean, incense-free air. :P We did meet our professor there, though, and he made things much more interesting. For instance, there was one room that we had wandered around taking pictures of crosses inscribed on the wall, and only when our teacher brought us back to it did we find out that the room was the cistern where Constantine's mother supposedly found the cross, and that all of the crosses inscribed on the wall were left by crusaders and pilgrims. Honestly, though, my favorite part was taking pictures of the candles. :P I don't know why, but I have at least 15 pictures of candles--from the top, from the bottom, to the side, close up... Don't worry, I'm not alone in my strangeness. Everybody else was taking pictures of the candles, too, and we all know what a great excuse that is. ;)
Today I finally got to go out and actually shop, and it was probably the better day to do it, because it was pouring outside yesterday! We stopped by the money changer Aladdin (who is, by the way, hilarious, and he totally called me a "Molly Mormon." That's when you know he's been spending too much time around BYU students :P), and then we headed into the Old City. They told us that most of the merchants know us, and they weren't kidding! In almost every store we went to the merchants told us they had "special deals" for the Mormons, and there was even a merchant who sang to us everytime we passed! "Mormons, we love you coming to Jerusalem...", basically to the tune of "Oh Come All Ye Faithful." It was awesome.My favorite store by far, though, is the 5 shekel earring store. Well, that's not what it's called, but for reasons that are probably obvious, that's what I call it. Basically, he sells earrings for less than two American dollars. Oh yeah, and his scarves? 10 shekels each--less than three dollars. I managed to only buy two of those today, and one set of earrings, but I doubt I'll ever be able to escape from his store without paying at least 15 shekels. Luckily, we don't go shopping every day, because my money supply could definitely deplete over time from doing that, even though it's so cheap!
There's so much more I could write, but this post is already too long, so I'll stop myself here :P Feel free to comment if you have a question. Jackie, it was great to hear from you--I always think of you whenever I see any sort of exotic food around here. Well, for now, "Shalom, y'all!" (No, seriously, I saw a wooden sign for sale that actually said that. It was great :)
3 comments:
Stephanie,
I think I seriously want to send you money to buy me that wooden sign that says "Shalom y'all." I'll put it in our family room. That just made me laugh. I may also have to send you money for some earrings!
Be safe and have fun. I'm sure you're having an amazing experience.
I don't mind the long posts, I think reading about your experience is super cool! I'm really jealous! Compared to my blog, your posts aren't that long. Maybe I should make mine shorter...
I know some people here in TX who would love to have a sign that said, "Shalom y'all" - just like all of the "Merry Christmas y'all" signs we saw at Christmas:) Keep writing - it's great to hear what you're doing!
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