At the very center of the world

My day yesterday (Thursday) started at 7AM. In the company of others I walked to the Old City in hopes of getting on the Temple Mount. I noticed yesterday that no matter how many times I visit the Old City, I still feel a familiar calm and serenity. Before arriving to Israel I had asked others who have been here before, "What is it like in the Old City? Can you feel the tension?" The responses I received were the same and each time I was surprised to hear "It's the most peaceful place on Earth." I didn't expect this answer knowing Jerusalem's turbulent history. I expected the atmosphere to be very different indeed; I assumed it would be thick with tense energy from religions colliding, disputing over claims and rights. But it's not that way at all. Not for me. One night I was sitting with a friend in the Western Wall plaza, waiting for the sunset to usher in the end of another Shabbat. Despite the cold air that comes with the setting sun, I realized at that moment I could sit there for hours. And when I do leave, I feel refreshed.

The walk to the Old City from the Student Village only takes about 20-25 minutes. Yesterday morning the weather was beautiful, already in the 60s, so I couldn't bear to take a bus or the lightrail. I love to feel the sun here. We entered the City through the Lion Gate, one I hadn't been through yet. For the record, I've been through the Jaffa Gate, Damascus Gate, Dung Gate, Zion Gate, and stood in front of the Golden (Eastern) Gate. I still find it amusing to watch cars and trucks maneuver through these narrow streets, and at the same time I am thankful I'm not in the car. I may never complain about city driving again (yeah right).

I guess I will interject here and say a few things about the way Israelis drive. NYC cab drivers do not hold a candle to these people. I don't know if the cars here have functioning turn signals, but they do have horns, gas pedals and brakes. Sometimes the second car in line will honk the horn before the light even turns green because he/she is already tired of waiting. The bus I was riding one day accelerated downhill toward traffic at a stop light. I'm still scratching my head at the logic in that. Thankfully I was braced for the sudden stop. Another time on the way to class I heard screeching tires and looked over to see a man rearend a woman who had stopped for a bus in front of her. He hit her hard enough to rock her car, and she simply looked in her rearview mirror and waited, and he simply sat there and watched. No one jumped out of their cars to cuss out anyone, no fighting resulted. It's definitely not America where people sue at the drop of a hat. My favorite experience watching someone drive would have to be in the Christian Quarter. I came out of a church and was waiting for a van to back up, but in front of him was a man who had no interest in waiting for the van to get out of the way. So the van stops while this man squeezes by in the opposite direction towards me, and due to lack of room when he came around the corner I heard a loud CRUNCH. Yeah he hit the wall. It still makes me laugh.

Early morning in the Old City is my favorite time to walk through. Children are on their way to school, vendors are out getting setup for the day, and the bread smells goooood. And the Muslim Quarter is actually maneuverable! When we reached the area for getting to the Temple Mount, the line was lengthy. After about 15 minutes of waiting, a security guard walked up, asked how many were in our group, and took us past the line in front of us and straight to the second side of security. After a few minutes, we were on the Temple Mount.

The experience overall was very pleasant, relaxing even. We were watched by a couple of Muslim guards, but nothing to really speak of. We were up there for about an hour, and yes I prayed and even sang along with a worship song playing through my mp3 player and I'm still here to talk about it. It wasn't very crowded and the area is larger than I thought. My thought while looking at my feet on the Temple Mount (I look at my feet often here, and think "can you believe you're standing here?") was that though I am tremendously blessed and thrilled with this opportunity of being able to live in Jerusalem for a short while, I am even more blessed and thrilled with the fact that no matter where I go, He is with me.

Shalom,

Stacey