We spent time the past few days exploring the Old City of Jerusalem. What an overwhelming sensory experience! We entered through the Damascus Gate into the Arab Quarter and were immediately surrounded by shopkeepers and marketplaces on all sides, selling everything imaginable: spices, nuts, plastic kids toys, high end jeans, traditional costumes, jewelry, fruit, purses, trinkets. Above is a picture from the roof of the Austrian Hospice in the Arab Quarter, one of the best views of the Old City you can get.
Next, we ventured into the Jewish Quarter. We saw the Western Wall, see below, the Ruined Synagogue, Herod's steps, excavation of the wall Hezekiah built in around 1000 BC, and learned the history of the construction of the temple. While you see much more intermixing in the other quarters of the city, the Jewish Quarter is the most homogeneous. The presence of the Orthodox community is most striking here.
We then were split into 3 groups for a scavenger hunt around East Jerusalem. We had to find a place to eat lunch, exchange money, find a bookstore, visit the American Colony Hotel, buy stamps, find the price of fruit along with other activities to help us get oriented, including finding our own way back on the bus to our apartments. My group decided to add to the adventure by convincing the guy in our group to get a traditional Palestinian haircut at a barber we found! He was a good sport, and we made friends with the barber, who finished his cut with glitter hairspray, win. Our bus ride back was a little more exciting than usual, for we had Israeli soldiers board and check everyone's identification papers. While nothing happened to us, since being an American gets you a free pass anywhere, it was a unique glimpse into the daily lives of many Arabs living around Jerusalem. It's been an eye opening experience already, and we've barely begun!
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