Yesterday was a great day. We ate breakfast (same as always > pitas, hardboiled eggs, and tea) and headed out right away for the Mount of Olives. We took the scenic route and saw some different neighborhoods of Jerusalem (more on that later) and arrived on the top of the Mount of Olives next to the supposed place where Jesus was standing when He ascended to Heaven. And it's "legit". It's inside of this mosque-turned-chapel and there's a box around it.
Then we walked down to the Garden of Gethsemane, stopping to take some panoramic shots of Jerusalem. The view is amazing up there! The Garden is pretty cool. You can't actually walk in it, but there is a walkway around the olive trees and flowers. Next to the Garden is a huge church, with no natural light so as to make it seem like night time, which is supposed to make it feel like the long night where Jesus prayed in the Garden before His betrayal. There is a little window in the floor to a rock where Jesus was supposed to have been sitting while He prayed.
After spending some time there, we drove to the Herodian which is a historic archaelogical site up on the mountain where Herod the Great built his fortress. That was my favourite part of the day actually. We walked up to the top of the mountain (all mountains here are really just hills...like we are talking barely higher than Sugar Loaf Mountain) and the view up there was incredible. You can see why Herod built his fortress there, as you can see for miles in every direction. It was kind of hazy, but we could make out the Dead Sea and the mountains of Jordan in the distance. Great views of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Beit Sahour, etc. The ruins themselves are pretty neat. Kind of reminded me of the Coliseum in some ways (maybe just because it's round). The ground is crazy white and reflects everything.
We were finished our tour for the day by about 2 o'clock so we stopped and got some Shawerma, which is kind of like a tortilla wrap with chicken (or beef) and veggies inside. The wraps are more the consistency of Indian bread though, not real tortillas. Mmmm!!
The rest of our day was our own, so a bunch of us walked down to the square and wandered through the market. Eventually a few of us found ourselves at a coffee/hookah restaurant and hung out there for a little while. Came back, had another delish dinner and then visited a mosque to watch the evening prayers, which was very interesting. We (the women) had to wear a scarf over our heads and they gave Nikki a floor-length skirt to wear as hers was only mid-calf. We talked with the Immam of the mosque and although he seems like a very wise and kind man, who clearly has such a huge heart for peace and harmony for all people, it made me sad to realize that these people are missing the best part - the grace of Jesus Christ. I'll probably blog more about that later once I have some more time to process all of that.
Then Nikki, Kate and I had some girl talk, which was lovely (we are kind of the minority around all these men, so it was awesome to just hang out with the ladies).
Now it's Sunday morning and we are about to head out to church together. Today is a free day so we are planning some shopping in the market to get some fruit and I need some sandals!
Sorry for the lack of updates...I literally have about six posts brewing :)
Love you all!
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