First Day in Jerusalem

I am safe and sound, if not a little bit sleepy ;)! I saw all of Jerusalem yesterday... running... but I saw it. We visited the stations of the cross along with throngs of Christians from all over the world... little old men and women who had been waiting their whole lives to touch the spot Jesus did when he fell for the first time. Personally, I didn't get a whole lot out of it spirtitually, but I've NEVER seen the variety of people in one place, as yesterday.

The flight from London to TLV was a nightmare. A baby was screaming the ENTIRE flight and I was doubting all of my decisions- wresting with He that sharpens your skills and your nerves- all night. I had the row to myself, and the night was dark and endless. However, I prayed that I would meet a nice boy to take me to Jerusalem - and, at the end of the flight Ari- a 25 year old from Los Angeles with a yamaka who was exactly like Hunter S. Thomson from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, befriended me, offered to take me to Jerusalem and proceeded to explain his Zionist perspective from 4:30 to 7 a.m., when we arrived at the Sabeel convent by shuttle. As he had lived in Israel for some time, we argued over the actions of Israelis toward Palestinians, the wall, the killings, whether every Palestinian needs to die or not... as we watched the sun come up over what Israel has become in the past 40 years.

Bringing a Jew into the walls of a Palestinian convent was certainly a surprise for the nuns, however Ari and I had a blast exploring the grounds and sneaking ironic pictures of him standing on the cathedral steps. Getting directions from the nun, I then took him to our hostel, The Knight's Palace, which is actually a castle converted from the crusades in the heart of the old city.


As I approached, the Christians standing in front of the hostel started calling my name- Elizabeth! Elizabeth! When I introduced Ari to the Palestinian head of the hostel, Jamal, both eyed each other up and down- and I got A LOT of hard looks for bringing a Jewish boy with me. There is clearly so much I do not understand. However, they shook hands and said they wished they could be meeting under different circumstances, perhaps in a peaceful future. Afterward, Ari confessed to me that he could see that Palestinians were people too- "everyone is just a person"- and we both admitted that we had accomplished quite a bit before 9 a.m.

The food here has been amazing by the way- I'm eating breakfast as I frantically try to type this out. In the midst of our tour yesterday we were taken to a fantastic and glam restaurant, the hostel serves us breakfast and dinner in huge proportions- everything from eggs to tomatoes, pita and french toast, ham slices and olives.