JERUSALEM (II)

Shalom from Jerusalem! After being in this city for a week, I'm finally feeling like I'm beginning to wrap my mind around this place. Visiting Israel has been one of my dreams for as long as I can remember. The country, and this city especially, has one of the richest--if not THE richest (in my perspective)--histories in the world. I anticipated that visiting this country would just blow my mind! In some ways it has, but it has been so very different than what I expected. After seeing and experiencing Israel, vocalizing my naive expecations compared to reality is quite humiliating since it was so far off, but here goes:

I knew Jerusalem would have the modern ammenities of today, but I was expecting it to be a little more trapped in time, so to speak. Instead of donkeys and camels being the main mode of transportation, the cars and horns of Tel Aviv and Cairo seem to have made their way here. Aside from the Old City, which is a very small portion of the city, Jerusalem is like any other city. A punctual bus system. Shop-lined streets. Church bells & prayer calls. Window shoppers. Restaurants. Office buildings. Apartments. Schools. The oddities we did find here, were children (they are absouletly everywhere...and nearly all women aged 20 - 40 seem to have a baby in their arms or in tow). The guns (as abundant as babies are for young women, nearly all young men--whether in army fatigue or jeans and t-shirts--have a machine gun thrown over their shoulder.)

Perhaps the greatest aspect that sets this city apart from any others, is the religion. It's everywhere. With nearly 2/3 of the people being Jewish, and the rest being Christian and Muslim, it's impossible to walk 2 steps without being reminded of religions' presence here. Though it is interesting and mind-boggling at times, experiencing this has been a great reminder of the dilligence some (or many) around the world have for their beliefs. It has been a good wake-up call. The Sabbath, between Friday to Saturday evening, is taken very seriously and Jerusalem seems to go to sleep for those 24hrs; the streets, sidewalk, and markets are barren, and it's the only quiet you'll get around here (we even had a woman come outside and ask if we could help her with a plumbing problem she was having in her home on Saturday morning...if she were to fix it, she would be "working on the Sabbath". )

We visited the Western Wall on Thursday, a day when many families celebrate their boys' Bar Mitzvah...rams horns and all). To James' pleasant surprise, we even saw a Raptors' yarmulke...Dad, we were thinking of getting a custom-made Gro-Bark one for you; perfect to keep the sun off :)
Lastly, re. Jerusalem: When I thought of Mt. Zion or Mt. of Olives, I had in mind two majestic mountains. In reality, Chicopee puts both their sizes to shame...I can't compare any mountain or even hill in B.C. to either. Because the city has been destroyed and rebuilt so many times, the room of the Last Supper or King David's tomb are merely small stucco & stained glassed rooms ontop of which "they think" the two were found. I won't write what I was expecting; same goes for Bethlehem, Calvary and the tomb, on top of all are now massive, decadent churches with mosaics, organs, and lines of people waiting to stick their arm through the baseball-size hole to touch Golgatha, etc.
(This is where they say Jesus' body was taken down from the cross and prepared for burial...watching people practically worship this place made me want to shout, "He has risen!")

(As plentiful as the gyros were in Europe, here in the Middle East we feast on falafels)

But, after a week of getting over my false expectations, I suppose whatever I were to find in this city marking these places, nothing would compare to the impression these events have on my heart. And so, it was very cool to be here and see them first hand...kitsch and all.