Day 2: The Old City

Day 2 was incredible to say the least. It began at 5:00 AM when I could no longer sleep...that pretty much went for everyone in my room. Our bodies are still not adjusted to this new schedule. We all woke up at 1 AM...thinking it was time to get ready. Little did we know...we still had 7 more hours before class, and none of us were tired. Thankfully, I was able to fall back asleep.

Although it is amazing to be on the roof, the one disadvantage is walking down four flights of stairs, and walking across the courtyard to get to the bathroom. I guess it makes for good exercise! The bathrooms here are pretty nice, really. At 5:30..when I got out of bed...all the showers were taken. I guess nobody could sleep!

In my freetime before breakfast, I journaled on the balcony and looked out into modern Jerusalem as the sun rised from the east. It was beautiful to see the city lit up. Verity and I enjoyed taking some pictures of the view : ).

Breakfast was delicious...I especially enjoyed the fresh strawberries. Finally, class began at 8:00. It was more or less an introduction and orientation. We went over all the rules, guidelines, itinerary, etc., and had a tour of the campus. Dr. Paul Wright is the head director here at JUC, and he spoke with us. However, my leader/tour guide is Aubrey, and her husband Vernon is joining us. At about 9:30, we dove into classwork. We got a huge packet of information, along with a few other things, including a GIANT map of Israel. For the next 2 and 1/2 hours, Aubrey was throwing out information left and right. It was kind of overwhelming, but that's what I expected. Everyone felt the same way, but we will be reviewing a lot and I am sure it will become easier as the days go on.

After lunch, we began the most amazing part of the day. Let me first mention that the weather is absolutely gorgeous - 60s and sunny. Dr. Wright said that this is one of the most beautiful winters in Jerusalem that he has ever experienced. I couldn't be more thankful! From 1:00-6:00, we toured the Old City of Jersualem. There were so many things that we saw...hopefully I will remember them all! It started with sitting outside the Old City Wall. It was so amazing to be sitting among the land while being taught by Aubrey. We learned about...

• the different layers of rock symbolizing different empires that were in control
• Herod's enormous palace
  
• the development of Jerusalem throughout the ages
• ....and more

Next, we went to the location where it is believed that the Last Supper occured, along with the first church/meeting place of the disciples, and the first Jerusalem council. The architecture was pretty gothic looking, but absolutely gorgeous. I could definitely picture that Last Supper there, and it immediately brought the Bible to life.

We were able to walk up on top of this building and look out towards eastern Jerusalem. It was beautiful!! We had a great view of the Mt. of Olives. We also saw the Dormition Abbey, which is supposedly the place where Mary passed away. It was also neat to see the geographical features of Jerusalem come into place as well. I will spare you the geographical names. However, by better understanding these features of Jerusalem, I better understand the lifestyle of the people and how certain places were located in certain areas, etc.

From the Upper Room, we walked a bit and enterd into the Old City of Jerusalem. I was eagerly awaiting this! The Old City was so historic...and amazing. As we were walking through the streets, it was so neat to observe the daily life of the people. It seemed pretty relaxing. Kids were running and playing games, adults were sitting and having conversation....looked pretty great to me! All the walls and streets were made of relatively old stone, and it gave the city quite the character.

We walked down to this one area that showed the impact that the Romans had. We were able to see 12 foot pillars that they put in place to designate the road. Some of the original stone that was used to make this road (Cardo Street) was also in place.

From here, we went to this overview where once again we were looking over the city towards the east. Here, we had an amazing view of the Wailing Wall. It was incredible to see hundreds of people praying with their heads up against the wall. The men were separated from the women, and the women also had a lot less space on the wall as the men. Evidently, this shows how the men are more respected. We were also able to see the Dome of the Rock, where Solomon's temple used to be. Sometime soon, we will have a chance to go inside.

Continuing....we went on top of this roof and learned about the four quarters in the Old City: the Jewish quarter, Christian quarter, Muslim quarter, and Armanian quarter. It was interesting to observe the different characteristics in each quarter. The Christian quarter had a lot of church steeples.

Last on our schedule for the day was going to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Here, many believe is the location of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Outside of the church was a courtyard. It reminded me exactly of the place where Jesus was flogged as portrayed by "The Passion of the Christ" which immediately gave me the chills. Although this isn't the place exactly, it still felt very real to me. We were able to see the tomb of Jesus, along with the place he was crucified (Golgotha). Part of the church dug down deep into the bedrock, showing the geographical features of Golgotha itself. It was crazy to think that I was standing on the ground of where Jesus was supposedly crucified and buried. The church was suprisingly packed today...we soon learned that it was Christmas Eve for the Orthodox church. There were lots of different cermonies going on...it was crazy!

Let's see....after leaving the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, we walked through some crazy markets. I can't wait to shop : ). We met a really nice man who knows our leaders. Outside his shop, he had the school flags of many Christian universities in the States....including....Taylor , Wheaton, North Park, Moody Bible Institute, Grace College....the list goes on! That was awesome. He served us some orange juice and grape juice, and here we were also able to exchange our money (one of the few places that JUC really trusts with money exchanges). It is about 3.8 shekels for 1 dollar.

There you have the jist of it...that was our day! About 10 hours of learning (which will be happening every day). I am exhausted, and definitely sore, but I'm loving every moment of it! I'm trying to write everything down in my journal which is taking way too long...I've probably spent an hour and 1/2 already, and still have a lot to do. I know it will be worth it in the long run!

Tomorrow, we will be continuing our adventure in Jerusalem. I know for one thing that we will be walking in Hezekiah's tunnel...more details to come!!

Thanks again for your prayers! Talk to you soon : )