Jerusalem Journal

I have been slacking lately on writing actual blogs, but here is another article for the Rice Standard on my short trip to Jerusalem, Oct. 4-6.

http://www.ricestandard.org/we-the-people-of-the-disunited-israeli-palestinian-territory/

And some photos to go along:

We waited over an hour on the Israeli side of the border, just for the bus to Jerusalem to fill up

Old Jerusalem at night

The  Western Wall in Old Jerusalem. It was a Jewish holiday, so there were even more people praying than usual

Ordering our deliciously, incredibly cheap dinner of falafel sandwiches

Part of the Temple Mount area, including Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Mount of Olives in the background.

Exploring the Greek Orthodox cemetery in the Christian quarter of Old Jerusalem. The other quarters are Muslim, Jewish, and Armenian - all within the old city walls.

Outside the old city walls. We were incredibly fortunate because the night we arrived, we met another young man staying/living at the same hostel. He had been living in Jerusalem for the past year, and he offered to take us on a tour of the city for free the next day. Needless to say, we took him up on the offer, and it was an amazing experience.

On the old city walls, overlooking part of the new city - we did part of the wall walk, but the other part was closed

Toward the end of the wall walk, overlooking the Mount of Olives. To the left is Vitale (our guide) and to the right is Jeremy (my CIEE classmate).

Father and sons - we saw so many families around the old city in traditional garb. There was an influx of Jews for the Sukkot holiday, as well, which is a week-long festival to commemorate when the Hebrews were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple of Jerusalem.

The olive orchard and steeple at the Russian Orthodox Convent at the top of the Mount of Olives. Vitale helped us get in since he had previously lived there for a few months.

The view from the other side of the Mount of Olives from the Russian Convent, overlooking part of the West Bank.

Jerusalem through the front window of the Dominus Flevit Roman Catholic Church on the Mt. of Olives

The famous olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane. We visited so many Biblical sites, which was amazing to put things more into context.

The crowded entrance of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the old city, which is on the spot of Jesus' crucifixion and contains his grave.

Part of New Jerusalem at night. It was eerily deserted for the most part because of the Sabbath and holiday.

A sukkah on a balcony in the new city, built for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. Jewish families are supposed to eat their meals in these structures during the week-long holiday

 These are just a small number of the pictures I took, but hopefully they give a better idea of my short, but eventful trip to Jerusalem.

I also recently returned from a five-day rural retreat that was organized by CIEE. We (the 7 students in the Arabic Language program, 2 of our professors, 1 guide, 1 cook) stayed in a camp outside of a small town called Shobak. We had a couple hours of Arabic lessons a day, but most of the rest of the time was spent doing other activities, such as hiking in the spectacular Wadi ibn Hammad, lessons in Jordanian cooking, a visit to a local school, a visit to a local family, exploring the nearby Shobak castle, to name a few. One of the best parts was the chance to get away from Amman city life, including the pollution, internet, and classes.

I was even able to get in a couple early morning runs, which was so peaceful, and we had an intense 7v7 soccer game at the school, which was definitely one of the highlights. I'll have to write more about it later, but here's one last picture of our group at Wadi ibn Hammad:

Taxi Time: Rice Standard Article

Here is a recently published article I wrote for the Rice Standard on my past month in Jordan. I used - or perhaps I should say, tried to use - actual experiences in taxis to discuss the broader meaning of studying abroad:

http://www.ricestandard.org/taxi-time/

And here are a couple photos that aren't really related to the article, but are interesting nonetheless:

A wedding taxi :) The decorated car that the groom drove from his family's house to the bride's house to take her to the wedding hall. I attended this wedding with my host family on October 1, and the groom was a cousin.

Driving in the car caravan from the groom's house to the bride's house. When we arrived, the women went upstairs to sing and dance in the bride's family's apartment, and the men stayed downstairs and drank coffee to wait for the bride to come down. Then we caravaned again to the wedding hall.

The bride and groom preparing to enter the wedding hall. The guests stood along the entrance and sang and clapped with music. The bride was from a more conservative Muslim family and has covered her hair and face. The wedding took place in two gender-separated rooms, so we saw the bride in the women's hall.

Waiting for the bride and groom to enter the women's hall. The groom spent a little time in this hall, where he and his bride danced for a couple songs, and then cut the cake. Then he went to the men's hall, until the end of the wedding when he came in again to take photos, and other male relatives were allowed to come in to congratulate the couple and give them money, as is tradition.

Another cousin in front of a giant, cheesy photo of a bride and groom that was on the wall near the entrance (see picture above). In general I avoided taking too many pictures of the actual wedding itself to respect the privacy of the other women.