We get off the bus and begin our long walk in the heat to the Old City. By the time we get to the entrance to the City of David, I am sweat-tastic. Drinking so much water. I have never been to the City of David; through all my other trips to Israel, I have never done this tour. We begin with a movie, 3-D with glasses and all. There is just enough room for us in the theatre; we are not the only group here today. The film describes the City of David as "Where it all began" in terms of the city of Jerusalem and a lot of activity in the Middle East. Having never been here before, I am intrigued! Nir, one of the WUJS program staff, is our tour guide for the rest of day (something I am very impressed with) and he guides us through some of the ruins. He mentions archaeologists who excavate and find remains of homes, rooms, pottery, of items that help them to figure out what actually happened in these places and what kind of lives these people must have lived. "The archaeologists think that this room here [he points] was a bathroom. Do you know how they discovered this?" Mumbles arise from the group. "Did they find some sort of water source?" "No, that's not it. They found poop, human poop. Well, it wasn't exactly poop." QUOTE OF THE DAY! SERIOUSLY! NIR IS HILARIOUS! He proceeds to explain that somehow, there was human feces preserved long enough for them to figure out this room actually was for toilet use. Thanks carbon dating! After a good long chuckle we continue to a viewpoint of Silwan, an Arab town on the east side of the City of David. For years, Jews did not live anywhere in this area, and just in the last few decades, some Jewish families returned to live here, under careful security. The land here has been ruled by so many different groups of people and empires: the Babylonians, the Romans, the Ottomons, the list goes on and on. It's crazy to think about all the fighting regarding this land; so many people claim it to be theirs. If only a solution to the problem were as easy as describing it.
After we see the ruins, Nir invites us all to walk through the channel that was built to allow water to enter the city. This is clearly below ground, and he tells us there will be water through the tunnel; we need our water shoes. The water might be as high as our thighs! Time to change into my new green Keds-esque shoes (with sequins on them!) from the Ein Gedi hike last week. These are so cheap and crappy that they have just become my water shoes for all water activities until further notice. We leave all of our valuables and bags with Yonit who is not coming on the tunnel walk. Ethan (my hiking buddy) mentions that he is not psyched about the walk back after the tunnel ends; I don't see the purpose of mentioning it since it can't be that bad and it's already pretty hot. We enter the tunnel knowing it's about a 45 minute walk through the tunnel that somehow leads us back to the entrance where Yonit will be waiting. I knew it would be dark so I brought my flashlight with me. My flashlight is a headlamp because, well, I'm a camp counselor, what else would I have? Some people bought a small flashlight keychain device that lights up when a button is pushed so they can use it in the tunnels. I'm scared of the dark as many people know, so I came prepared!
We climb down some of the stairs and then..."Holy crap this water is COOOOOLD!" I feel it running right over my feet, up to my ankles for starters. I am the last one in our group, so I'm trying just to keep up. No one is running but everyone is walking through this tunnel at a fairly decent pace. In most places, it is higher than my head so I can stand up straight, but the sides of the walls are just a few inches wider than the width of my shoulders, and my arms are gently sweeping the stone. I have to crouch down in some parts to avoid hitting my head. After walking in this tunnel that just appears to be more of the same, I get a bit bored. The adventure is fun and the water is so nice and cold on this hot day; I am certainly enjoying myself, but this is quite a long tunnel of just walking. And splashing. Oh the monotony. How dare I complain when I am not the one who had to dig this out for purposes of drinking water! I do end up having some time to myself, despite the fact that I'm with this group. We were all walking in a single file line and could not walk next to each other due to the narrow tunnel walls. Alone time and solitude are things that I haven't had too much since I've been here; it wasn't all that bad being alone with just my thoughts: why I'm here in Israel and the journey I have set out to begin, how this ancient history relates to my life in modern society, what kind of life I will have after I return home from this experience. A little overwhelming...no?
The tunnel ends and we exit from the water; we follow the exit signs from the tour to return to our belongings being carefully watched by Yonit. Walking up this hill, I now understand what Ethan was talking about! This is tough. The hill is steep, the pavement is not smooth, and I am out of breath. My buns are starting to feel like steel though; there is an upside. A few more minutes and many sweatbeads later, we returned to the top of the hill! We all catch our breath, grab our belongings, and Nir concludes this part of the tour. Our next stop is the Davison Center beginning with a film. Air conditioning!!!
We arrive at the movie theatre in the park, make a quick bathroom run, and get into the theatre. Now this is something I have seen a few times on Birthright. The video describes the Temple Mount and how pilgrims from all over the world would come 3 times a year to make sacrifices at the altar. The video is a bit cheesy, and has an English dub over the Hebrew. The biggest plus is the air conditioning. For sure.
Nir takes us to the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount; this is also a part of the Old City I have been to a number of times, so I won't describe it in too much detail here (I'd rather save it for the more fun stuff!). It's more ancient ruins including the stones that fell in the temple destruction at Robinson's Arch, on the Western Wall, but not the part where people pray. The wall is actually much bigger (wider and deeper) than the Kotel, where people pray. I have been fortunate enough to see this many times; for some in our group this is a very exciting first! We finish up this part of the tour and applaud Nir in all of his efforts to keep us focused and interested on a hot sticky day. Kol hakavod! Well done Nir! Now we are free to roam.
Everyone makes their own decision as to how to spend the rest of their afternoon. It's only about 3pm and we don't really have to be anywhere until 5:30pm for an optional decorating of the sukkah (hut). I knew I wanted to be there to contribute so my afternoon and evening plans were revolving around this. I walked with Ethan, Isaac (a participant on the arts track), Rachel Good (a Jerusalem Learning participant), and Olivia (doing the internship) to the bus stop so we can get back home. We had to walk all the way back through the Old City and get out before we could event attempt to get a bus. You know, when you are just dumped somewhere and you have to figure out how to get home, it really helps you learn the roads, the alleys, the turns, the routes. It took us a while but we found the stop for bus 18 to take us back to our apartments. Our collective brain did it together.
I had a few minutes in between arriving back at the apartment and leaving to decorate the sukkah. I just brought myself and my apartment keys. No wallet, no phone, nothing else, I didn't need any of it. I walked over with Suri, one of my roommates, and met just a few others there who wanted to decorate the sukkah. We made paper chains and lanterns and hanging stars and posters; we had fun like we were in 3rd grade. Colored pencils, markers, oak tag, scissors, folding, masking tape, glue sticks. What a special treat. At about 7 I think I left to head back to the apartment with Suri, not hungry for dinner but knowing dinnertime was coming shortly. I took a shower to wipe away the filth of the day (I'm sure everyone around me was thanking me) and had no further agenda for the evening.
9pm and the apartment is hopping. We are a college dorm - doors to everyone's apartments are open, people are up and down the stairs, music is playing, conversation happening everywhere. I apartment hop all night, starting in Rachelle's kitchen, eating salad together, and the conversation just keeps going and going! What our internships are going to be, about our families, health insurance and medical concerns while we are both here, the upcoming holiday and what it will be like to celebrate Sukkot in Jerusalem. We honestly could have talked all night! Danit and Josh came in so the three of them could have a meeting for the Limud (learning) committee. They have to prepare a bit of a teaching for the holiday, so it's time for me to leave. I am on too many committees!!! Bye guys!
I wander to Olivia's room to find Nicole, Denise, Carolyn, Isaac, Amy and her boyfriend Adam. We shared funny YouTube videos, talked about parties in DC (Nicole was convinced she had met Adam, was looking through Facebook pictures to try and prove it), and celebrity doppelgangers. Denise = Jordin Sparks. HOT!
A little after 11pm, most people are headed to bed, Olivia and I share our blogs together so we can keep tabs on each other (Olivia is a great photographer, I have to steal her camera to get some pictures for MY blog so you all can be impressed). Since the common space in her apartment is in her bedroom, I leave to let her go to bed, and go to the boys apartment, number 2. It's approaching the time to usher in Seth's birthday, so I keep myself occupied with blogging (from the previous day, of course, I still haven't been able to catch up, despite having told myself each night I would, and then getting distracted by people and conversation so it doesn't happen). Josh, Nicole, and I watch another You Tube video, Josh and I have some discussion about the meaning of the holiday of Sukkot. We butt heads a little bit but come to the conclusion that we can agree to disagree, but not have any beef! Tov, good, I'm happy with that. Many more conversations to come.
Midnight rolls in with the "Yom Huledet Sameach" chorus, and Nicole's birthday gift to Seth: 3 beautifully framed photos from back home in California. He loves it, says his goodnights to all, Josh says goodnight, and I turn in for the evening!
Another day in Israel - check.
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