judd_in_birzeit (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} judd_in_birzeit) wrote,@ 2005-07-18 15:22:00 |
|
Sunday the 17th and Monday the 18th
Yesterday I awoke bright and early for a visit to a restaurant called "Almonds" in Ramallah. Flyers advertised a wonderful English breakfast with pancakes, waffles, bacon, and more...and my stomach compelled me to visit the establishment. The night before both Ben and I had food poisoning (his was much more serious then mine -- he only left the house today) so I was looking forward to warm waffles smothered in butter and syrup.
Unfortunately, however, the restaurant was still closed when we arrived (the flyers lied) and no breakfast seemed to be in sight. I decided to grab a private taxi (because we were rather far away from the city center) in order to cross the Kalandia checkpoint and go into Jerusalem for a church service at St. George's Cathedral.
Once I reached Kalandia I paid the driver (ripped off at 20 shekels -- but a necessity nonetheless) and started walking to the metal detector way station. Before I could make it to the checkpoint, however, I was stopped by a sportscar that was driving on the road (one of the few still on the road, and about to cross through the checkpoint). The driver of this car turned out to be one of my acquaintances from Ramallah named Faysal and he told me to jump in and we'd cross the border together.
After a few paper/passport checks (Faysal was born in Jerusalem and still lives there, but also owns a chicken farm outside of Ramallah) we drove through the checkpoint and sped off to Jerusalem. It was very exhillerating ride, and Faysal gave me alot of insights about the recent development of Greater Jerusalem. I got out of the car at Faysal's house, grabbed a service bus, and then made my way to St. George's in East Jerusalem.
The cathedral was absolutely splendid, and I was very excited to be able to attend the service. St. George's is Anglican, so I was also finally able to take communion (most of the churches I have attended are Catholic and prohibit non-Catholics from taking the sacraments). The sermon was particularly good, spoken all in English by an American pastor. The rest of the service was run by two native Palestinians (but still in English) who I believe to be the head clergy of the church.
Afterwards, I was given a tour around the area by Ann, a lay member of the church who also takes arabic classes at Birzeit, and we spoke with some of the other church members over glasses of lemonade. The gardens of St. George are exquisite.
Ann gave me a small tour around east Jerusalem (until this point I had only known a few key buildings in the area) and I was able to pick up freshly baked French Bread and pastries! The tour was also highlighted by a trip to the book shop and my purchase of an Arabic Palestinian Colloquial Dialect dictionary.
I parted ways with Ann at around 1:30, and entered the Muslim quarter of the Old City for some shopping and sightseeing. I eventually made my way to the Haram Al-Sharif (Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque on top of the Jewish Temple Mount). It took me several tries to gain entrance because I didn't realize that I had to go through one of the 2 "tourist" gates and I attracted some unwanted attention from Israeli Security services.
Its difficult to describe the beauty and symmetry of the Haram Al-Sharif. Everything is very tranquil and perfectly blended so that the architechture seemlessly interweaves with the natural environment. I thoroughly enjoyed the visit, but wasn't able to stay long because it closes to visitors at 2.
As I walked back into the Muslim quarter, I recieved a call from other PAS students who were meeting at the Jerusalem Hotel for lunch, I was quite hungry and I gladly joined them and two French consulate members for some western food. Three of us parted company with the rest of the group and went back into the old city to do some exploring -- no had really explored the Armenian Quarter, so we wandered the streets and practiced our arabic with shopkeepers. Also found a not-so-secret-but-often-missed stairway to the rooftops of Jerusalem, and we spent a good hour jumping from one section of walkway to another. Again, very entertaining.
Today has been relatively quiet, although very cloudy and cold in the morning. I become very excited when its cloudy outside because it means I can practice new words in arabic when my professor asks me about the weather in class. I guess one can take joy in the simple things of life.
After I'm done writing I'm going to explore the Southern hillside of Birzeit's campus and see if there's a non-paved road route to get back to my apartment, and then I'm taking a long nap! As of now the only route I've found follows the highway and isn't very scenic.
Yesterday I awoke bright and early for a visit to a restaurant called "Almonds" in Ramallah. Flyers advertised a wonderful English breakfast with pancakes, waffles, bacon, and more...and my stomach compelled me to visit the establishment. The night before both Ben and I had food poisoning (his was much more serious then mine -- he only left the house today) so I was looking forward to warm waffles smothered in butter and syrup.
Unfortunately, however, the restaurant was still closed when we arrived (the flyers lied) and no breakfast seemed to be in sight. I decided to grab a private taxi (because we were rather far away from the city center) in order to cross the Kalandia checkpoint and go into Jerusalem for a church service at St. George's Cathedral.
Once I reached Kalandia I paid the driver (ripped off at 20 shekels -- but a necessity nonetheless) and started walking to the metal detector way station. Before I could make it to the checkpoint, however, I was stopped by a sportscar that was driving on the road (one of the few still on the road, and about to cross through the checkpoint). The driver of this car turned out to be one of my acquaintances from Ramallah named Faysal and he told me to jump in and we'd cross the border together.
After a few paper/passport checks (Faysal was born in Jerusalem and still lives there, but also owns a chicken farm outside of Ramallah) we drove through the checkpoint and sped off to Jerusalem. It was very exhillerating ride, and Faysal gave me alot of insights about the recent development of Greater Jerusalem. I got out of the car at Faysal's house, grabbed a service bus, and then made my way to St. George's in East Jerusalem.
The cathedral was absolutely splendid, and I was very excited to be able to attend the service. St. George's is Anglican, so I was also finally able to take communion (most of the churches I have attended are Catholic and prohibit non-Catholics from taking the sacraments). The sermon was particularly good, spoken all in English by an American pastor. The rest of the service was run by two native Palestinians (but still in English) who I believe to be the head clergy of the church.
Afterwards, I was given a tour around the area by Ann, a lay member of the church who also takes arabic classes at Birzeit, and we spoke with some of the other church members over glasses of lemonade. The gardens of St. George are exquisite.
Ann gave me a small tour around east Jerusalem (until this point I had only known a few key buildings in the area) and I was able to pick up freshly baked French Bread and pastries! The tour was also highlighted by a trip to the book shop and my purchase of an Arabic Palestinian Colloquial Dialect dictionary.
I parted ways with Ann at around 1:30, and entered the Muslim quarter of the Old City for some shopping and sightseeing. I eventually made my way to the Haram Al-Sharif (Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque on top of the Jewish Temple Mount). It took me several tries to gain entrance because I didn't realize that I had to go through one of the 2 "tourist" gates and I attracted some unwanted attention from Israeli Security services.
Its difficult to describe the beauty and symmetry of the Haram Al-Sharif. Everything is very tranquil and perfectly blended so that the architechture seemlessly interweaves with the natural environment. I thoroughly enjoyed the visit, but wasn't able to stay long because it closes to visitors at 2.
As I walked back into the Muslim quarter, I recieved a call from other PAS students who were meeting at the Jerusalem Hotel for lunch, I was quite hungry and I gladly joined them and two French consulate members for some western food. Three of us parted company with the rest of the group and went back into the old city to do some exploring -- no had really explored the Armenian Quarter, so we wandered the streets and practiced our arabic with shopkeepers. Also found a not-so-secret-but-often-missed stairway to the rooftops of Jerusalem, and we spent a good hour jumping from one section of walkway to another. Again, very entertaining.
Today has been relatively quiet, although very cloudy and cold in the morning. I become very excited when its cloudy outside because it means I can practice new words in arabic when my professor asks me about the weather in class. I guess one can take joy in the simple things of life.
After I'm done writing I'm going to explore the Southern hillside of Birzeit's campus and see if there's a non-paved road route to get back to my apartment, and then I'm taking a long nap! As of now the only route I've found follows the highway and isn't very scenic.
