Day 3 - Tour of the Old City of David

Did you know the city of Jerusalem used to be outside the current city walls?   We walked down into some cool excavation to see, walk on, and sit on places from thousands of years ago.  The steps we sat on were the steps leading to a pool during the second temple period (Christ's time).

Day 2 - Church of the Holy Sepulchre

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre houses the places where Christ was crucified and buried.

Personally I'm pretty convinced the real place is the Garden Tomb (see Day 1), because of a variety of evidence, and also because of how I felt both times I visited there.  This Church is pretty "bling bling" commercialized for tons of tourists, but I still felt touched that so many people from so many religions all came to this place to worship and honor Jesus Christ. 

I was especially touched when people knelt down to touch the stone where Christ's body was said to be laid upon to be prepared for the burial.  They reverently put their hand to the stone and their face shown a full heart focused on the Savior. 

Day 2 - Temple Mount & Dome of the Rock

The Temple Mount is a very sacred spot for all three religions here - Jew, Muslim, and Christian. 

Inside the Dome of the Rock, a Muslim mosque, is a large rock where people believe Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac, where Muhummad left the earth on his journey to heaven, and is the site of the Holy of Holies in the ancient temple.

It was built in the late 7th century.  The porcelain tiles have exquisite detail.  It's still hard for me to wrap my brain around something that old still being around, especially looking so good still. 

Even though it's a Muslim place of worshiping their version of God, and we weren't allowed in, I am touched that these dedicated people love God enough to worship Him in their own way.

Day 2 - Vendors in Jerusalem's Old City

We entered Damascas Gate of the Old City, which Amy said is the most impressive gate.  It's also just a 5 minute bus ride from their home, next to the Garden Tomb. 

Just before we entered the gate, we passed this bakery vendor, selling their version of huge soft pretzels, covered in sesame seeds.  These are sold all over the place.

I had no idea that virtually all we saw on the roads (stone walkways) inside the Old City was vendor after vendor. 

A sweets shop.

This was funny.  The young man is letting his cart roll down the ramps while riding one foot on the "break" which was a flat tire.  Saw it several different times.  Creative. Resourceful.  No room for motor vehicles, so you gotta do what you gotta do.

A Palestinian girley Smith n' Edwards.  You want it, we got it.  Sunglasses, jewelry, decorative tiles, purses, flip flops.

This truck drove right past me within what seemed like inches.  I looked up and saw a man sitting on top of this overgrown load.  You could say I felt a bit nervous.

The Arab women wear beautiful dark colored long dresses with long sleeves, usually with beautiful scarves covering their faces while in public.  They believe in dressing this modestly to help men avoid having tempting thoughts about women.

A cute moment.  This elderly Arab woman was carrying two heavy grocery bags and trying to get up several steps with a cane.  My mom sprang to the rescue, saying a few phrases in English like, "I help you," and  "Heavy!"  The cute woman took my mom's face in her hands and kissed her cheek in gratitude.  They didn't speak each others' language but as Mom said, "A kiss is universal."

I thought my kids would get a kick out of this.  Doesn't it make you hungry for Rodizio Grill Adam?

More meat for sale.  How about some fish Adam and Malia?

This is SO COOL!  By far the most beautiful smelling vendor in the whole place. All these bins are full of freshly dried herbs and spices.  I could have stooped over smelling them for hours.  Some of them reminded me of Middle Eastern recipes I've tried that most Americans have never tasted spices like these.  Look at the photo below of the bins behind the cashier.  Amazing.

Many greens are purchased this way.  Grape leaves are very popular.  We're trying to figure out how they eat them.

We could call this one the Pickle Booth.  Every food here is pickled.  The pink food close to the front is pickled cauliflower, dyed pink by the beets.

The man making my fresh squeezed orange juice.  A treat!

The nice Arab man who let me "help" make a t-shirt souvenir, for a good photo op.

Day 2 - Grocery Shopping in Jerusalem is an Adventure!

After hours of passing hundreds of tiny markets in crowded sidewalks and alleyways, walking into a smallish grocery store felt like a Super Wal-Mart.  "Mr. Zol's" aka "Mr. Cheap" is the grocery store within walking distance from Amy's Hebrew University campus housing.

Joni and I were trying to figure out products and prices.  I don't read Hebrew, and she's only in Hebrew kindergarten. Prices are high here, so every shekel counts.

We bought three bags of Israeli cookies (they seemed to be on sale three bags for
13 shekels) but they didn't taste how cookies taste in the states.  Amy said their friends came up with an acronym to describe how things taste here compared to what we Americans are used to:  "NQR," meaning, "not quite right."

Amy has to bag her own groceries.  She likes this Israeli cashier who is nice to her.  Some of them aren't. 

A stroller is INVALUABLE when you have two children and no car.  The first several months of living here Amy walked to the grocery store virtually every morning.  Now that she has a friend who moved here and bought a van, they go shopping together every Monday, and a Thursday evening walk to Mr. Zol's holds them over through the weekend.  Notice how many bags Amy has hooked to the stroller handle.

Jerusalem has many hills and steps.  Thank goodness there is an elevator to take us into the campus housing area so we didn't have to carry that full stroller down all those steps.

48 Hours of Dresses for Joni

Grandma Bee (Joni's namesake) brought Joni several new dresses from the USA. Joni was VERY excited! So excited that she has worn all of them in the first 48 hours since we arrived. She LOVES the little doll and purse Malia made, and the purple frilly dress up skirt from Grace!  She misses her cousins!

Joni likes to help her dad Tom get a workout!