Out on the town...

Today was a really great day. I overslept because my alarm was set for Sunday when classes start later. My roommate left early this morning, so he was around to wake me when the alarm didn’t go off. Anyhow, I used the providential opportunity for another of my fieldtrip days. There is so much to see here and so little time left really, so I really want to be sure to see the things I want to have seen before I have to go. Today I was able to check a few off my list. Really, just a day of wandering around a city like this is indescribably fascinating. Even when you set out with a list of things to see and do, you can’t help but get distracted along the way or find yourself off discovering things that you didn’t even know existed.

Today - I made it a point to go scope out the Mount of Olives. It’s literally the next “mount” over from Mount Scopus where the University is, but it’s not exactly convenient to get to because the area between here and there is predominantly arab/muslim. Not that that’s a problem in and of itself – at least not for me – but there are those that would say it’s a safety concern to just set off in that direction on foot. So…I took a cab. Ordinarily that’s not much of a story, but this particular driver didn’t exactly speak English very well, so we had a fun time sorting out where I wanted to go and how best to get there. I picked him cause of all the many sketchy cabs around, this one was a VW Passat. And I’m not a materialist or anything, but if the price is the same, I’ll take the upgrade.

Well – we got off to a rough start. He didn’t exactly know where he was going – or so he pretended. And I was getting anxious as the cab just seemed to jet off in the direction of the Wall - the Palestinian territory wall. I made a few stark gestures toward my map and we turned around. I think he got the point. As soon as I saw a wall with the inscription “Hortus Gethsemane” – think horticulture, you’ll get it – I knew we were where I wanted to be, so I got out. So I got to see what remains of the grove of olive trees which is some 2,000 years old. Eight of the trees are verifiably as old as the time of Christ and are certain to have been among those there the night of the arrest. There is also the grotto, or cave, which is said to be the place where the disciples slept while Jesus prayed. Who knows. Nearby is also a nice tomb of sorts that the Russian, Armenian, and Greek Orthodox Churches claim was the resting place of the Virgin Mary. Enjoying the thick smell of incense, I gave it a respectful protestant nod and moved on.

I hung out for a while on the Mount of Olives among the stones which collectively make an enormous cemetery. Very ancient. I was there for noon time prayer, so the chants from the Minarets of the Al Aqsa Mosque on the temple mount across the way echoed among the stones lending a mizrakhi chill that is the Middle Eastern answer to bagpipes in November fog. I also visited the “Tomb of the Prophets” which tradition holds is the burial place of Malachi, Haggai, and Zechariah. While it’s not likely these catacombs actually hold the remains of Hebrew prophets, it was a fascinating place. It’s run by the Russian Orthodox Church and isn’t really well known nor is it on the way to anywhere. So, there’s just this long walk up a hill which leads to a drive way with a man and his flashlight. He is all to eager to show you what is just down a dozen or so unimpressive steps. It’s pitch dark except for a few small candles – the air is moist and stale. It feels like something out of Transylvania - only with a touch more Old Testament. Seriously – this place was cool. Not much is known about it except that it’s a series of underground “galleries” which branch off from what was once a rather large cistern. In all likelihood is was an early Byzantine crypt. He shut the flashlight off so I could get a feeling for how it would have felt to go down in there without more than a candle. It was surprisingly beautiful with all kinds of the mysterious shadows and dark hollows. The only thing that wasn’t so cool about it was the fact that the little place that I get coffee from always gives you a chocolate with your coffee, and I had put it uneaten into my pocket. In the heat, I managed to make what might just be the world’s first chocolate covered cellphone. I realized this when I reached my hand into my pocket while in the Tomb of the Prophets. The odd point here is, when I got the damn piece of chocolate and put it with my change into my pocket, I had a fleeting inner voice which said, “Don’t. It’ll melt.” Off I went, ignoring my inner prophet, to bury him among friends.

What else…um…lots else.

I could tell of my conversation about Chicago versus New York City with the little Arab grave digger boys, but I need to get to bed.

Only not before I confess to eating McDonalds today. And, AND, not only did I eat McDonalds, but I ate cheese on my burger! *gasp!*

I just had to. The art of eating meat with cheese here is akin to underage drinking back home. There is a certain evil satisfaction we humans derive out of doing anything that’s not allowed. Seriously, if they made laws that said you HAD to stay up late and you HAD to sleep in, we’d have entire subversive chat-room cultures of the radically healthy, wealthy, and wise. Besides – the girl at the counter knew to ask if I wanted cheese cause my Hebrew stinks of American, and that means that even if I were totally Jewish, I’d be a Reform Jew at best. So when her volume dropped to a whisper and a wink as she mentioned the cheeseburger option (not on the actual, visible menu), I was totally in! Civil liberties never tasted so good!

Soldiers with automatic weapons in McDonalds while kids race Happy Meal toys on the tile – that’s a whole ‘nuther bedtime story! But before I go, there was a cute little girl with curly blonde hair eating french fries and sucking her thumb at the same time. I had an optimistic inner-laugh at the universals of childhood!

Over.

Out. Pictures here.