Day 4

Morning Bus Tour

We started our tour bus ride with Eldad from Ir Amim, a non-profit organization that advances the Jewish Israeli agenda by trying to help Palestinians. Unfortunately, this was supposed to be a geopolitical tour of Jerusalem and parts of Israel. This didn't really work because it was crazy foggy, not good for a scenic overlook tour of the city. When we did finally get into an area where it is good to see others, this can be very good.

Later on, we went to an overlook from which we could see the Dome of the Rock, King Herod's mountain grave, and El Azaria (the area where Jesus went to raise Lazarus from the dead). It was quite the impressive view, but it still wasn't very clear. He also took us through Palestinian towns where Israelis aren't able to go freely due to the conflict. The difference between Israeli areas and Palestinian areas is huge. While Israeli towns have nice houses and sidewalks and good city services, Palestinian towns are very dilapidated, not taken care of, and generally unsafe. The reason for this is that Palestinian's are considered "permanent residents" rather than "citizens" of Israel, and their towns are severely neglected by the municipalities.

After the tour with Eldad from Ir Amim, we went to lunch at the Burger Bar. At Burger Bar, I just got a classic burger with lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup, and pesto. It was delicious, and I loved it. The one problem with Burger Bar was that before I left to get back on the bus, I wanted to use the bathroom. The actual problem, though, was that the bathroom didn't have a light. Another girl on the trip guarded the door for me so I could go to the bathroom with the door cracked open. Awkward.

Old City

On our way to the Old City, we briefly saw from a distance Gethsemane, Mount Olives, and the Dome of the Rock. We also passed Herod's Gate into the city, but we went in Lion's Gate into the Muslim quarters. As we were walking through the Muslim quarters, we passed the place where they claim Mary was born.

The same place is also thought to be where the pools of Bethesda were.

We went in through this entry because it leads right to the start of the stations of the cross along Via Dolorosa. We walked the stations, which was neat, but most of them were just marked with a plaque and/or an image of some sort. We ended the stations in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The church was huge and beautiful. We saw (according to current belief, at least) where Jesus' cross was, the rock his body was prepared on, and the tomb where he was buried. The rock in the glass in the picture is part of the rock Jesus' cross was. Under the altar, you could reach into a hole they claim is the exact place the cross was positioned.

I lit a prayer candle for my family, and kept going with the group. We looked all around the church, and saw the tent-like structure covering the opening to the tomb of Jesus, and got to go into another tomb that was similar. We also saw lots of chapels including two Ethiopian chapels and a larger Armenian chapel, all of which are contained within the Holy Sepulchre.

After leaving the church, we walked through the little streets and alleys again, and we came across these lovely fellows. Nothing makes me feel safe like an 18 year old with an M-16.

ICCI

When we got back to the hotel, we got to decompress for a bit before we had a group of speakers come to talk to us. They were from an organization called ICCI, which stands for the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel. The people who came were the director of the organization and four students who had participated in ICCI's programs. After talking to us about their experiences in the groups (ranging from participant to facilitator, from programs with middle school age students to programs will college-aged students, traveling all over the world) they came to join us at dinner. I enjoyed this informal conversation much more, and got to talk with a girl named Tal who had gone with an ICCI program to Japan.

Oddballs

After that dinner, we decided we were sick of the hotel food and ordered Dominoes. Yes, I ordered Dominoes in Israel. Don't judge. :]