القدس

Hello everyone! I want to apologize for my lack of blogging these past two weeks. I ran out of internet about a week ago and purchased another gigabyte today -- I should be all set for the duration of my stay. While I have been without internet, my life has been filled with incredible memories and experiences since my previous blog post. 

Two weekends ago, eight of my friends in CIEE and I traveled to Jerusalem ( القدس pronounced Al- Quds). It was sort of a last minute decision for me to go, and in hindsight, I cannot believe that I even debated not going. Due to this spontaneous decision, I spent very little time researching about Jerusalem prior to our departure, but I think that this made my time there even more memorable. Without expectations, I was fascinated by everything.

First, I would like to recount our border crossing from Jordan to Israel. The distance between Amman and Jerusalem is only 45 miles, yet it took us at least five hours to complete our crossing. We took a van to a bus station close to the border, and then a twenty minute bus ride to the border terminal. That part was easy. The actual border terminal was pretty chaotic. The beginning went pretty smoothly....they checked out passports, screened our luggage, and asked us each a few personal questions (i.e. Why are you traveling to Jerusalem? Why are you in Jordan? Where are you staying in Jerusalem?...standard questions for the most part). Then, it got a bit tricky. We were standing in line under the "Other Nationalities" section to get our passport stamped, when suddenly an Israeli border official told us that we were being relocated to another part of the terminal. We stood in line for about 2 hours with virtually no one getting through. One women kept yelling at us to sit down and come to the passport window one by one; as you can imagine, this was thoroughly ineffective, as no one could "remember" his or her place in line. In addition, there were times when it seemed like absolutely no one was working. The good news is that we managed to not get our passports stamped; we filled out a slip of paper and they stamped that instead. This is good because some countries in the Middle East will not let you enter if you have been to Israel (i.e. Syria), and thus my future travels would require me to get a whole new passport. In addition, one of our friends named Waleed is of Pakistani descent and Muslim, and so he was detained in a special interrogation room, separated from us the entire time. He had to answer to four different officials asking the same questions with long waiting periods in between each interrogation. While the border crossing was long and a little disheartening, it made me appreciate being able to travel so freely in my own country. It also provided my with firsthand experience regarding the degree of seriousness of Israeli security. While I was initially angry that Waleed was detained, I realized that was looking at the situation from an American standpoint; I soon began to understand that profiling people seemed like a necessary measure to ensure domestic security for a country wrought with political tension.

We took a van from the border terminal to Jerusalem, lasting only about an hour. Once we arrived in Jerusalem, our memories of the tedious border crossing seemed trivial and so worth the wait. The Old City of Jerusalem is so full of life. It is completely walled, and within these walls are a serious of cobbled streets bursting at the seams with tiny shops lined side by side and people from all over the world. The roofs of the shops extend over the street, so it feels as if the entire city is covered. It is a giant marketplace interlaced with the most significant religious sites in the world.

During our first afternoon and night in Jerusalem, we spent most of our time just getting our bearings and exploring the streets of the city.  Today, the Old City is divided into four quarters -- the Muslim quarter, the Jewish quarter, the Christian quarter, and the Armenian quarter. While traversing through the corridors of the Old City, we would encounter Arabs, Hasidic Jews, and Greek Orthodox Christians within minutes of one another. No other city on Earth is like Jerusalem.

My favorite site in the entire city of Jerusalem is the Western Wall or Wailing Wall, located in the Jewish quarter. This wall has been a place for Jewish prayer for centuries, as it is the only remains left of the Holy Temple. The wall is divided into a men's and women's section (much smaller). All prayer is silent. Like millions of people before me, I wrote a prayer on a small piece of paper and stuck it within the crevices of the wall. It was very emotional for me. I kept thinking about how fortunate I am and how much I love the people in my life. Surrounded by so many people all placing their hopes and prayers into the wall, I felt a sense of unity with everyone around me.

Women's side of the Wailing Wall

While we were unable to visit the Dome of the Rock in the Muslim quarter (only open to Muslims on Fridays and closed Saturdays), we were able to visit the Church of the Holy Selpuchre. Located in the Christian quarter, this church was built by Constantine as the site where Jesus was buried and resurrected. The inside of the Church was absolutely magnificent, with beautiful mosaics covering the walls and high ceilings. Like the Wailing Wall, this site was thronged with people praying and showing their devotion to their religion. 

Inside the Church of the Holy Selpuchre

View from the Mount of Olives -- Dome of the Rock in the background

In conclusion, Jerusalem was unforgettable and pleasantly overwhelming. Inshaallah, I will return in the future. Also....