Shalom everyone,
now I will tell you, what I did the other day. The day after the one I described in the blog before, was not very special but beautiful too! We just went to the old city with a little plan we made and made a big sight seeing tour. We went to the markets and I bought a Menorah for me. We visited churches, Armenian synagogues and we discovered a very good and cheap Lebanese, which makes very good Falafel and Shawarma. After we enjoyed the old city, we made a guided free tour through the old city. After that I can say, that I really know the old city now. It was very interesting, because the guide, who was very good, told us much about the history of Jerusalem. For example, that their is a big hole in in the wall because of Wilhelm the second. His carriages were to big so the ruling king decided to honor him with a big hole in his wall, so he could pass the old city. Or that getting a place on the big jewish graveyard is more expensive than a apartment in the old town. That is because in the judaism is written that the messiah will come and revive the ones laying on that graveyard first. We learned much more and if you want to know more just ask me! During the tour we discovered a tattoo shop and Kathy quickly decided that she wanted to get a tattoo. So we ate and after that we went to this store and Kathy got his tattoo spontaneously (a little cross on the back of her leg). I played with the thought to get a tattoo too, but I think my mother and dad would kill me, so I did not get one. Keep calm mom and dad ❤️. After that Shabbat began and we went to the wailing wall again. It was even more impressive than the day before because of hundreds of Orthodox Jews who prayed. Their were many little groups which prayed so it was difficult to follow, but I just stood their in the middle of all, observed, enjoyed and prayed too. The jews praying at the western wall are....different then at home. So when you go to the synagogue in Mainz you listen and sing, but when you are at the western wall....their was literally a party. Everybody danced, sang, clapped and prayed. I felt like in a club, it was really funny to see!
After that we went home again and, stayed calm, played tennis and slept.
The day after we decided, that we wanted to go to the mountain of olives. After a walk of 50 minutes, because on the Shabbat the buses do not drive, we finally arrived at the bottom of the mountain. Their was a "little" tower called "Zecharia's Tomb", where we made a break and many Photos.
Half an hour later we arrived at the Gardens of Getsemani. They are little but pretty too! After we walked to the mountain we had a beautiful overview of thousands of jewish graves. As nearly everything in Jerusalem it was quiet impressive to see it! We made a break again, because walking on a hill during 35 degrees is not very easy and enjoyed the view.
We met other volunteers from Haifa and went to a little coffee shop which is organized by German volunteers. We went their because volunteers get a discount. We made a break again;) It was crazy that we could see Bethlehem from that point and we also saw the border to the West Bank. It is an weird feeling, knowing that you are just a few kilometers away from a big conflict.
Well we ate cakes, drank something and went back. On our way back we tried to get into the Church of Saint Mary Magdalena. It is an Russian church and difficult to get in, because most of time they only let orthodox people go in. Kathy and Mirjam put their headscarfs on and pretended to be orthodox Christs. The woman at the entrance asked for our nationality and we said, that we come from Germany and seemed to be okay for her, so she let us pass. It was really quiet their and you felt like you are not allowed to speak. It was not possible to get in the church, but we sat in front of it a while.
In the evening we went to a bar and we checked out the night live of Jerusalem which is not as small as expected.
On Sunday we woke up very early to take the first bus to the Dead Sea. We drove through the West Bank and during the ride I saw a lot of desert. Sometimes they had been big plantations of artificial woods. Somehow they managed to plant trees on this dry landscape. Driving through the Westbank made me feeling unwell, but nothing special happened and we arrived safely at the Dead Sea. We had a long ride because of nearly 90% of the beaches at the Sea are closed. In the last five years the Dead Sea shrank really fast, so most of the beaches had to close. Maybe in some years they won't exist any Dead Sea anymore...It was really warm and full of Russians, but we managed to get a place in the shadow. Luca and I went in the water and it was hotter than the outside. I advise you not to go into the Dead Sea, when you have blessings. It burns. Luca experienced, that it is not good to get the salty water in his eyes. Except of the burning part it was really funny to be in it. You can not really swim, just lay on your back. You do not even have to use one muscle because the salt puts you up. You can not drown. Also your skin feels like you put tons of oil on you. You feel soggy and after a few minutes you recognize, how the salt takes the water out of your body. We went out, made a few photos and took the bus home, because 3 hours at the Dead Sea are more then enough.
We got back to our hostel and I decided to make a little tour through the new city by my own. I went through a big market, some stores and after a while I discovered a piano in the middle of a big place. You know me so you know that I went their really fast and stayed for nearly 2 hours. During that time I met a lot of people and many tourist made videos of me. The first one I met was an Israeli and his girlfriend. He played some Klezmer and showed me how to improvise to it. He stayed just ten minutes and after that another couple from America arrived. The woman was really nice and asked if she could play a little bit. She played very beautiful and during the time she played, I had to talk to his boyfriend. He was...really convinced by the Christianity, which is totally okay, but he vigorously tried to convince me, that his religion is the really truly religion on earth. After a few minutes I had enough and went to his girlfriend and played together with her. After they finally left a little boy came to me. He could only speaks Hebrew, but it seemed that he wanted to play. Quickly I recognized, that he can not really play the piano, so I showed him some basic chords and notes he should play. I taught him the bass line from "Hit the road Jack" and when he started to play, I started to improvise. From time to time I made a little Jam session with a young boy, who can not play the piano. If you want videos, ask!
During playing I recognized, that I girl behind me made some videos, so I went to her and asked if she could send me all the pics and videos. Within two hours I met a lot of people and got some good contacts in Jerusalem just because I played the piano. That made me very happy and I went back to the hostel. The rest of the evening we stayed their.
The last day we went to the old city again, visited the al-Aqsa Mosque, which is really beautiful, ate again in our favorite Falafel and Shawarma store and went to the bus station to take our bus back to Haifa.
In the end I can say, that Jerusalem is a beautiful and by difference embossed city. The best City I visited in Israel so far. You meet people from all around the world, you have a lot of old history but also a lot of modern culture. I learned a lot in these days and I am looking toward the next time I visit Jerusalem.
Lehitraot,
SK
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