tripping on ecstasy in jerusalem

UPDATE

So early last week Serena, Jordan, Aliza, Jessica and I went to Bet Shemesh to check out our new digs, and might I say pretty sweet apt. We have a pull-out couch, an OVEN, a large fridge, real mattresses, a MICROWAVE, AC/heat, wi-fi, and get this a fucking maid once a month. They also gave us a couple of bikes to use. SaWEET. Besides the fact that Bet Shemesh is currently in an uproar because the ultra orthodox population has been stoning cars on shabbat, and have been rioting, the city seems beautiful and super close the Jerusalem (which I really can't get enough of). The volunteer opportunities seemed to be pretty cool. Working with kids mostly at schools and libraries. I also might be getting a Hebrew tutor....this is most necessary. Apparently when ranking our abilities I came in 1 out of 5...shocking (not). You can't win them all now can you. Oh and because food is topic of most of my conversations let me plleassee tell you about the lunch we had. My dear lord, we went to this guys house in one of the moshavim in the area, he's a junk metal sculptor and his artwork was really very interesting to look at (especially his take on events, like say 9/11 or the disengagement, a little surprising to say the least to see a giant metal replica of the twin towers mid attack, planes and all). After he gave us a small tour of their home and his work, and a description of his past (Kurdish from Iraq) we went into the main home for a traditional meal his wife prepared. Course after course of the most deliciousness. A meat pastry soup, salads, this un-fucking-real rice dish with lentils (she explained how she made it, so simple, I think she's lying), oh even the water, it had mint and sugar and lemons in it. Refreshing. Oh what about the meat, this brisket was like falling apart it was so soft and delicious, I think it might have actually found a way to melt in my mouth with out my chewing...maybe I'm remembering incorrectly, but I don't think so. I can't even keep talking about it....moving on...

so that weekend we had an educational day in -
East Jerusalem: So we started out on the tayelet over looking the old city. It happened to be some special religious day for Ethiopian Jews so there was a lot of balagan around. It was pretty cool. Our new funky educator for the day, no joke, started out by passing out incense for everyone to light, I think there might have been some sort of actual tie in. I'm not sure anyone caught it, and I did actually overhear him say that he originally wanted to hand out sacarin tablets and make us all take them like ecstasy so we would really "loose ourselves" during the day. I think it was then that I remembered this guy was fucking weird. He actually titled the educational day "tripping on ecstasy in Jerusalem", hence the blog name, nice huh. Apparently something to do with his past...I obviously couldn't figure out what that might be. Either way it was definitely the right place to start the tour, the view was amazing you could see everything. We then headed for the old city, toured around the Southern Wall steps , I think we might have meditated, who knows I was far more interested in taking in the sights myself than trying to force a hokey sense of spirituality on myself in front of 50+ other people. We watched a video, it had graphics, I think Eric might have drawn them himself. That area has been excavated to show the original road of ancient Jerusalem and highlights what the city must have looked like. Cool shit.

From there we had some free time at the Kotel to reflect, pray,and eat lunch (bagels!!) I obviously sat in the corner eating my delicious tuna bagel (on everything) and stared at all of the kitties running around (Dganit told me I'm not allowed to play with them, I'd like to say I'm a responsible enough adult to know that on my own....but something tells me the reminder didn't hurt). From our time at the Kotel we had about 8 minutes to group together to re-go through security so that we could enter the Temple Mount within the time slot allotted to visitors. Obviously the higher ups think this is a good idea. Mark gave us some more history on the area, information about Al-Aqsa mosque as compared to The Dome of the Rock (Al-Aqsa was built when a particular caliph felt that the idea of praying to the rock and not in the direction of Mecca was detrimental to Islam, sooo Al-Aqsa faces the South instead). The area is so incredibly peaceful and serene, in my opinion a much better atmosphere for prayer than the chaos of the Kotel. No one asked me my opinion though, so I guess it doesn't matter. Both mosques are beautiful, but there certainly is no denying that the Dome of the Rock is one of the most magnificent structures I've ever seen. The mosaics on the sides are unreal, and there is an overwhelming sense of somethingness there, if that makes any sense. I'm not even suggesting a higher power, maybe just a greater human connection in those moments we spent there. I wish we'd had more time there, but we did what we could, scurrying around the buildings snapping as many pictures as possible (luckily Lauren had time to switch settings, otherwise we'd be stuck with AUTOMATIC!) So being Jews and all we aren't allowed in either of the mosques, buuut Nikki's brother did manage to snap a phot of the actual rock through the window, I'm not sure I'm supposed to be looking at it, but I'll post it anyways, DUH..

From there we trekked it through the old city to the Christian Quarter to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Oh you know just the place that Jesus was crucified and buried. The Sepulchre being the actual cave he was buried in. This church is so intense, one because it's so holy all sorts of different Christian sects are all over being in charge, so that basically means there are like 40 different sanctuaries and sets of rules. I also got to go to the center of the universe, i.e. this urn in the Greek Orthodox sanctuary that is literally thought to be the center of creation or something along those lines. Because of all the dispute between the warring sects there isn't much change in the decorum of the church, so it's an interesting look. Lots of gold and silver medallions and sculpture as well as huge ornate paintings. Pretty interesting stuff.

Finally to end our intense day we continued our travels in East Jeru to the Mount of Olives. The mount is where religious Jews aspire to be buried, because with the coming of the messiah they are the first to be brought into heaven, fully intact from their graves. We concluded the day with the opposite view of the old city than that of the tayelet. This view was equally as spectacular, it was also freezing like seriously freezing, I thought I might perhaps die. I of course didn't, but they did make us walk through the cometary to get to our bus. SPOOKY.


Gala: Last night we, the girls and I living in Bet Shemesh, went to a gala event for the partnership cities (South Africa, DC and Bet Shemesh). We listened to a bunch of speeches, I had no idea what they were about, but I did have some vino so it seemed a fair trade. We listened to some local students play some classical music. I'm not sure I've ever taken the time to mention it but I absolutely love the sound of the violin, I could listen to those jamz all G.D. day. Now the kid who was playing it i could have lived without, he had this hair that I'm not sure I could explain even if this entire entry was about it. Suffice it to say that it was like a mullet that curled out at the ends. Strange. Oh did I mention it was greasy...well it was. I actually ran into my host mother while I was there. AWKWARD, she asked me why I hadn't called in months, when I tried to pass that on to her she told me she's called like a million times she just had my number wrong...whoops. I'm glad there are no pictures of the evening, otherwise you'd actually be seeing me singing along and enjoying myself, I even got up and danced with a bunch of crazy Jews. I even heard I was smiling. It must have been the wine...or maybe I'm learning to enjoy myself, no the wine, that's it. After the good times and warm chocolate cake I introduced myself to a few peoples who seemed important, got myself invited to like 30 seperate homes for shabbat, and actually made plans to see my host mother again. From there we hopped into a van and headed back off to the desert, sigh - but we'll be there soon enough.


this weekend of course is our politics and society seminar...no worries only spending shabbat in the West Bank. No big deal or anything, GREEN LINE. Before that though we do get to go to the Knesset, Israeli House of Parliment. I can wear crocs, but only if they are black or blue...duh.

http://www.masaisrael.org/Masa/English/Anne+Alexander a quick little article I wrote for the MASA seminar I've been partaking in, only if you care of course.