June 13, 2007

This was an amazing and full day. Really, probably one of my favorites! We started bright and early with breakfast at 6 and leaving the Center at 6:30. First stop: Kotel Tunnel. Don't know what that is? Don't worry—I didn't either. So, basically, it's a tunnel that starts at the Western Wall, goes down underground, and follows the rest of the western wall of the temple mount. You can see the actual wall that Herod built. Our guide taught us how you could tell a Herodian stone from some other time period. He gave us all sorts of trivia and was impressed at how much we already knew. Multiple times he turned to Bro. Merrill and told him that he should be proud of how much we had learned. :) That's gotta bring warm fuzzies to your heart. At the end of the tunnel, we walked through the Old City, back to the Western Wall via the Via Delorosa. (Sorry, but how often can you use via twice in three words?)

 Once there, we went to the Ophel. What's the Ophel you ask? Another good question. This is the excavation on the south and west of the temple mount. Here you can see the rocks (probably from the temple) that had been cast off the wall. You can see the damage done when Robinson's arch collapsed. You can see the old road and where the shops that probably changed money were located. There are mikvahs for ritual bathing. Around the south you can climb up a tower to see a view of the city, then go around to the southern wall and see the arches of where the gates used to be. You can walk up the stairs that used to lead to the temple in Jesus' day. Apparently Neil Armstrong, the astronaut, came to the Holy Land once. He asked his guide, "Did Jesus walk on these stairs?" His guide answered, "Well, Jesus was a Jew. So yes, he mostly likely did walk up these stairs." Armstrong then answered and said, "I feel more excitement to walk on these stairs than I did to walk on the moon."

We left from the Ophel and a few of us joined Bro. Whitchurch at the Israeli Museum. First, let me lament. The entire archaeological section of the museum is closed for renovation. For two years!!! How!? Why?! ~sigh. I am deeply sorrowful for this fact. All in all, I still got to see the Model City, which is pretty much amazing. It's a model, built to scale, to the best of our knowledge, from 2nd temple period. Around 66 AD. The scale? 1/4" = 1 foot. (If I remember correctly.) This thing is massive! It was fun to walk around and have Bro. Whitchurch explain to us what everything was. He then showed us where the Dead Sea Scrolls were kept—The Shrine of the Book. So I got to go in and see actual Dead Sea Scrolls! (Sorry, no pictures allowed) He didn't give us enough time in there. Or maybe I'm just slow at something like that.

We got home and I went straight to work on my site journals. They were due at 8, but I had to finish by 4:30. Theresa works at the BYU Bookstore, where Jimmy, one of the Olive Wood merchants, comes every year during Education Week to sell his goods. He told her that when she came to come find him, and he'd have her over for dinner. We've been so busy that we haven't had a chance to explore past Omar's. I kind of feel bad now. But Theresa finally went over to Jimmy's the other day and he offered her and her roommates dinner. I won the luck of the draw in being her roommate, that's for sure. He picked us up at the Center at 4:30 and drove us over to his house. His 7-year old son rode in the car with us and spoke fairly decent English, though he was a little shy, especially with his dad there. (Jimmy speaks 7 languages!) They live in an apartment complex, but moved in when it was brand new and got to design and decorate their flat. Wow. His wife is an amazing decorator. I want her to come design my house! There we met his wife and 9-year old daughter who apparently speaks Arabic, Hebrew (I think), French, English, and is learning Spanish on her own. Honestly, why are we so lazy in the States and don't do things like that? I want my kids to learn other languages. I just have no idea how... Theresa told me that there are schools in Utah that teach in half Spanish, half English. That would be a good idea. Perfect way to expose my children to another language. We'll see.

Dinner was divine. She made sure to make a traditional Arabic dish for us. It is translated in English as "Upside-down." Or, at least so says Jimmy. :) I don't think it would be hard to make at all, and was very delicious. Cook and spice some chicken, fry some cauliflower and carrots. Take a large pot. Put the chicken on the bottom, put the vegetables on top. Now, cover with uncooked rice and water. Cook until the water is gone. Now, get a large platter and flip the pot upside down over it, so the rice is on bottom and the chicken on top. Stir and enjoy. For even more eating pleasure, get some plain yogurt and mix it in with your rice. Yes, I know that sounds disgusting. Personally, I hate plain yogurt. I must admit, it was good mixed with rice. They also had a salad that I think was simply lettuce, mint, and diced tomatoes. It also had some sort of dressing, like an olive oil or something. I don't know what. To drink? Mango juice. Mmm... I'm going to miss all the juices. After dinner we talked for awhile. Some of their old neighbors showed up which was really fun. Then they brought us out this chocolate cake/mousse stuff. And then a platter of fruit. (Including ripe, organic apricots that were delicious.) And then amazingly juicy watermelon. Seriously, I thought I was going to burst. It was amazing.