On the morning of April 24th, we woke up to the sunrise sounds of bells chiming, cameras flashing, and tourists whispering. It was Easter Sunday, and we were curled up with a stray cat on a hostel‘s roof overlooking the Citadel‘s panorama. We attended 6:30am Resurrection Services at the non-denominational Garden Tomb, just outside the Damascus Gate, where some Christians believe Christ was buried for three days then rose again. As we sang with the international crowd, I felt weepy-eyed, moved by the familiar hymns like “Crown Him With Many Crowns” and “Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble.” The Easter Address had to do with Doubting Thomas and Pastor Dorman Followwill’s beliefs about his character being a mopey, unmoveable man. I doubted it. Thomas served alongside Christ for three years like a dedicated zealot. I felt like he was entitled to a little disappointment when Christ was crucified. It probably felt like everything they had worked toward was for nothing. His comrade, Judas, had committed suicide. The 12 disciples had disbanded. Most of us would want a little evidence that we hadn’t been scammed. For Christ to return and encourage Thomas to touch his hands was probably what any of us would need at such a low time. But I digress with my own subjective version of the account of John 20.
We navigated the packed streets of the Old City searching for breakfast. I found (and I’m totally self-diagnosing here which is typical for us hypochondriacs, admittedly, another self-diagnosis) that I have a mild form of claustrophobia. Inside the walled city, the streets were narrow with cobblestone staircases and small ramps for carts to plow through the middle of the crowds. There were many random jarring noises (carts wheeling past, venders opening their metal gates, tourists chattering in various tongues). I felt overwhelmed by the elbow to elbow walking traffic (there are no cars in the Old City). Further, I felt visually over-stimulated by all of the colorful shops, plus I was hungry. Anyway, I had that nervous feeling of “I don’t like this; I gotta get outta here!” I put on Mark’s ipod to drown out the excess noise and followed Mark toward what we hoped would be breakfast. Everything seemed closed, but we finally found a little café and sat in peace as we ate falafel shawarma (which is delicious- it’s essentially deep fat fried balls of chickpeas and spices placed in a pita with pickled veggies). I’m of the belief that everything tastes even better with sauce, so I ask for mine with chili sauce and tahini dip.
From there, we armed ourselves with a map and set out to see the historical sites. Among them, we saw:
1. The Wailing Wall (or Western Wall on the edge of the Temple Mount where the Muslim Dome of the Rock now sits). It’s the last remaining wall of King Solomon’s temple which was replaced by the Holy of Holies of Herod’s Temple. At the Dung Gate, the entrance/exit to the site, we witnessed a baby’s parents being arrested… they refused to have their bags searched because they had hashish inside, but the cops treated it like a bomb and sent in 12-15 cops to tackle them. Because the site is considered holy to several religions, it’s an intense place to be, security wise.
2. The church of the Holy Sepulchre (ie: Golgatha, the Hill of Calvary). Although the Franciscan monks may boast about the underground maze of gold paintings and ornate hanging lights, this place was fascinating to me because of the high quality people-watching. This site is special because it’s believed to be the place where Christ was crucified and prepared for burial. It’s particularly popular among Eastern Christians who come with their relics and souvenir t-shirts to rub them over the anointing stone. Other rituals include kneeling under a table and running hands over “Holy-Spirit lit” candles. As an outsider to the rituals, it looked a lot like a pagan festival filled with superstition.
3) 3. Via De La Rosa, the path of Christ as He carried the cross. We placed our hands on the wall where he rested and Simon helped him. In all of my pictures I smile, but this one I didn’t feel like it was appropriate, so I tried to appear solemn. Then I took one of Mark. He had a big smile on his face. I was like, “maybe it would be more appropriate not to smile.” He was like “Yeah, what was I thinking.” And followed it with an over-dramatic grimace which made me laugh. We’re maybe not the best tourists when it comes to following all of the social cues.
4. Pilot’s Palace where Christ was condemned.
4. Pilot’s Palace where Christ was condemned.
6) David’s Tomb, near the room of the Last Supper (which appeared surprisingly updated)
7) Mt. of Olives (where Jesus taught the disciples)
8) Garden of Gethsemane (where Jesus prayed)
9) Dome of the Rock Mosque. It took us 7 tries to get in. Each time it was closed for prayers, closed to visitors, closed from this gate, yada yada yada. Finally, we were able to enter… and then found out we couldn’t go inside the mosque itself, so we did that online.
I may have forgotten a few places due to all of the excessive walking (and this from a gal who LOVES to walk). One thing that was interesting about the Old Town is that it’s divided up into 4 quarters: Christian, Muslim, Armenian, and Jewish. We heard a lot of statements like, “Jerusalem is totally safe, just watch out for the _______ people.” Each sector doesn’t necessarily trust the other which makes for an interesting dynamic. Still, you can buy silver menorahs, wooden crosses, and plaques of Dome of the Rock Mosque all in one shop, and they’ll accept payment in dollars, euros, or sheckels.
No comments:
Post a Comment