Trip to Jerusalem

Today we took a day trip to the ancient city of Jerusalem. I had heard about this city my entire life and was excited to finally be seeing it.

The weather was supposed to be cooler (and by cooler, I mean mid-80s) and yet another beautifully sunny day; this part of the world rarely rains in the summer. We had planned on leaving early to avoid the hottest part of the day, but as usual, we didn't get out until 11am. The initial plan was to leave Adam at home with Abe's parents, but since I didn't bring a pump, I was worried that he would be hungry and cry a lot. So we packed up the Ergo and decided to bring the bugger with us. After spraying my pasty skin down with 45 spf, we were ready to go.

We took a cab to the bus station. Now, this was a weird experience because we couldn't bring the car seat with us. There is no way to travel with a car seat, no where to keep it. So I clutched little Adam close and hoped for the best. Before we went on this trip I had researched a portable car seat I had read about in a baby book. It was something that would harness him in and could fold to be carried in a backpack. But right before leaving, I found out that they discontinued making them. I freaked out at first, but then realized that there wasn't much we could do. We use the car seat when we rent a car or have a driver and just use the seat belt around me and Adam for other times. Abe had told me that people rarely get to high speeds around here and boy was he right. I've never seen such crazy driving. No lanes, people not really slowing or stopping for pedestrians, cars jockeying for position. I've heard of this kind of driving in other cities, like Rome and Paris, but had never seen it myself. Let me tell you, I will never flip off a car and call them a crazy driver in the States anymore. They are all tame compared to this.

We took a bus to the checkpoint and stood in line to be allowed through. The Israeli government built a wall in 2002 to separate the Arabs from parts of Israel as a reaction to some terrorist attacks. The result is that it locks people into a virtual jail, having to look at a wall with barbed wire, soldiers with machine guns and watch towers instead of beautiful land side and have to go through a checkpoint to see family, work or just leave their city. Imagine having your town walled up and you having to ask permission to leave. It's unimaginable. Our bus from Ramallah couldn't just drive into Jerusalem; no Arab car is allowed in without Israeli plates. So people have to take one bus to the checkpoint, and then walk over to get onto another bus outside of the point. It makes what used to be a quick trip into an all day even.

They had us wait in line, in the heat, behind a iron gate that had a turnstile. They only allowed a few people at a time through and if you happened to be the unlucky one who was still in the turnstile when they shut it off, you had to stand stuck in it for the next couple of minutes. I was worried that I would get stuck in their with Adam. They make it as undignified and unpleasant as possible, to discourage Palestinians to come over to Israel. I even heard the guard say to a woman whose family had made it through to the other side that "Arabs can't come through"; it took 15 minutes just to figure out if the poor woman could join her family or not. Mind you, Arabs and Jews used to live together in this area and Arabs didn't need permission to enter. Not now. It made me equally sad and angry how people get treated here.

After getting though the checkpoint, we picked up another bus and headed into the city. The ancient part of the city is surrounded by its own wall. We entered through the Damascus Gate, rebuilt in 1542; the original gate was built before the time of Christ. It has two large towers on either side.

The city is sectioned into 4 quarters, Muslim, Jewish, Arab and Armenian. The streets are narrow and winding, with the building rising up right next to you. There are shops and merchants everywhere, selling everything from sweets to souvenirs. The sights, smells and sounds were exotic and so different from home.

We only visited a few places since the trip had been so tiring and it ended up being a hotter day than expected. We first stopped for more kunafa, a favorite for Abe's dad. We made a stop at the Church of Holy Sepulcher, the place where Christ was crucified and rose to heaven. It was built on the directive of Queen Helena in 300ad. It was beautiful. The amount of tourists took away from the holiness of the place. The stonework was amazing though and you could really see how old it was.

Adam did so well on the entire trip. He hung out in the Ergo and only cried when he wanted to be switched to the front. He slept for quite of time on the way back. He seemed to be very interested in what was going on around him.

I will upload pictures when I find a cord.

Until next time.