Selfie time with Fray Oscar!

On my 3rd day in Israel Fray Oscar took me to Jerusalem. We got a ride from Salem so it was easy to get there, we passed the checkpoint no problem and they didn’t ask for us to stop.

I was very excited about the day and discovering a little bit about Jerusalem. 

We got dropped off somewhere around the Jerusalem wall and we walked along it. I was shocked to see the amount of military men and women on the streets carrying huge machine guns, such a scary sight and it really makes you fell unease at the sight of them. 

We kept walking and we couldn’t see any more military, thank Goodness. We walked up towards the  Kidron Valley and went up so so many stairs and until we finally reached the top and arrived at a place where they have the “Our father” prayer in pretty much all languages.

We then walked to a beautiful viewpoint where we could see the whole old city of Jerusalem. It was so beautiful!  

From this "close up" one can see the sealed Eastern Gate, believed to open only when the Messiah comes back.

From there we saw hundreds of tombs and Fray Oscar explained that those are for the Jewish people and I was able to see a Jewish man pray by the tomb. As Christians we are used to binging flowers (and some cultures food) to the dead but Jews pray and set stones on top of the tomb.

The next stop was one of my favorite spots of the day, the place where Jesus cried. While we were there overlooking the old city of Jerusalem I read the passage of Luke 19:41 that tells the story of when Jesus stopped at the sight of Jerusalem and wept because he knew what would happen to it.

After reading the passage and taking in the view we went into the little chapel that was just lovely! It had the most perfect location with a big window with the whole city of Jerusalem behind the altar.

We walked down the street and entered an olive grove. There I read John 18, the story of when Jesus got arrested in the very same garden I was standing on. The church next to the olive grove, the Church of nations, was built on top of the rock on which it is believed that Jesus prayed in agony the night before he was crucified.  Inside the church there are 3 beautiful mosaic works showing the kiss of Judah, Christ in agony, and the arrest. 

We then moved on to the Church of the Sepulcre of Saint Mary, believed to be the burial place of Mary. This church is Orthodox and very different from a catholic. As we entered we had to go down many stairs and into the very dark cave like bottom where images of the Virgin Mary are all over. 

By then it was almost lunch time so we walked back to the Old City of Jerusalem and entered by the Lion’s gate. We walked the many alleys in the old town, passing by little shops, restaurants, and the many many tour groups.

As we walked Fray Oscar showed the some of the stops for the “viacrucis” in Via Dolorosa and we entered our last church for the day and then headed to the monastery in the old town to have some lunch.

We headed back to Qubeibeh on a bus. We first took a bus from Jerusalem to Ramallah, the capital of Palestine, and then transferred to a local bus to Qubeibeh. On our last leg Fray Oscar and I were the last two people to get in the bus so I had to go all the way to the back and sit in between a mom and their 3 children. The boys were adorable and for the 30 minute ride the two little ones gobbled down FOUR lollipops each! I couldn’t believe my eyes! I felt bad for the mom who was going to have to deal with the sugar rush after the bus ride. I very much enjoyed my ride trying to communicate with the mom and the cute kids smilling at me. For more than half of the way I held one of the boys’ lollipop tray because they were going all over the floor. I couldn’t help but take pictures with them.

3 lollies... some kids would think he is lucky!

On saturday we went back to Jerusalem and because it was Shabbat most of the shops were closed and the streets were empty which, in my opinion, was great to roam around the city peacefully without busses and trams.

We thankfully got a ride to the old city from Salem who was going to a meeting at New gate, otherwise with the busses and having to go through half of Palestine  to get to Jerusalem the 30 minute car ride becomes a 2 hour+ bus journey.

The man who doesn't have much still gives to those that have less.

Our first stop was the church of the Holy Sepulcher (el santo sepulcro), one of the most holy places in the Holy land! It was in there where, per the bible,  Jesus  was crucified and where Jesus resurected.

As I entered the place there was a rock where Jesus was "embalsamado" (anointed) before his burial.

The place was so crowded it was hard to move so I quickly decided to get out and came back another day to go on the line to see where Jesus was buried.

We kept walking and Fray Oscar took me to another beautiful Cathedral of Jerusalem that had ZERO people in it! In a way one has to know their way around Jerusalem to find and it was so beautiful with the light blue roof and all the paintings around. The stained glass work just took my breath away!

From the Christian quarter we then walked to the Armenian quarter in search of a painting that Luke made for Mary but unfortunately that day we didn't find the right alley and the door. Another day we went back and we found it but the lady working there told us she was busy so we couldn't see it :(

In the Armenian quarter Fray Oscar knocked on a door and we got into another beautiful Franciscan church and had some tea and home made cookies by sor Lourdes.

Tea with sor Lourdes!

King David!

After our bellies full of cookies, oranges, and tea we headed out and visited the cenacle, where the last supper happened! Fray Oscar said the place is good for meditation but with so many noisy tourists that's the last thing one can do!

We then visited King David's tomb, which by the way is under the Jews and was guarded by a very mean Jewish lady barking at all the tourists so I quickly got out of there.

Our last stop in the Armenian Quarter was the Basilica de la Dormicion where they believe the Virgin Mary died.

As we walked out of the Armenian quarter the 12o'clock bells started ringing so Fray Oscar and myself started praying the Angelus as we walked the streets of Jerusalem (insert heart Emoji! haha)

From there we walked out of old Jerusalem and enjoyed the quiet and empty streets of Shabbat!

I went back to Jerusalem on my own many times and walked around the Jewish quarter, enjoying the sight of the Jewish men in their traditional attire, I loved looking at their curls and hats, and wondered "Don't they know they look ridiculous?" (I'm sorry, I am being mean, but they look kind of funny!)

As I walked I noticed that the families are huge, I saw families with like 5-6 children! and Israel is so freaking expensive... How do they do it?!?! 

The cool thing was to see how many of the dads are pushing strollers and taking care of the kids.

I counted 6 kids!

My favorite sight in the Jewish quarter was hands down the Western Wall! The wall is the holiest place to pray for the Jews, they believe that the Divine presence never departed. It was fascinating to see them pray there! Most people were tourists (or at least it felt like it) but when a "real Jew" came to pray it was quite a sight! I have no idea how Jewish praying works but the one guy I observed for like 15 minutes he kept praying, moving side to side, kissing the rock, I had no idea what was going on but it was kind of cool!

The Western wall from the view point!

God... say whaaat?

Another funny hat!

The girls's side

Even though is very annoying walking through the bazars in Jerusalem because everybody wants you to buy stuff at crazy expensive prices I enjoyed getting lost on all the little alleys and looking at all the little trinkets they sell there!

Twice I went to the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem and it was quite fun to shop like the locals! 

A falafel... costs the same than at the Farmer's market back home!

Traditional Bread

Now off to explore more of Israel!