6/2 - 6/10
Our first night in Jerusalem we spent in the Muslim quarter of the old city in a really grotty room in a really grotty hostel. Watching the owner painfully shuffling up the steps to show us the room was... painful. We had a beautiful view through wire mesh though.
Went to Lina's for humus, it wasn't as good as I remembered.
Yair, our first couchsurfing host in Jerusalem, was really friendly and cooked us a turkey neck stew one night that was a first for us. Like Assaf and Hadar he insisted we take his bed while he slept on the couch. Our second host, Guy, lived with a few other students and by sheer coincidence in the house across the alley. We moved from number 11 to number 12! Our third host, Gaal, lived in a tower block with a view of the Knesset. He really loved Japan. Even though Jerusalem is such a major tourist destination it was quite easy to find people willing to host us.
So many things we saw and did in Jerusalem, but it's all about religion. Religious buildings, religious history and of course crazy religious people. We heard a lot about orthodox Jews from secular Israelis: The ultra-orthodox don't work or do military service but do receive tax money to support their huge families. They are poor and have to live simply as the government dole is often their only source of income, but they are viewed as parasites by many of the tax-paying populace. It's the orthodox influence that shuts down public transport and blocks certain roads on Saturdays, and their constant struggle to expand their domain and restrict Sabbath activities causes a lot of friction with other communities. One day as we walked back from our trip to the Muslim markets we saw a mob of furry-hatted black-clad thugs blocking an intersection, chanting 'shobbos' in a menacing baritone and lobbing water bombs at taxis and cars until they were forced to make a U-turn and escape. While aware that the situation was ugly and we were guilty of both handling money and using electronics on their holy day I couldn't resist taking a few pictures of the scene while they were distracted by an incoming taxi. There were about triple the number of people off to the left of this photo.
The mix of religions and cultures, all colliding and yet very definitely segregated, makes Jerusalem a uniquely fascinating place. One example that springs to mind is when we set off on a Saturday morning to buy some vegetables, and our hosts said 'wait, the market is closed, it's the Sabbath, you can't buy anything there', to which we replied 'oh, don't worry, we prefer the Muslim markets near Damascus gate, they're much cheaper', at which point they did a double-take. They had never, ever been to the cheaper, nicer market a kilometre down the road because the Jews shop in the Jewish districts and the Muslims in the Muslim district... probably with good reason. More on the actual sights we saw next post.
Lots of busy Christians around too, and nowhere more so than in the church of the holy sepulchre. A never-ending mass of people bowing to touch the slab where Christ's body was supposedly washed, and queuing to enter the sepulchre itself.
Went to Lina's for humus, it wasn't as good as I remembered.
Yair, our first couchsurfing host in Jerusalem, was really friendly and cooked us a turkey neck stew one night that was a first for us. Like Assaf and Hadar he insisted we take his bed while he slept on the couch. Our second host, Guy, lived with a few other students and by sheer coincidence in the house across the alley. We moved from number 11 to number 12! Our third host, Gaal, lived in a tower block with a view of the Knesset. He really loved Japan. Even though Jerusalem is such a major tourist destination it was quite easy to find people willing to host us.
Turkey neck soup at Yair's.
A blogging moment at Guy's.
Falafel with Gaal.
The mix of religions and cultures, all colliding and yet very definitely segregated, makes Jerusalem a uniquely fascinating place. One example that springs to mind is when we set off on a Saturday morning to buy some vegetables, and our hosts said 'wait, the market is closed, it's the Sabbath, you can't buy anything there', to which we replied 'oh, don't worry, we prefer the Muslim markets near Damascus gate, they're much cheaper', at which point they did a double-take. They had never, ever been to the cheaper, nicer market a kilometre down the road because the Jews shop in the Jewish districts and the Muslims in the Muslim district... probably with good reason. More on the actual sights we saw next post.
This sign is so wrong, and yet obviously necessary.
Lots of busy Christians around too, and nowhere more so than in the church of the holy sepulchre. A never-ending mass of people bowing to touch the slab where Christ's body was supposedly washed, and queuing to enter the sepulchre itself.
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1 comment:
Great that u saw Jerusalem through other eyes then the regular tourist, and u enjoyed the real city vibe!
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