Because everyone love to see other people's travel photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2107953&l=91b7f&id=1013451

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2107955&l=bd7af&id=1013451

final moments

Well, for those of you who have somehow managed to keep up with my lack of posting the end of this semester, you are in for a treat.  A final treat, as I leave on Thursday.  I present, the chronicles of my trip to Jerusalem as excerpted from my journal (the one that got me into some trouble):

day one:

-turned away from border b/c border closed for holiday.  spent day in friends' house pretending to be in jerusalem.

day two:

-buy your stamp for the paper to leave jordan.  then, the old woman left her passport at the window (inside building), but she was on the bus to cross the bridge anyhow.  delay ensues.

-get to otherside after passing through the no man's land of landmines.  wait for 1st checkpoint.  arrive, passports scanned (5th time of the day).  see someone bribe the checker.

-inside, get visas (on separate sheet of paper).  victoria delayed for hour because of palestinian roots.

- get photographed & have digital fingerprints taken of both hands.  passports checked.

-in line to have passport checked for unclear reason.  i am singled out.  escorted to back room.  luggage & personal effects searched.  this book (i.e. my journal) found – arabic inside creates commotion – asked to wait.

-interviewed by angry man.  first question: "is this your second passport?"  proceeds to ask why i was in russia, how well i speak russian, why i'm going to israel, why i'm in amman, what i study, what religion in religious studies do i study (early christianity), why i'm studying arabic, why did i say i'm studying anthropology and religious studies but not arabic, how many years have i studied arabic, where did i study arabic, where in the us am i from, what do my parents do, who pays for college, do my parents work at home, what hospitals, national jewish!, am i jewish, do my parents know i'm studying arabic, what do they think about me studying arabic, am i still in college, how can i study in amman for three months if i'm in college, how can i get credit for my classes, do many americans study arabic now, why don't you study hebrew?

-"enjoy your visit to israel."

-returned to line.  passport checked last time (eleven times in total, in addition to inspection of student id from brown, jordanian residency card, us driver's license, atm card).  escape border.

-arrive in jerusalem.  walk from damascus gate to jaffa gate.  check in at east new imperial hotel.  fat palestinian christian worker gives us great room overlooking david's tower.

-go to lunch at papa andrea's.  food decent, but rooftop view well worth it.

-go to church of the holy sepulchre – huge – and see sites of the cruxifiction, washing, and burial of christ.  swarmed with russians.

-go to armenian chruch on the via dolorossa.  starts to rain.

-accidently go to coptic patriarchate.  see reservoir beneath.  hear chanting.  run back to holy sepulchre to see inside an overlooked side door.  group of monks chanting.  we listen alone in the rain.

-try to find armenian quarter, get lost in jewish quarter, eventually work our way into armenian quarter to see armenian orthodox patriarchate.  armenian quarter somewhat boring.

-cassie & i go to find sweets (success, but i prove to be allergic to them).  after sunset most things are closed.

-go to new city to find waffles (called babette's feast).  locate waffles.  everything in hebrew.  i realize i only know two letters in hebrew learned from a dreidel.  fails to help order waffles.  tiny store, but packed with the only people i've ever seen who have both braces and an automatic weapon.

day three:

-wake up early to go to haram al-sharif.  israel has closed haram al-sharif because of holiday.  go to wailing wall instead.  strange man proud of me for coming to holy land, takes my picture with wall when i'm not ready.  looks like i'm having an extremely intense jewish religious experience.

-walk to mount of olives.  take many pictures of haram al-sharif.  see garden of gethsemene (very old olive trees).  swarm of russians.  enter the basilica of the holy suffering.  swarm of russians.

-proceed up the mount.  visit jewish cemetery.  more photos of haram al-sharif.

-visit tomb of virgin mary.  swarms of russians.

-re-enter city via lion's gate.  walk the via dolorossa.

-climb mount zion (not hard).  see the supposed site of the last supper as well as king david's tomb.  i am skeptical that these are in the same building.  visit monastery of the dormition (mary didn't die and get buried in the tomb we saw earlier for these christians.  she eternally sleeps beneath them).

-see oskar schindler's tomb.

-return to old city.

-tour the tower of david.  bizarre animated film proving the right of the israelis to jerusalem.  film in hebrew, with english subtitles, but credits are in hebrew, english and arabic.  what did arabic-speakers get out of this film?

-cassie mistakes statue of king david for a little girl despite goliath's head at his feet.  does kind of look like a little girl though.

-wander into the jewish quarter.  find (type of present – not giving away what and for whom).  need to pass through throng of about 50 fully armed israeli soldiers (i am older than all of them).  felt very uncomfortable.  find bagel store – eat bagels in heart of jewish homeland next to the wailing wall.

-wander into canyon-ish mall in new city next to jaffa gate.  fail to understand what is in bakery (more hebrew), so don't purchase baked goods.

-go back into new city with cassie for dinner.  find falafel (not as good as jordan).  hebrew overwhelms us again for ordering.

day four:

-border much easier in this direction.  go figure.