My Everyday Life in Jerusalem

I have many adventures and stories to share with you from the past few weeks, but some of you may be wondering what my normal, everyday life is like here.  Here is a quick run-down...

My school is located on top of Mount Zion near the Jaffa Gate of the Old City, and my room is on the fourth floor.  Usually I get up early and spend some wonderful time with the Lord, praying, reading, and journaling on the roof as I look out over the city.  These are treasured moments everyday.  Here is the view from my window (the grassy part is the Hinnom Valley):

After greeting our cook, George--"Sabah kheer!"-- and having breakfast, I usually do some homework or go to class.  My classes are all great: Physical Settings of the Bible, Intro to the Modern Middle East, The Gospel of Matthew in its Jewish Setting, and Arabic.  For my Arabic class, I walk to the Damascus gate and then take a bus to Bethlehem in the West Bank.  We must go through a pretty intense security checkpoint with our passports at the wall.  Our Palestinian teacher is not allowed to pass the checkpoint to come into Jerusalem.  Going to class was never so exciting.  

Waiting at the bus stop with all the kids who just got out of school:

Walking along the wall in Bethlehem on my way to Arabic class:

Twice a week, I work at the Domari Center for Gypsies in East Jerusalem.  The gypsies are Arabic-speaking Muslims who are not socially accepted by either Jews or Arabs, and suffer from poverty, unemployment, and lack of education.  On Tuesdays I teach/tutor English and on Fridays (once Ramadan ends) I will be teaching art and music to elementary-age kids.  These are highlights of my week! 

On the weekends, we often have field studies for Physical Settings that last all day.  We travel to many different parts of Israel, marking our maps, reading our Bibles, and marveling at how experiencing the land helps us understand the meaning of the text.  Here is our "classroom" (for this moment, the Pool of Bethesda).  Dr. Wright is lecturing as he sits on the railing and we frantically take notes.

During our free time, we do a lot of exploring!  Even normal activities, like buying food at the market, are an adventure.  Other highlights in the past couple of weeks for me have included: playing volleyball on the Mount of Olives, attending a local church with believers from around the world, having impromptu worship sessions on our roof under the moon, wading through Hezekiah's tunnel deep beneath the city, going running in the mornings with fellow students, going out for coffee in the New City, enjoying Shabbat dinners on Friday nights, and hiking/swimming/rock-climbing/cliff-jumping in the Nahal Yehudiya (north of the Sea of Galilee, south of the Golan Heights).  I will try to write about more of these in detail sometime.

So there you have it...my life in Jerusalem.  :-)  Soon I hope to share more about what I've been learning here. Thank you for all your thoughts, prayers, and encouragement. Ma salaame! (Peace!)