The latest adventures

So many adventures have happened since the last post. I think I wil start with my shabbat in Neve Daniel, which is a settlement in the West Bank. My program gave the option of participating in shabbat in the land. They gave two options- the Old City of Jerusalem or Neve Daniel. A few of us decided to spend shabbat in the latter since we wanted to see what life is like for those living in a settlement. It was a lovely shabbat. We all got set up with really nice families and we had a great oneg on friday night. The adventure though was trying to get back to Jerusalem after shabbat. We were all waiting at the bus stop for the first bus to arrive. We were aware that the first bus would be full and not all of us might get on, but the bus did not even stop! One of my roomates had a flight that night to go visit her family in new york, and needed to get back to our apt in order to get her stuff before she got picked up. We knew the next bus would not come for another half hour so find someone who is driving to Jerusalem and not too far away from our apt so she hitches a ride with them. The rest of us kept stopping cars to see if we could hitch a ride but none of them were going remotely where we needed them to go. The next bus finally arrives but when it stops he tells us he is full and cannot take any of us. We argue with him that the next bus would not come for another hour and we were not going to wait. So the bus driver calls his boss to see if he can go over capacity to take us. In the end we made it on the bus, but needless to say it was an intersting experience to fight our way back home.

The next advenure was my trip to the ancient city of Zippori and Nazareth. I had the opportunity to go on this trip with the volunteers at work. I had never been to either city and it truly was an amazing day. We started the day leaving Jerusalem and driving to Zippori in the Lower Galillee. We explored the ancient synogogue there and more stunning mosaics than I can count. The famous one though is called the Mona Lisa of the Galillee because like the Mona Lisa, her eyes follow you. I was completely fascinated by the history of the city and the beauty of the finds. One of the most amazing things is that the ancient cardo is still intact.

After touring around the site for a while we headed into Nazareth for lunch and a tour of the Church of Annunciation. I was surprised that the hotel in Nazareth was kosher. The church was really interesting to see.It is built over the ancient house which they believe is where Mary was told she was going to have a child. one thing that was really cool was that communites from different countries around the world sent in mosaics representing their country and christianity to be displayed around the courtyard. Inside the actual church they had bigger and better ones that were all the different countries interpretations of the madonna and child. The most striking was the Korean one since it depicted a Korean madonna and a Korean child. 

The next day my father came in and he wanted to start touring the following day. I set up a four hour walking tour of the Old City which was amazing. We toured the Kotel tunnels, the southern wall excavations, the Wohl archaeological museum, and the archaeology park. Half of those things I had never seen before so it was really exciting for me.

 

On sunday my dad and I went to tour the City of David. Right now the site is controversial because the archaeologist claims she has found David`s Palace. Aside from the controversy the site is incredible. One of the main attractions is Hezekiah`s tunnel. This is a tunnel that kept the water source of the city hidden in case of a siege. In this tunnel archaeologists had found an inscription that conveys the excitement of the workers when they met. There had been a team of workers cutting through the mountain on one side and another team on the other, and it is a miracle they managed to meet. As part of the tour we got to walk through the tunnel. In many spots the ceiling is extremely low, almost needed to crouch to get through, and very narrow. Sometimes the water got as deep as my upper thighs. It was quite an experience being able to walk through this water tunnel that was never meant for people.

As if all the other adventures were not enough, I think tonight was one of the highlights of my trip. Late in the afternoon I get an e-mail invitation to a gallery opening at work. What was really cool for me was that I helped with the online component of the exhibition. I originally had other plans for the night, and felt terrible for cancelling, but this really was worth it. After work I raced home to shower and change. It was my first gallery opening and I really had a great time. There was a reception to mingle in the beginning and then an introduction by the director of the museum. He announced that this gallery was the first of the temporary galleries to open since the renovation of the museum. It was a wonderful moment to be apart of. The grandson of the artist spoke as well as the associate curator.  Just another one of the perks of having such an awesome internship.

If all this happened in the last week and a half, I wonder how many more adventures I will have.