One week . . .

Wow, it has been a busy and intense week of learning the various shifts and responsibilities here in Jerusalem. I spent four days cleaning rooms and hallways. This included making beds, cleaning bathrooms, sweeping/moppping floors, etc. Oh yes, I have also dusted some plants! :-) Last Monday and Thursday were days off, and now I've spent the past three mornings on the early kitchen shift. This shift begins at 6:30 preparing milk, juice, cereal, bread, vegetables, and various dairy products for breakfast. The idea is to have it all out at 7:15 so the two of us on that shift can sit down and eat before the dining room officially opens. Breakfast runs from 7:30-8:30. After putting all the food back away, we straighten up the dining room, start on a green salad for lunch, and wash the dishes. All dishes here are washed by hand, then put through a sterilizer. This morning, Lisa began the salad while I did dishes, and I think we finished about the same time--about an hour later.

Lunch is served from noon until 2pm, and it is a big meal. The cook usually prepares four hot dishes, and then there is soup, bread, salad, fruit, and various fruits/vegetables. At this meal, the volunteers are expected to serve all who come through the line--usually one serves, and the other keeps things filled up. Once again, washing the dishes comes after lunch. It would seem that the washing wraps up about 2:30, the same time the morning shift gets off. (The second kitchen shift begins working at 1:00 to help with the lunch rush, and they stay through dinner and clean up, getting off at 9pm).

Although setting my alarm for 5:30am is not necessarily my favorite thing, I have actually enjoyed this shift. It goes quickly, and it's fun to work with another person. (Once trained, cleaning is done mostly on one's own.) Since I was working again this morning, I haven't yet been able to attend the Sunday morning church services here on the compound. But, we found a cd player and a cd of hymns to play while we cleared up this morning, and it was somewhat like church.

Tomorrow is another day off, and then Tuesday I will begin training on the 1-9pm kitchen shift. One piece of advice I've already gotten is to not do much in the hours before I begin work. Apparently, if one does a lot of stuff in the morning and then works in the kitchen for 8 hours, it becomes an extremely long day.

On Friday, I moved into what will likely be my room for the duration of my time here. It is a nice and large, airy room. I have been teased quite a bit over how much stuff I brought with me (I keep trying to explain I was trying to prepare for a year, and I actually had very little warning as to when I was actually leaving--I didn't have much time to think!), but I was able to find places for it all quite easily.

Last Monday, I spent some time exploring the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City. It was actually a cool, cloudy, rainy day. My first glimpse of the Temple Mount from the Jewish Quarter was quite foggy.


You can barely see the golden Dome of the Rock. The Western Wall is in the foreground.


Looking due east from the Jewish Quarter--the Mount of Olives is completely invisible due to the mist of the morning.


I circled back around a couple hours later, and the clouds were breaking up temporarily. Now you can see the Mount of Olives on the eastern side of the Temple Mount.

The golden Dome of the Rock is also much more visible. This was around noon, and the break in the clouds didn't last very long. An hour or so later, the clouds came back and it poured rain the entire afternoon and evening.


Somebody volunteered to take this picture, and it's great to have! This is me in my new home. :-) I had spent time earlier at the Western Wall, then did just a little bit of shopping, and this was right before I went to find lunch--water and a falafel!

Tomorrow is another day off, and I hope to do a little more exploring in the Old City. It will depend on the weather though. The shifts here are a very full 8 hours, and it doesn't leave you with a lot of energy to fight the elements.

But, I do love it here. I feel so much at home, so content and comfortable. I think it will be a great year!