Another birthday in Jerusalem!!

April 27, 2011 City of David, Jerusalem

I was thrilled to be able to celebrate a second consecutive birthday in Jerusalem! But, the story of this year's birthday actually begins last fall . . .

One Sunday last September/October, a volunteer outing was arranged with a local tour guide to the City of David excavations in Jerusalem. Due to the fact it was a Sunday (one of the dining room's busiest days), not all the volunteers were able to go. I was one of the skeleton crew who volunteered to stay back and go the second time around. As it turned out, the "second time around" never happened. I was somewhat disappointed. While I have been to the City of David before (two or three times actually), the guide is quite knowledgeable and I was looking forward to going in a small group and being saturated with information! :-) Netanel made some other trips to the City of David in the six months following the volunteer trip, but they were never mornings when I was free to go.

As my departure date grew nearer, I became resigned to the fact that it just wasn't going to work out (at least, not this time around). I was grateful I had been there before and didn't regret my decision of last fall to stay behind and hold the fort.

As the week of April 24th began, I had a few plans for that Wednesday, but as the days progressed, plans were constantly changing. My itinerary for Monday pretty much fell flat, so I walked the Old City ramparts that day instead of Wednesday. Tuesday, I visited Jerusalem's Great Synagogue and the Israel museum. Upon returning to Christ Church, I ran into Netanel who informed me he was taking a little group to the City of David the following morning and asked if I would like to join them. Answering that was a no brainer!! I was glad things had worked so I walked the ramparts Monday and I had no concrete plans for Wednesday morning. It was a bit of a birthday gift from God--I didn't think I would get to go and here, almost at the last minute, plans fell together. I was so excited!

Thus, at 9:00 that morning, we all met up for a bit of a history lesson and then left for David's City.

If you don't mind, I'll share a brief history lesson with you about this piece of ground. At the time of David, "Jerusalem" was actually called Jebus and covered approximately 10 acres. This is the city that David conquered in 2 Samuel 5. The picture below is a "then and now" view of David's Jerusalem. Looking north, the city was located on a little ridge south of what is now known as the Temple Mount. Late in his reign, David bought the threshing floor located on that northern ridge, and Solomon later built the First Temple there. Interestingly, the original city of Jerusalem is located on one of the lowest mountains in the area. The Temple Mount on the north, the Mount of Olives on the east, and the hills to the west are all much higher in elevation. Jerusalem is not located on any main trade routes, by a major water source, or near any other special natural resource deposit. There is no logical reason for it to become David's central city or such a renowned city today.


David conquered Jebus about 3,000 years ago; the centuries between 1000 BC and 2011 AD have seen many cycles of destruction and rebuilding in Jerusalem. Thus, the remaining city structures and walls are quite a ways below modern street level. Located about halfway down the mound are these remains of city gates from the time of the kings of Judah.
While there is interesting archaeological remains above ground, there are equally fascinating "footprints" underground. Assuming nobody is claustrophobic, it is an intriguing walk down to three thousand year old history.

Part of our path down . . .
Prior to arriving at Hezekiah's water tunnel, remains of a fortification from David and Solomon's time are visible. Jerusalem only has one water source (the Gihon spring), and protecting the city's water supply was extremely important. Here is a picture of what that fortification likely looked like. Interestingly, in 1 Kings 1, Solomon was anointed king at this location.
The remains themselves--this is the channel running atop the right wall in the previous picture. Unfortunately, the picture does not convey the size of this. It is huge and the rocks are massive!!
One of the highlights of a City of David tour is walking through Hezekiah's water tunnel. In the 8th century, the Assyrian army marched through Israel, conquering the Northern Kingdom and virtually all of Judah's walled cities. Hezekiah did a couple things to prepare for an Assyrian siege of Jerusalem, including bringing water from the Gihon Spring inside the city. While David and Solomon had built a fortress to protect the spring, Hezekiah diverted its course completely. According to an inscription found in the tunnel, workers started at both ends and met in the middle. Hezekiah's tunnel is mentioned in 2 Kings 20:20 and 2 Chronicles 32:30. This water channel runs into the Pool of Siloam, located on the southwestern slope of the City of David. You may recognize the name from the story in John 9 when Jesus healed a blind man by sending him to this pool to wash his eyes. The Pool of Siloam is cut into the rock and was only rediscovered in 2004/2005. (There is a lot of details and pictures of this tunnel on the web, just google "Hezekiah's tunnel" to explore further!)

On this warm April day, I had a tough decision to make. Walking through Hezekiah's tunnel (complete with calf- to knee-high water!) is such a fun thing to do! It is amazing to walk through something so old--the chisel marks are still visible in the walls. But, there are also dry tunnels in the area, dating back to the time of the Canaanites. I had never walked through those before. Prior history made the decision--as much fun as the water tunnel is, here was an opportunity to see more.

So, I followed Netanel, Nathan and Nick (fellow volunteers), and Olga (CC staff member) through the dry Canaanite tunnel. It is much shorter than the water tunnel; other than that, it is quite similar, just dry!

Following Nick; this is one of the wider/taller sections of the tunnel
Little did I know what reward was awaiting me . . . Upon exiting the dry tunnel, one gets a breathtaking view of the city walls from the time of Manasseh. Once again, these are actually on the side of the hill because the city kept being rebuilt on top of former ruins. This double city wall dates back to the 7th century BC.
Looking south from the City of David . . . the city wall is visible on the right (we had climbed mostly above it), the Kidron Valley runs below it to the left. The hill on the left is now the village of Silwan.
And another new thing to see--south of the walls and a bit east of the Siloam Pool are the Tombs of the Kings. Nobody knows for absolute certain, but it is believed this was where the kings of Judah were buried. Obviously, the tombs have been long since emptied--Jerusalem has been conquered and exchanged hands so many times, it is hardly possible they would have been left intact. The area has also been worked as a stone quarry.

All in all, it was a fascinating walk through history. The people I shared the morning with made it even more memorable!

Netanel, our fantastic guide (Manasseh's city walls and a classic olive tree in the background)
Olga-one of my best friends
Nick--a fellow volunteer from Nebraska. In true gentleman-like style, he carried a bag for one of the girls who was going through the wet tunnel.
And Nathan-another fellow volunteer (from Oxford). Once again, the city walls are in the background.
After spending close to four hours exploring the City of David, I returned to Christ Church for lunch and found out my plans for the afternoon were not going to work. While I was a bit disappointed, that change freed me up to visit the Garden Tomb complex for my first and only visit this time in Israel.

Located outside the Old City's Damascus Gate, it's a beautiful and peaceful corner in a bustling city. I don't believe this is the actual site of Christ's crucifixion, burial, and resurrection, but it is a good visual and a quiet corner to spend some time with Bible and journal.

The Garden Tomb itself
A couple photos of the quiet path where I spent some time . . . You can almost hear the birds singing in the trees!
The one treat I wanted to get for myself on my birthday was a crepe in the Jewish Quarter. I don't know about all of you, but crepes are not extremely common in my area of the world. (Or maybe it's just me not knowing the places to go!) So, I entered the Old City via the Damascus Gate, trekked across the Muslim Quarter, entered the Western Wall plaza, and then climbed up to the Jewish Quarter proper to this great shop!

Spreading out the batter . . .
She did an amazing job flipping it!
And, all ready to eat!
I initially wanted a crepe with cream inside, but they were out of cream. So, she put hot chocolate syrup inside instead. At that point, it turned into a chocolate lovers' crepe--hot chocolate syrup, crushed oreos, and chocolate sprinkles. :-)

No more pictures from the day, but my lovely fellow volunteers also celebrated my birthday at dinner that night. The cooks had sung to me that morning--truly a special moment. One is Jewish, one Arab and they sang in English in harmony. That memory will last a long time! At dinner, they turned out the lights in the dining room to bring in a cake with candles and sang "happy birthday" both in English and then in Hebrew. The cake was chocolate chip and absolutely delicious (Well done, Elsa!!).

Other than catching a cold that day (severe enough to keep me in bed the following day), this birthday was enjoyable and memorable. So many special moments! Thanks to each of you who contributed!

Special April days

With Deb and Shane on the Mount of Olives; Thursday, April 21, 2011

I thought I was quite lucky and blessed to be in Jerusalem for Holy Week and Easter last year--little did I guess at the time I was going to still be in Jerusalem for the same holidays this year! What a double blessing! And, because I had officially finished my volunteer work on April 19th, I was able to attend all the services and events without worrying about shifts!

Obviously one of the highlights of Holy Week is the walk to the Mount of Olives after the service and Eucharist Thursday evening. The evening was slightly cooler than one might expect for Jerusalem at the end of April. It was cool, breezy, and sprinkling every so often. Last year, the walk had been a bit intimidating as I had one arm in a sling and that affected my balance walking down unfamiliar steep roads and stairs in the dark! This year, I didn't have such a situation and could soak in the sights and atmospheres and thoughts without paying so much attention to my feet. :-)

As we walked east towards the Kidron Valley and Mount of Olives, the illuminated south city wall was on our left. The gray dome of the Al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount is just barely visible on the left side.
A few more steps down the road, the city wall was still to our left, but to our right was the lower Kidron Valley and the Arab village of Silwan. This is looking south, and the twinkling lights were so peaceful in the dark night.
I know, I know, this isn't the best picture in the world, but a few things can be identified. This is looking down into the Kidron Valley. In the center (at the bottom of the valley), the two traditional tombs are just visible. To the left of the picture, the illuminated facade of the Church of All Nations in Gethsemane is visible.
After walking down into, across, and up from the Kidron Valley, we walked past the Church of All Nations in the traditional Garden of Gethsemane. We walk up higher to the Russian Gethsemane; but even this traditional Gethsemane wasn't nearly as crowded as last year. Last year, the steps in front were full of people, but it would seem that the cool and wet weather kept some pilgrims away.
Another dark picture, but it sets the tone a bit . . . this was the path into the gardens of the Russian Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives.
Looking back west at the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock (framed by olive trees).


Good Friday started as a nice, sunny, spring day in Jerusalem--good thing because I had to walk up to the doctor's office yet again (about a 35-minute walk). But, by the afternoon, it had turned cold and quite windy. After service at 2, I stayed in and watched "The Passion." Saturday brought an Easter Vigil service at 8:00pm and then came Resurrection Sunday.

Sunday dawned bright and beautiful. I went to the sunrise service (6:00am!!) and then did some laundry and emails before the later service.

This is looking west--out the Christ Church gate and at the Tower of David gate across the street. The limestone was brilliant in the morning sun and the contrast between stone and blue sky certainly attracted one's attention.
Pictures after Resurrection services . . .

Michelle and Aaron, two of my very best Israel friends

A fellow volunteer and friend--Shane from Australia. This Sunday was Shane's last Sunday in Jerusalem and at Christ Church before returning home and my next-to-last so we were called up together for a farewell blessing. Don't know about Shane, but I was glad to share this with him and not be in the spotlight alone. :-)
After my last day of work, Holy Week observances took up the rest of the week and it flew by. But after Sunday, the count down started in earnest . . . More pictures to come of my special last ten days!

What a month March has been . . .

First, my apologies to all who have e-mailed me in the last month or two and have not received an answer back yet. Please know how much I appreciate hearing from you, and I have not been ignoring my inbox. March has been a crazy busy month--even more so than usual as I've been entrusted with yet more responsibility. I am honored to be asked, but it means a little less time for other stuff. I love to get e-mails and I will answer them, just can't say exactly when.

March started with a bang as Thursday, March 3rd was Christine's last day in the role of housekeeper for the Christ Church Guest House. We had a big party for her and then she left for home March 16th. The immediate result of this was that I was asked to step up into the housekeeper role for the remainder of my time here. It is a huge responsibility, and I am doing my best to "walk worthy of calling." Honestly, I was a bit surprised at how much of a transition this proved to be. I had worked with Christine for eight months and thought I was mostly familiar with the duties of housekeeper. But I have since realized how much more administration type duties there are to do, and I am no longer able to do as much "hands on" out in the kitchen, guest rooms, and laundry than I used to. That's been a bit of an adjustment and in some ways I miss being able to work alongside the other volunteers the way I previously did. But, there is an amazing team of volunteers here at the moment!! They are a spectacular group with great attitudes and such joyfulness. I would never have been able to make this transition without their support--I am so grateful for each one!!!

Another lesson I am learning currently is how to balance putting 100% into my job yet knowing when to call it a day. There is always something I could be doing, and I can quite easily slip into driving myself quite hard. It's easy to keep working until everything on my list for the day is done, regardless of the finishing time. While it is right to do my job 100%, there is also a healthy balance. Some days require 10-11 hours of work and I don't mind, but I need to recognize that some days don't and it's okay to stop at the 8-hour mark. :-) It would be so easy to simply immerse myself in work during my last weeks here, but I've been reminded by a dear lady here this week that that doesn't necessarily please God. He's not asking me to work my tail off here, but rather to do my responsibilities thoroughly and joyfully and enjoy each day He's given me. This works itself out in a variety of ways--stopping at meal times to sit down and enjoy the company of friends (regardless of whether I eat or not), discerning what things on my list can be left for the next day if they aren't done by 5:00ish, being alert to those around me and present to their needs, etc. Last week I felt a bit overwhelmed by all I needed to do; this week, I feel like a better balance is starting to be established and I'm content.

March has also been a bit of a difficult month emotionally. As I mentioned, Christine flew out about 10 days ago, and I'm certainly missing her presence and guidance. While the initial heartache has lessened a bit, I still feel the void deeply. If one big goodbye wasn't enough, next week will bring about another departure day. John has been here since the day I arrived (and that can only be said about two volunteers still here at the moment), and he will be flying back to the States late next week. It's another hard goodbye, and I'm not looking forward to it. Thirdly, I've now started looking ahead a bit to my own departure (about six weeks away). I've already shipped some stuff home. I know, that sounds a bit early, but if I ship it by land, it's much cheaper (3 big boxes for less than $100!) but it takes around two months. I'm going through books and winter clothes at the moment, deciding what I don't need for the remainder of my time here and what I won't need immediately when I arrive back in Colorado. While it's gratifying to go through things and start decluttering, it certainly makes the countdown until departure very real. I'm torn. I am looking forward to seeing my family again and having a bit of a holiday, but I don't think I'd ever be ready to leave this country and city. I've loved my time in Jerusalem and would be happy to stay longer. Plus, there are people here who have become very dear friends; thank goodness for such things as e-mail and skype! But, I do know this is God's perfect timing for me to leave, and who knows, I suspect I'll be back at some point! :-)

Between the extra working hours and emotional demands, I haven't had the energy very often to write e-mails or blogs. I generally finish my shift, come up to my room and either read a book or do a little cross stitch before going to bed. But, there's been opportunity for some fun recently as well . . . !

A couple weeks ago, I felt a desire to go somewhere for the afternoon and just be normal Amanda, not housekeeper Amanda, supervisor Amanda, or even supervisor trainer Amanda. It was a cool and rainy day so outside activities were out; I ended up boarding a bus to the Jerusalem mall. I spent a fun afternoon wandering in and out of shops where labels are in both Hebrew and English. I spent some time in the H&M store all the Europeans talk about. I looked at hair clips, earrings, shoes, and more in multiple stores. You would all be impressed to know I only purchased one new pair of earrings that day! I did come home with a collection of hair accessories and a costume prop for Purim (its identity will be revealed lower down(-: ). Before I reboarded a bus to come home, I stopped for a snack--a hot dog and parve ice cream. For my American friends back home, this would be something completely foreign. (pun intended) Parve is the Hebrew term used for something that does not contain any meat or dairy ingredients. Thus, it can be eaten with meat and/or dairy foods and not break the kosher laws. In this way, restaurants can serve meat and ice cream. It certainly tastes different than your normal McDonalds ice cream cone, but not in a bad way.

At one department store in the mall, I saw purple sauce pans!
And in the same store, a little nook set up in almost entirely purple! It was great! :-)

The bus arrived back outside Jerusalem's Old City a bit after the sun set; it was still cloudy/rainy and the views were beautiful. This is Jaffa Gate and the Tower of David from the neighborhood across the Hinnom Valley to the west.
Looking south, down the Hinnom Valley
The Tower of David and western city wall from just outside Jaffa Gate (looking southeast)
The Jewish holiday of Purim was last weekend; Christ Church threw an American-themed Purim party complete with barbecued hamburgers and the story of Esther retold in a western saloon setting. It was quite funny to see Israelis, Aussies, Brits, and more trying to be American. The theme was in honor of John as the gathering doubled as a farewell party for him. There were some house guests booked in for dinner, and as they probably hadn't brought Purim costumes with them, we supplied cowboy hats so they could get in the spirit of things. I went out and bought about 20 hats the day before, and the volunteers in the kitchen that day had some fun.

Here is Nick doing breakfast prep wild west style. Nick is from Nebraska, so he didn't have to work real hard at looking American. :-)
Then, Nathan got into the act. He is from Oxford, England, so it took a bit more acting. And, there were no guns around, so a pie server had to do . . .
The three kitchen cowboys: Nick, Nathan, Sarah

I wasn't free to put a lot of time and effort into a Purim costume, but like Nick, I don't have to work real hard at being American either. A plaid blouse, denim skirt, and boots worked just fine. I also stepped out of my normal safe and reserved circle for the night and colored my hair. I didn't dare risk any sort of permanent color, so bought an inexpensive can of purple spray. It's very pinky-purple and didn't show in all lighting, but it was fun for the night! (And thankfully it washed out!!!!)

Here's my purplish hair . . .Virtually all of the Americans at the Purim party -- John, Nick, myself, Beno
In the middle of the "western Esther" play ... Joe as an Indian serving the drinks, John as Haman, Aaron as Ahasuerus (the saloon owner), and Elsa as Esther (the new entertainer). It was done very well and quite entertaining!

This past week included a combined birthday party for Lucille and Shane at Waffle Bar ...

Shane, Kathryn and Stephen

Tobias, James, Lucille

Elsa, Rebecca, Sarah

Nick and Joe

John and NathanMy butterscotch waffle . . . I ate half, and then Nathan, Shane, and Stephen all contributed to finishing it :)

... and a fun evening tea at the King David hotel with John. Can you believe it--I drank two cups of English Breakfast Tea?? And liked it!!
What would tea be without lemon/white chocolate cake? (Didn't think to take a picture until after we had taken some bites . . .)


This past week also saw the first bomb of its kind go off in Jerusalem since 2004. The location of the explosion is about a half-hour's walk from the Christ Church Guest House. I had just stepped out of the hair salon when the calm Jerusalem afternoon exploded into a cacophony of sirens. We heard what had happened within 5-10 minutes, and the next hour was largely spent following reports online, checking in with all our volunteers (two had gone out of town for the day and a third was on a bus in the area), and trying to grasp the fact that after quite a while with a measure of peace a bomb had detonated in Jerusalem. We found out the next day that the daughter of one of our staff members had actually been on one of the buses but was unharmed. One lady was killed by the explosion--I have friends who knew her well. To be honest, the atmosphere around the city since Wednesday afternoon has largely been life as normal . . .

Hope you've enjoyed this glimpse into my past month . . . It's been a bit of a hard one (I HATE saying farewells!!!), but definitely had its special moments as well. Spring is slowly arriving in Jerusalem (we've had some beautiful days), Lent is in full swing, and next month will bring both Pesach and Holy Week in Jerusalem. I'm really looking forward to these . . .