Jerusalem (continued)

Today TJ is even worse and if he isn’t any better tomorrow we might be making a trip to the doctor. While TJ spent the day resting and trying to recover, I went site seeing.

I was very discouraged this morning as I walked a long way without getting anywhere. This city is seriously very difficult to navigate! I wandered around for several hours then went back to check on TJ to see if he was feeling any better. He wasn’t so I headed out again, this time determined to see something! I actually had a very productive afternoon. I entered the Old City and actually found my way to the Temple Mount, only to learn that it was closed again and no one was sure when it would open again. I then walked the Via Doloroso – the route that Jesus is believed to have taken as he carried his cross to the Calvary. After that I hiked up the Mount of Olives, which according to the Book of Zechariah, is where God will start to redeem the dead when the Messiah returns on the Day of Judgement. 150,000 people are hoping to be good candidates for redemption by being buried on this mountain! While the climb was a bit ambitious for my knee and was more cardio than I was interested in, it did provide nice views of the Old City, the Church of All Nations and the Russian Orthodox Church with the shiny golden domes.
From the Mount of Olives I made my way to the City of David. This city is the oldest part of Jerusalem and was the Canaanite settlement captured by King David 3000 years ago. Checking out the City of David was probably worth an hour or so on the stair master so by this point my angry knee was throbbing. I wanted to see and appreciate the Via Doloroso again so I re-visited this famous path on my way back to the New City.

Today was a very strange day to be in the Old City. Due to the recent events in Gaza between Israeli troops and the Palestinians, the Old City was shut down but hundreds of soldiers and police officers were stationed inside and on the perimeter of the city. All of the restaurants and shops were closed, which created an eerie, unnatural calm in the Old City. Only tourists and residents were permitted to wander around and while it kind of nice to avoid the masses, it was a bit creepy to walk through a vacated city. I think (and it is very likely that I am wrong) that the government required the businesses to close because the soldiers could keep an eye on the trickle of tourists, but it would be impossible for them to monitor the activities of the swarms of locals who flood the Old City on a daily basis. I asked one soldier why they stationed so many troops around the Old City and his response was, “If someone wants to make a point, they will make it in Jerusalem.”

I made my way back to my room to check on TJ. His condition hadn’t improved at all and may have even deteriorated. Hopefully he is better tomorrow or else I may try to get him to a doctor. I left again to pick up laundry, buy TJ some fruit and find dinner for me. I was still a bit sketched out from the Old City and found it perplexing that there was some sort of a bar mitzvah celebration taking place in the square outside of our hotel. While the Old City was vacant with an influx of soldiers, people were singing and dancing in the streets in the New City. I began to wonder if I was the only one watching the news? It is hard for me to understand how people can be singing and dancing when missiles are being launched in their small country. Gaza is located 48 miles from Jerusalem. Unfortunately the recent events are not anything new or surprising to Israeli’s. The people here are so familiar with political turmoil and war that, according to my Israeli friend they have adopted the motto, “Life goes on.”