It’s been awhile since I updated this blog, but I promise that I have been quite busy doing homework, listening to speakers, and having grand adventures. It’s hard to believe that I’m already in Jerusalem and have under a month left on the program.
Istanbul was amazing and was by far the most Western place we visited. Sometimes, outside of the fact that the signs were written in Turkish and Middle Eastern food was being served, it was hard to believe that I was out of the United States. I did try roasted chestnuts for the first time, and I have to say that they were pretty good – as was the grilled corn. Unfortunately, it rained/poured almost every day that we were there, but I was grateful for the rain most of the time because I hadn’t seen rain for over two months in Cairo. Starbuck’s was one of the highlights for many members of the group that had been deprived of Western coffee while we were in Cairo, (In the Middle East, most “coffee” is actually Nescafe…unless you’re drinking Turkish coffee.) but I also really enjoyed the waffles with practically anything you can think of in them. I had one with Nutella, bananas, strawberries, and kiwi. It was pretty fantastic.
Ankara was very different from Istanbul in that it felt much more like a city that you would find in the Midwest US; whereas Istanbul had a much more cultural, European feel (Istanbul is currently the happening place to be). We also didn’t spend much time in Ankara, apart from visiting Anit Kaber (Ataturk’s mausoleum), which was a lot more grand and elaborate than I had expected it to be.
Damascus was very different, and now that I’m in Jerusalem, I would say that the Old City of both Damascus and Jerusalem have similar feels. I spent most of the free time that I had in the city wandering around buying things like scarves, soap, and ice cream (probably some of the most amazing ice cream I’ve ever had in my life). We also visited Ananais’ house and saw the chapel that exists in the house.
Next we went to Amman, but we didn’t really get to spend much time there. The hotel was really nice, but the food was less than the best. We survived, though, and also went to the Dead Sea. It was a lot more salty than I had expected it to be and my legs and feet burned where I had cuts, but it was pretty sweet to be able to float in the water unintentionally.
Israel has been pretty amazing so far, and I have to agree that the Austrian Hospice is the place to stay when you’re in Jerusalem (take note all you future Jerusalem pilgrims). We’ve been staying in the dormitories (I’ve been in a room with 11 other girls), which has definitely been a change from usually only having to share a room with 2 other girls and having a bathroom to only 6 girls. Oh well, soon I’ll be back at Dordt and sharing an apartment once again.
I haven’t had much of a chance to be a pilgrim to Jerusalem since I’ve been busy trying to keep up on all the readings I have to do for the speakers we’ve had. I have wandered the Old City of Jerusalem some, though, and have seen the Western Wall and Dome of the Rock/ al-Aqsa mosque from a far, as well as the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Hopefully on our free day on Sunday I’ll have more of a chance to explore the Christian sites.
*Sorry for the shortness of this post. I had originally intended it to be longer, but there is just so much to do in the Middle East that I’ve been neglecting my blog…
2 comments:
That's ok. Travel while you can and tell us about it later! When are you coming to Germany again?
I understand the busyness and trying to keep up a blog at the same time! It's just not possible!
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