Greetings from Jerusalem!

As you all can see from the title of this "blog" I arrived in Jerusalem safe and sound! I landed in Tel Aviv about 10 AM EST so I had just had my morning coffee on the plane and was ready to go for the day. Unfortunately for my body it was 5 PM in Israel so needless to say I hardly slept that night but I got into the groove of things by Sunday morning. My first weekend in Jerusalem was absolutely astounding and I can't believe I actually have three months here! The sad part is I realize that even if I spent three months only in the city of Jerusalem I would never have near enough time to see everything and yet I will be traveling all over Israel, Jordan, and Egypt with my classes so I will not even experience a small bit of Israel. However, I feel like I got a good start seeing some pretty cool things this weekend of which I will only discuss a few highlights. Sunday morning I decided that I would go to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to worship the Holy Trinity. It was quite an experience! There are many chapels in the church and also Christ's tomb, the rock he was crucified upon, and the stone slab on which he was laid (granted this is all speculation and such things as the slab probably are not original but the places are almost certainly accurate). As soon as I entered the church I could hear all the different groups chanting and singing unto Christ the Lord and it was a very moving experience! I worshipped amoung either the Greek or Armenian Orthodox for a bit (it is hard to say exactly whom since I didn't understand the language one bit). Then I wandered around the church making homage at the various Holy Sites. Eventually, a woman worshipping with the Coptics at the Tomb of Christ came and offered me some Holy Bread which I accepted and she showed me around and invited me to join a procession this Wednesday where the Greeks will carry an ancient Russian icon of Mary across the Old City of Jerusalem...perhaps I will go. Later on Sunday we had our first field study in one of my classes. As a class we walked around the Old City (the "Old City" is the walled city from Suleman the Magnificant in the 16th century but inside are thousands of years of history) for many hours learning about the different areas of Jerusalem. The city is absolutely astounding and is basically one big chunk of history. As we walked along the narrow alleyways we stepped on some stones from the 4th century AD...perhaps Eusebius or Athanasius walked on these very stones during their lives! Eventually we came to a road from the time of the Roman Emperor Hadrian called the "Cardo Maximus." It was astounding! As we walked through the city it was amazing to think about the millions of historical and religious figures who touched the items I was touching! We also saw the Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall which were amazing as well. Anyways, I am sure I have said enough about that. Another item of interest is the hospitality of the Palestinians here. I spent quite a bit of time this morning and afternoon wandering around the Old City attempting to get a grasp at its layout (you must understand it is a whole bunch of narrow roads and alleyways). As I was walking I got invited into a shop by a fellow named "Nile." He invited me in for a cup of coffee (which was delicious I must say...very thick Turkish coffee) and we talked religion and other such things for a while. Later in the afternoon I met a fellow name "Mati" and we had some tea and discussed Israeli politics! They treated me as a long-time friend it was quite astounding, nothing like the U.S. I must admit I had heard about Arab hospitality but it is truly great to actually experience. I think that us Americans ought to adopt the Arab practice of hospitality to everyone...it is really quite nice to be treated like a long-time friend by someone you just met! Well, I have said enough for today...I hope I didn't bore anyone too much! Overall I am having a great time in Jerusalem so far...the fellow riding next to me on the flight over told me Israel is a "magical place" and I am beginning to see what he meant. It has truly been great so far. As I am writing this I am looking out at an astounding view of west Jerusalem looking down into the Kidron Valley as the sun sets behind me. Shalom, my friends, shalom.