Friday 21 March 2014 Jerusalem marathon

We walked over to Hebrew University to watch the Jerusalem Marathon in the morning.  Some of the students participated in 5k, 10k, half marathon, and full marathon.

We arrived too late to see the leaders, but this is front middle of the pack.

At the water station...

...Linda helped pour water. When they ran out of cups, volunteers refilled discarded cups  If you're thirsty enough and don't know someone drank from your cup, I guess it doesn't really matter. 

The Jerusalem Center and Russian Church of Ascension from Hebrew University.

Thursday 20 March 2014 Near the Jerusalem Center

After tours today, we walked into the Old City to exchange money at Aladeen, picked up a few fruits and vegetables at Cosco, then walked up the Kings' Trail to the Jerusalem Center.

Near the top of  Kings Highway below the Jerusalem Center, looking west.  Hebrew University is on the right and the Jerusalem Center is on the left. This park has olive and pistachio trees. Mayor Teddy Kolleck wanted to surround Jerusalem with parks like this.

Olive tree is just inside the front gate to the Jerusalem Center.

 It was transplanted from Galilee and is  600 - 1000 years old. It died a few years after it was transplanted, but the roots were alive and produced new trees around the perimeter of the trunk.

Wednesday 19 March 2014 Jerusalem Center Administrative Offices

In the Jerusalem Center administrative offices...

Avital (on Linda's right) is Eran's administrative assistant.  She is a lawyer who left government work because she wanted to be in administration. Rana (on Linda's left) is Tawfic's administrative assistant.  Tina Whitchurch is responsible for organizing the field trips with her husband David who is assistant director for academics and a BYU professor.

 

 Eran, in the center, is the director of the Jerusalem Center.  He is a secular Jew.  Tawfic, on his right, is the assistant director responsible for operations.  Tawfic is a Palestinain Christian. Tarek, on his left, is responsible for security / safety.

Monday 17 March 2014 Humanitarian visits

We visited Anthony at Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation, and Kahder at Orthodox Sports Club and Hope School in Bethlehem. We talked about their requests for funding from the Mormon University.

Anthony requested computers and/or help to restore wells for families in Bethlehem.  Thirty-five percent of the water in Bethlehem comes locally and 65% comes from Israel. To get a building permit, people must have a well to supplement the water supply. Anthony started a project to restore wells that have been neglected so they will provide clean water to families.

Jewish settlement across the valley from Bethlehem.  The land was owned for many years by Anthony's family.  After the 1967 war, Israel confiscated it because his family could not prove ownership. 



HCEF owns this building and uses part of it as a hotel.   Anthony said the money from the hotel helps defray overhead expenses for the organization. Headquarters is in the United States.



 Khader runs a Sports Club for the local community in Bethlehem.  He is Greek Orthodox.  Christians are less than 1% of the population in Israel/Palestine. He wanted to be a priest for the Greek Orthodox church. They told him he could, but they wouldn't train him. He believes they wouldn't train him because they don't want Palestinians in the church hierarchy.  He said of 21 bishops in the land who are Greek Orthodox, 20 are Greek and only 1 is Palestinian.

His Sports Club is open to all including Christians and Muslims.  However, only Christians can be on the board.  They have a swimming pool, day care nursery, playground, theater, and restaurant.

Kahder is the board chairman for Hope School.  Hope School was started by the Mennonites, but has since been turned over to the locals under the umbrella of the Arab Charitable Society. They have requested help to repair part of their roof, which leaks and causes mildew inside the building.

Outdoor playground / soccer field. There are 500+ students in the school and about 16 who live at the school.  The school focuses on poor families who are Christian.

Playground on the other side of the school.

It is a beautiful piece of property.  The school used to raise chickens.  Palestinians and Jews came here because they could buy good quality eggs.  When the school started having more severe financial problems, they stopped the egg production - sort of like killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Each year, volunteer youth come from Europe to work at the school for a few weeks.

 They want to tar this concrete roof to stop leaks that are causing mildew damage inside the building...

 

 ...like this on the walls below.

 The school was cold (the heater is broken) but it was cheery inside.

 This is the "String Bridge", a pedestrian bridge in West Jerusalem. It was expensive and controversial.

 In the afternoon, we visited St. Vincent, where Miriam works.  She is a volunteer at St Vincent and a member of the church from Austria. Jan, Linda, and Kendra took her to lunch for visiting teaching, while I visited with Sister Susan at St Vincent about their request for funding a refrigerated walk-in box.

Sunday 16 March 2014 In the Old City

 

We walked into the Old City for Purim.  We found out Purim is celebrated in Tel Aviv on Sunday and in Jerusalem on Monday, so we were a day early. 

 

Purim is a Jewish holiday that celebrates the story in the Old Testament book of Esther.  People dress up in costumes. We were told the rules fall by the wayside on this day.  Even Orthodox Jews consider it a day when they can do things they normally won't do - listen to the radio, get drunk, etc.

 

Since we missed Purim, we took pictures of everyday scenes.

 

 

 

 

This home is built into the side of the hill. It is across from "Cosco" on the Old City side of the Kidron Valley. We pass it each time we walk from the Jerusalem Center into the city.

 

 

 

Jews of different sects have unique dress and appearance standards.  The color black is pretty common.

 

This man was standing at a walking intersection.  We asked him for directions which he kindly gave us. Before we left, he asked for a donation to an organization for poor people.  I asked for a card from the organization, and he said he didn't have one.  Linda gave him some money, but I really don't know if the money will leave his pocket for the benefit of an organization or for himself. I hope he was legitimate, but it would be a nice scam.



 

Instead of a hat, this Jew is wearing a kipa.  It looks like he just finished his ice cream bar. 

 

 

Beards are very popular among the Orthodox Jews.

 

 

This is a Jewish family, headed down the stairs to the Western Wall while enjoying a little refreshment.

 

At least his sweater isn't black. 

Ringlet side burns are popular among the Orthodox Jews.

 

These young Jews got upset with Linda for taking their picture.  Notice they are wearing kipas.

 

This young Jew was a real ham. Linda asked his mom if we could take a picture of him.  They were on the way home from a performance.  He has a violin strapped to his back, and...

 

 

...the violin is almost as tall as he is.

 





 

There's his brother in the background.

 

 

 

 

We stopped at an pottery store in the Armenian Quarter, just inside New Gate. This is the owner. He designs the pieces and does some of the painting.

 

 

Here is a close-up of some of his products.

 

 

 

Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, we see the rock where Jesus' body was laid after he was crucified. Golgotha, the hill where he was crucified, is in the background on the second level. Queen Helena, mother of Constantine, identified this as the site of the crucifixion and resurrection.  This church was built to mark the location.

 

We stopped at Lina's in the Old City on Via Dolorsa for lunch.  Linda ordered hummus with roasted pine nuts.  You would never guess it, but she really did like it.

 

We watched as one of the cooks mixed a new batch of hummus. Hummus is ground chick peas.

He saw me just as I took this picture.  He gave me a tongue lashing in Arabic.

 

 



 

Meat market in the Old City.





Sunday 16 March 2014 Linda's Birthday

The students returned from Turkey early Sunday morning. After dinner, they surprised Linda on her way to usher at the concert with a happy birthday song as she came out of the elevator.

Saturday 15 March 2014 Sacrament meeting

An interesting tidbit:  Daniel Rona spoke in sacrament meeting. He is a Mormon Jew. He was born in Israel and since he is a Jew, he has the right to live in Israel.  After he was married, he moved his family to Israel. When he arrived, the Israeli government told him he couldn't work here because he is a Mormon. He explained that he is a Jew and he was born in Israel.  They still refused. He had to get odd jobs to support his family while he tried to convince the government he had the right to live and work in Israel.   The government eventually agreed.  He currently has a tour business in Israel.

Friday 14 March 2014 Anne Marie's friend at the Jerusalem Center

One of the tourists worked on Governor Romney's campaigns and knew Anne Marie from Washington DC.  He attends Harvard Kennedy School and is in Israel with Israeli students from the same program to meet with officials and business leaders in Israel.

 

 Brian Henderson with Blaine

Thursday 13 March 2014 Linda's birthday at Erin's apartment

Erin invited us to dinner for Linda's birthday. She gave Linda an olive wood spoon and fork.

Tuesday 11 March 2014 Music Program at the Jerusalem Center

Linda and Erin, with helpers Tabby and Blaine, taught at Silwan in the morning. 

 

The Jerusalem Center hosted a music group from Sunday through half of Wednesday.  A world renowned pianist, violinist, and cellist taught classes.

 Erin taught dental hygiene to a class at Silwan.   A few of the classes have moved into the renovated school.  The school will continue to use some of the space in the old buildings plus the renovated building.

 The master teachers are

Donald Weilerstein, violinist from the US; Raphael Wallfisch, cellist from England; Xiaohan Wang, pianist from China.  This is Mr. Wang from China with a student in the auditorium.

The master teacher would listen, watch and coach a student in front of others in the class.

Sunday 9 March 2014 Ein Karem

We drove to Ein Karem which is the traditional site of John the Baptist's home.

We hiked 10 minutes to Church of the Visitation. It marks the site of  Zecharias' and Elizabeth's home, parents of John the Baptist, where  Mary told Elizabeth about the future birth of the Savior.

Iin the valley below Ein Karem

 Church of St. John the Baptist. According to tradition, John the Baptist was born in a cave under this church.  This Franciscan church was built in 1674 on top of Byzantine and Crusader churches.

Gold domed Russian church on the hillside of Ein Karem, below Hadassah Hospital.

It's early March, but flowers are blooming in yellow...

 

...and purple.