Happy New Year from the City of David

We arrived Wednesday morning (Dec 30th) after being blessed with two first class flights (DFW to Newark, NJ and Newark to Tel Aviv), and a beautiful sherut (taxi) ride from Tel Aviv. How do you explain the feeling riding past a sign that points to "The Tomb of the Prophet Samuel"! JUC does, indeed, sit atop Mt. Zion at the southwest corner of the Old City wall just a couple of blocks from the Jaffa Gate entrance. Again, how do you explain that feeling? And the peace . . . there really is something to people praying for the peace of Jerusalem. You can feel it. It is tangible. I love it!

Cousins Tim & Abby Hereford welcomed us at the gate to the campus and took us to our room. It's just perfect! It is upstairs, across a courtyard from the kitchen building. The row of bathrooms is in between, so I plan to get up early each morning, jump into my workclothes, grab my toothbrush, stop off at the bathroom, and head to the kitchen! I only hope I can adjust to no toilet trips in the middle of the night. Going downstairs, through a floral courtyard is lovely . . . but not at 3am! I will add it is perfectly safe, just an adjustment. The Wrights have apologized for what they consider inconvenient quarters, but space is at a premium this semester. We believe our placement is an added blessing. It us up and out of the way, private with two windows that have lovely views of the city. Besides, I have had much more difficult bathroom trips while in the tribal regions of the Philippines!

We were introduced to the young couple who cooked last semester. So glad we met them, because they were moving off campus that day. What with jet lag, and the excitement of just being here, I was trying hard to follow all they had to tell us. Suffice it to say for right now, the meals indeed are simple . . . but the kitchen needs some serious inventorying and organizing. We have a meeting tomorrow morning (Saturday) with the kitchen manager and Dr. & Mrs. Wright. That will be very helpful. There are very few people on campus right now. We do know that an Arab (Palestinian Christian) gentleman named Ronnie comes in from Bethlehem to cook the large evening meal (not needing our help), and an American female student cooks lunch & dinner on Sundays. Tim & Abby say she is very good, so we plan to "shadow" her on Sunday. We start on Monday morning with an expected 35 for breakfast, 43 for lunch and Ronnie cooks for 102 that night! On Tuesday morning, we get that 102 for breakfast, and 133 for lunch. The numbers will be very sporadic in January with large numbers of short term students and quite a few field studies which we are currently being told we won't have to prepare sack lunches for. And then in February, I think things will settle down with the 35 students on a regular basis. Much to learn but with this month's crash course . . . we can do this thing!

The campus is old, the main building was built in the 1850's with 1 foot thick stone walls, but beautiful! Has a village feel of its own. Upstairs, downstairs, through courtyards, down stone pathways, flowers everywhere . . . and church bells ringing from the city on the hour. So far, they are very enjoyable.

We managed our jet lag and slept well, venturing out to the Old City the next morning to find coffee. We found an "Aroma" coffeeshop just outside the wall in a new pedestrian mall full of designer shops. I was told you won't find a Starbucks in Israel. A bit of research tells me that Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz, is a proud friend of Israel and purported anti-Palestinian state. I believe the chain was boycotted here for these reasons. "Aroma" has a definite Starbucks feel to it. It is currently the largest café' coffee retailer in Israel, and cooperates with the Ballestra family from Naples, Italy, who for generations has been specializing in the production of gourmet coffee. I learned from a gal on campus where to buy roasted beans in the Old City and have them ground. Mmmmmmmmmmm . . . I can hardly wait!

One thing I need to keep in mind is that Jerusalem is not solely a Jewish city. The Arab population is very large. Most citizens appear to co-exist very well. Again, more to learn . . .

We went out into the Old City last night where we had a wonderful dinner, and a nice chat with a Palestinian Christian, apparently a true fellow believer. He was quite a talker! We agreed to meet again. Then we came "home" and listened to a few firecracker pops from our window. It's not as big a celebration here since the Jews and Muslims have already celebrated their new years.

Woke before Nat this morning, so got dressed and went out by myself, feeling perfectly safe. I was on mission, though. Realized when we went to bed last night, that I had lost something while we were out. My lower, clear plastic retainer for my teeth had fallen out of its container when I reached in for a toothpick. It could only have happened at one of two places. So I remembered my friend Lois' prayer at such times, "Lord, please bring it forth."

First I went to the restaurant in the Old City. As I stooped over, perusing the stone walkway (we dined outside), I looked up and realized people were watching me. They must have thought I was admiring the place where Jesus walked? If they only knew . . . Then back out to the mall where I sat waiting for Nat to return from the restroom. The tables & chairs had all been cleared and pushed back for the night, not put out again yet. There were street sweepers everywhere! Looked around to no avail, pulled out a chair, sat down & prayed, "Lord, I don't like being so irresponsible. This retainer is not only necessary, but expensive. I can't find it though. Please help me to get over it until our return to Stephenville and my orthodontist, and please don't let my teeth shift!" I started to get up, looked directly down to my right side . . . yep, there it was. I just stared at it for a moment, picked it up, and tearfully thanked God for caring so much for me. He is, indeed, our Father who cares even about the smallest of things. There is a wonderful scripture in Isaiah 52:12 "The LORD will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard." Shirley's translation, "God covers my rear regularly!"

After a cup of coffee and blueberry muffin at Aroma, I returned home to find Nat up and about. We went out again into new Jerusalem for coffee at "Cup O' Joe", which is across the street from the King Solomon Hotel. We then strolled up King David Street, cutting across a garden area, coming upon the tomb of King Herod and his family. Interestingly, not very well marked. We went back into the Old City for lunch at a little outdoor eatery. They are everywhere in the open market place.

We have observed, so far at least, that the vendors in the market are not terribly intrusive. Now, if you catch their eye or show interest in their wares, then they will show a lot of interest in you! Another observation, it looks and smells clean. We have had different experiences in our travels to the marketplaces of different countries.

You can hear the Muslim call to prayer regularly from a tower that looms above the city. We have been to the Jewish, Christian & Armenian Quarters so far. We have not yet ventured into the Muslim Quarter. We went to the entrance of the Western (wailing) Wall but it was very crowded and Nat's pocket knife would not pass through the security screening metal detector. So another day for the WW.

It is now Friday evening, the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from sundown Friday until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact time, therefore, differs from week to week and from place to place, depending on the time of sunset at each location.

I don't know if we will venture out this evening or not. We meet with the staff in the morning, so we might return to the kitchen tonight for a little more familiarization.

We do wish all who joined our journey today a very Happy New Year!

Shalom y'all