Old City Introduction

They wasted no time getting us going on our first day of class (I included a picture of our classroom as proof that I'm in class!). After a brief introduction to the campus the morning lecture began introducing us to the geographical features of the city of Jerusalem. Then after lunch it was off to walk the city to get an overview of it all. This 5+ hour (hot) walk introduced us to most of the highlights of the city. (The pictures below give you a quick picture of each one.) We spent significant time in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (possibly the place where Jesus was buried) and then caught a view of the Golden Dome before visiting St. Ann's cathedral (where the acoustics were spectacular as we sang) and the Pool of Bethesda. A walk outside the wall gave us a view of the Mount of Olives before our walk back took us past the Western Wall. There were many other places we stopped to learn as well.

Interesting (and sad) story about the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. There are 6 churches that claim that location (Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Armenian, Ethiopian and Syrian). They have had to learn to share and it hasn't been easy to do. To solve that problem, in 1852 someone drew up what is called the status quo. It is an agreement on who gets to do what at what time and for how long and what areas of the church they can claim or are responsible for. They still have significant disagreements and sometimes literal fights when someone strays from the status quo. Any movement in the common areas must be agreed to by all six churches. (There is a wooden ladder outside an upper story window ledge that hasn't moved since before 1852.) Everything there is ritual and is loaded with significance. Back in the 12th century the churches were fighting over who had the right to lock the doors of the church at night and then open the doors in the morning. Unable to peacefully settle their disagreement, the Saladin settled it for them. Still to this day, the keeper of the key responsible for locking and unlocking the Church of the Holy Sepulchre belongs to...two muslim families.

I am required to write a reflection each day that we are out on a field study (including today). When appropriate I will also post that reflection. Or maybe that will be all I post some days. So don't be surprised if there are two very different types of posts some days.

Quiz already tomorrow, so I am off. I'm not sure I'm ready for this school thing again!