Monday, July 14

We were awake by 4:30 a.m. so we spent a couple of hours just praying together before rising at 6:30. Gavriel left for his final trip prior to the Gathering so we are on our own to navigate and familiarize ourselves wth the city for a few days. We are gradually getting a few of our bazillion questions answered. Where do we grocery shop, where can we get a copy, where is the ATM machine, where is the post office, what is the value of all these coins, when are garbage days, what gets recycled, how do we rent a car when the yellow pages are all in Hebrew...even updating the blog is interesting because the page to make changes comes up in Hebrew andI have to guess 'what to enter where' and to remember that they read from right to left so my entries have to be backwards from my way of doing things. Everything takes longer than I'm used to at home. BUT we are enjoying every bit of the learning experience.

We went to the YMCA in down town Jerusalem this afternoon and toured the tower. We walked up 207 steps to the top. What an incredible view of the entire city! Just as we began the long climb to the top a gentleman asked us if we were from Tacoma. "Yes," we said, "How did you know?" Well, Dave had on his Tacoma First Nations T-shirt from the Sobriety Pow Wow. They were from Seattle. Small world.

We also walked to the Agron Building to see the "Time Elevator Jerusalem." It was a journey through the 3000 year history of Jerusalem. The leading character was Chaim Topol from "Fiddler of the Roof." There were lots of special effects, i.e. moving seats, lighting and sound, splashing water, etc. all of which produced the feeling of being on a roller coaster.

We walked through a large cemetery and then Wilf Park on the way home. By days end by legs were so tired from all the walking that when we got to our apartment I laid down to rest and did not get up again until 6:30 the next morning.