The Shuk

One of the great things that I’ve discovered about Jerusalem so far is the existence of the shuk. An outdoor marketplace about twenty minutes from the gates of the old city, the shuk is host to hundreds of vendors selling fruits, vegetables, spices, breads, spreads, and nearly anything else you can possibly imagine. But the best part about this food paradise is not the freshness of the produce, or the impressive variety of food for sale, but the prices. You can buy a substantial amount of fresh fruits and vegetables for around thirty shekels, which is less than ten dollars (I think the current rate is about 3.5 shekels=1 dollar). For example, the other day I bought two pomegranates for two and a half shekels. That’s like 35 US cents per pomegranate! I think that’s an amazing deal, though when I mentioned it to certain family members of mine, they chose to focus on how I might stain my shirt with pomegranate juice, rather than on these incredible savings. There’s just no pleasing some people.

Olives. Lots and lots of delicious olives. And some guy selling them.

I'm not even sure what all of these veggies are.

Bread.

All sorts of nuts.

Dried fruits.

Inside the shuk.

Shopping at the shuk.

Herbs and spices

Aged for a thousand days. I love cheese, but that seems a bit excessive.

I'm not sure if this is wine or olive oil.

Mmmmmm

I took this picture as a reminder that I needed to go back here and buy some coins.

Some shuk street performers. They didn't sound that great, surprisingly.

Just a short post, but look for another one soon!

Shana Tovah!

I’m back! Not only have I been really busy with my Hebrew classes, but my laptop charger also died like a week ago, and trying to find a new one has become an epic quest spanning two continents and filled with disappointment and sorrow. But the good news is that I’m able to borrow a friend’s charger until I find a replacement. And my Hebrew ulpan just ended (I got a 93, not a huge deal), so now I have a break for Rosh Hashanah (look for a blog post about Rosh Hashanah soon!) until Sunday. Life is good.

Anyways, Jerusalem is amazing. I may have mentioned that before. On Saturday the 24^th, my roommate (or apartment-mate, technically) and I walked down to the Old City, where we spent hours losing ourselves in the maze-like streets. It’s hard to describe how beautiful the city is, and unfortunately no picture I could ever take can truly compare to the experience of seeing these things first hand. But that hasn’t stopped me from taking hundreds of pictures already, some of which I’ll share with you now:

Before we get to the Old City pictures, this is an IDF (Israeli Defense Force) helicopter that woke me up when it landed outside my window.

This is it taking off. One of dozens that flew by during the week leading up to the expected UN vote on the 23rd.

Cool building we saw on the way to the Old City.

Tower. Still on the way to the city.

The streets of the Old City.

The minaret of a mosque in the Old City.

Old City streets.

Rugs for sale.

Graffiti. I also just noticed how cool of a word 'graffiti' is.

More streets.

Cool rug. If I had some more shkalim (hebrew for shekels), I'd buy this.

The inside of some chapel that we just walked into.

The inside of the church (Lutheran, I think) in the Old City that Jacob (my apartment-mate) is planning on going to. While we were walking around, we discovered the entrance to the church's bell tower, which we climbed to discover an amazing view.

Looking out from the bell tower. By far the coolest view that I've had of the city yet.

Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where I'm studying, as seen from the bell tower.

Same as above, except zoomed out.

The view from another side of the tower.

Dome of the Rock. Still haven't made it up there yet.

More of the city.

City streets.

A shop.

This is the tower that we climbed. Pretty cool.

The Old City is filled with shops like these, some more interesting than others. In fact, one of these shops, run by a man named Omar, will be the focus of an upcoming post, so stay tuned!

Outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Just inside the Church.

The underside of these arch-like things were beautiful.

Check out this floor!

Another part of the Church. Gold everywhere.

These people are kneeling at some stone which I learned later is the Stone of the Anointing (thanks wikipedia!), where Jesus's body was supposedly prepared for burial. But seeing as the stone itself was only added to the Church in 1810, I see some problems with this theory.

This is the altar to the Rock of Calvary, which is the twelfth station of the cross.

A mosiac, most likely hundreds of years old.

Some of the Church walls were covered in tiny cross carvings like these.

More cool floors.

This, supposedly, is Jesus's tomb, where he was buried. But I guess this is more of a Catholic belief.

I don't know my church architectural terms, but this was right next to Jesus's supposed tomb.

View of the ceiling.

Cool floors AND cool ceilings! But seriously, this dome was awesome. It looks a bit Art Deco-ish to me.

A view of the new city from the walls of the old.

You can't really tell from this picture, but there's sort of like a valley-type thing going here. There's one hill right on the left, another right in the center, and then one more kind of behind the first hill. It's really cool to see in person but you sort of lose the depth with the camera.

Some ruins outside the city walls.

Wow, look at that creatively crafted picture!

This goes with the next picture.

See above.

Walking along the walls.

Looking out along the walls.

Symbolism!

I was going to write a bit more, but those pictures took forever to upload, and now my laptop is almost dead. But keep checking back, because a new post is coming soon, I promise!

As always, thanks for reading.