Jaffa

Our field trip last Tuesday was to Jaffa, an ancient city on the Israeli coast now combined with Tel Aviv. Jaffa is incredibly old, and once served as the principal port for Jerusalem during the crusader period. Despite having visited Tel Aviv several times, it was my first time in Jaffa, though after having been there once, I am confident it won’t be my last visit.

We were in Jaffa for the majority of the day, and visited a mosque, several churches, a theatre, and a successful local coffee company, where we were treated to coffee and lunch, while learning about customs and society in Jaffa from one of the company’s owners. It was a great way to spend such a beautiful and sunny day. 

Skyline of Jaffa.

Dogs on the beach. Miss you Boca :(

Tel Aviv in the distance.

The mosque we visited.

Close up of the mosque door.

Ornate mosque window.

One of the two domes of the mosque.

The minbar, a pulpit-like structure in the mosque.

Inside the mosque.

Our teacher, Daphna (in blue), explaining the art and architecture of this specific mosque.

Door to the prayer hall.

Traditional Arab sweets generously provided by the mosque!

Parts of more ancient structures, which were used in the mosque's construction, can be found throughout the building.

The area for ablutions, or washing, which is compulsory for Muslims before prayer.

The minaret. 

Mosque pigeons. 

The mosque courtyard.

We met this woman at the end of our tour of the mosque, and she proceeded to tell us stories from the Quran in Arabic for a good fifteen minutes before we were able to politely make our escape. 

After the mosque, we visited the Arab Hebrew Theatre of Jaffa, where we spoke with one of the  theatre directors. 

Funny.

Jaffa clock tower. 

A gaggle of Israeli soldiers taking shelter in the tower's shadows. 

The reconstructed facade of an old colonial-era Jaffa building, which was bombed in the early 1900s.

Flowers in the traffic circle. 

Our visit to Anton Coffee Company, where Anton's wife, Doris, served us a delicious lunch, and spoke with us about the local culture and customs. 

After lunch, we met up with a friend of Yael's (another one of our teachers, who you can see on the right). A successful American businessman who gave up everything to become a monk, he showed us around one of the older churches in Jaffa.

Facade of the monk's church.

Mosaic map of the city. 

Palm trees. 

A fountain in the Old City of Jaffa, with all the signs of the zodiac. 

Street market.

St. Peter's Church.

Inside of St. Peter's Church. 

Jaffa shoreline. 

She's seen better days.

There were a bunch of weddings going on when we visited, and I was bored at the time, so I started taking pictures of the couples. 

Mediterranean Sea from Jaffa. 

Pesach (Passover) Break is coming up soon, and hopefully I'll have a chance to go back to Jaffa sometime during our two weeks off.