Arabic trip to Jerusalem: Temple Mount/Haram-esh Sharif+ in a series of pictures

On Tuesday, the Arabic students went on our last excursion: to Jerusalem. We went up the ramp to the Temple Mount/Haram-esh Sharif then took a tour of West Jerusalem.

(inside the controversial ramp)

(view of those praying at the Western/Wailing wall; men on the left, women on the right)

(view of the bridge from near the top)

On the Temple Mount/Haram-esh Sharif:

(painted to keep pests away)

(ablution fountains with the Dome of the Rock in the distance)

(Al-Aqsa Mosque)

(studying the Qur'an in the shade)

(an epic walk up to this amazing building)

(clock in Arabic numbers!)

(by the stairs)

(this little boy peeked in a hole... since we couldn't get in that day, we also peeked in...)

(...and saw such beauty! check out that marble!!!

the last time i was here, i was captured by how worshipful this space is; that is what i love so much about the Dome... it's breathtakingly beautiful too, of course!)

(the Dome used to be covered in gold mosaics like these... the majority-blue ones we see now are from Italy)

(so stunning)

(a view of the cemeteries in the distance)

(down the steps from the Dome, once we had to leave)

(face)

(guards)

The Western/Wailing Wall:

(this time, i didn't stick a prayer into the wall, but i stood by and prayed silently with the other women)

View of rooftops from the bus:

View of the Old City from afar:

 

(i spy a golden Dome...)

(zoomed-in)

A quick run to my favorite market during the lunch break:

(Myles and i became friends with the bartender here; they have amazing soup)

Neat map:

(that is our guard for the day. he stood in front of the lion for a while, then slowly placed his hand on its head and held it there for a long moment.)

(as we looked out at East Jerusalem)

(the Old City walls)

Tomorrow's the final, then Maria and I are off to the beach for the last time before flying out on Friday!

fleas and delicious chocolate spread with tangents

... not together, but in eventual succession.

Maria and I found the cutest black kitten in the laundry room. It was mewing, mewing, mewing. We thought it was stuck on the fence, so Maria poked it.

The kitten wasn't stuck after all--it just wanted some attention, and probably food. Alas, we ended up with fleas all over our legs. Ew. Don't worry... I'm not bringing them back to the States (I think). We washed and swept and washed and cleaned again and again and again and haven't gotten more bites...

(sign on the laundry room door)

(the kitten!)

By the way, we live in a dormitory that looks like a bomb shelter:

(Federmann Dorms)

But the view is nice from outside it and there are lovely cascading flowers if you look hard enough for them:

During the second week of Arabic, I mentioned in class one day how all the faces in Arabic distract me sometimes. No one in the room knew what I was talking about except for Katie, who saw a smilie in the TAA. So, I went up and drew some circles around a few friends on the board:

(my favorite is the guy on the right smoking a pipe. he's really enjoying it.)

Best snack ever in Israel? Pretzels with "chocolate spread" and beer. Blissss:

 

(look at Maria's graceful arm!)

(Giusi took a few pix of me and Maria reveling in the deliciousness)

The Arabic students are leaving for Jerusalem at 5:55am tomorrow (oi vey). Until then, here is our Druze guide doin' the cha cha!

(photo credit: Katie and/or Annie... can't remember who took it!)