Jerusalem, Israel

Being in Jerusalem is a really interesting experience.  The first impression I got when we drive away from the airport was that it was all so different!  All of the buildings looked like they were built hundreds sand hundreds of years ago.  Everyone here is a horrible driver (that's not even a generalization, it's a fact) and they are all way too free with their honking.  There are always people everywhere, and they're so different!  Not only are they different from me, they're different from each other.  There were the Israeli boys doing backflips in the park, the Orthodox Jews wearing dark colors, the cute little Israeli kids speaking Hebrew, tourists all over the place, other students on gap years, and so much more.  Whether we're going for a jog around the Old City walls (trying to find the Zion gate, which we were unsuccessful at) for hours, walking around what is called Crack Square, buying falafels in town, spending time at the park, or wandering the Old City (the Jewish quarter, where we're allowed, of course), there is such diversity.  And there's always something new to find and somewhere new to explore!

One thing that struck me was the cohesiveness of history and today.  It's amazing to stand on the Herodian stones of the Old City drinking an Icearoma (equivalent of a Starbucks mocha frappe).  We can buy ancient Judaic art next to a store where we can get super cheap and tasty pizza.  People selling things and panhandling and kids running around and people praying and students studying and teenagers hanging out and tourists taking pictures and parents teaching kids about their history, pointing out sites and scenery.  It's praying at the Western Wall, and then going out dancing just down the street.  It's everything we love, everything we are proud of, everything we remember and study and look back on; it's our history.  And it's our present, where we live our lives and go about our day-to-day routines.  But it's also our future.  I see people singing Hatikvah, people protesting for change in tent villages, youth movements (like Netzer Olami) working in the community, and the overall congeniality everyone seems to have.  Whether you're an old Orthodox Jew who has lived in Jerusalem for all your life, or you're a tourist, or you're a teenager girl from California on a gap year, we all want to experience the land and the people and relish in Jerusalem.