Plans have been in the works so long, that I had started to believe that moving to Palestine and Israel was something I talked about, not something that I would actually pull off. But, much to my chagrin and delight, here I am.
I have made it, and I am tired. Naturally, I didn't get my packing done until late the night before I left, and I've never been very skilled at sleeping on planes. I arrived this morning around 8:00 am, and fortunately, preceded all of the other people in my program. This left me with a chance to get organized, do a little work, and then wander about the city. Sheer adrenaline has been keeping me up, which is evidently what one needs to do to minimize jet-lag.
This city hasn't struggled for a moment in providing me with adrenaline. It is a rugged and romantic city, filled to the brim with antiquity, hopes, tragedies, and intrigue. I really do get the sense that I'm standing at the very center of the world and that life is erupting out of this place; life in its full range of complexity.
It has been a rewarding day and probably one of the few that I'll be able to just wander around without thinking too much. It has been full of rich images, and I'll try and share a few here now:
The doors to the chapel of the church where we are staying.
An olive tree outside the wall of the Old City.
A fruit stand which smelled wonderfully of guavas.
The Wailing Wall - the stones of the Temple Mount, which was held by ancient Jews to be the very navel of the earth, the place where the divine presence connected with the physical world and instilled it with meaning.
love the notion that you're standing in the center of the world. so cool. tell us more about your living situation at the church!
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