Day 6 - Jerusalem and the Bedouins
Tuesday, January 22nd marked the half-way point of our experience in Israel. It marked a more significant day for Israelis: the country's national elections were held. Whereas many Americans need to hustle to voting centers before or after work on election days, Israelis get the entire day off. With only 7+ million citizens, a proportionally-representative legislative system, and the lack of a preposterous electoral college, each Israeli vote can be quite significant. Our group's Israelis did their parts as well: we waited on the bus for a few minutes after leaving the kibbutz so that a few of our Israelis could cast their votes, and the rest did so here-and-there over the course of the day. If you're curious about the results and their implications, you can certainly find plenty of information online.
Our destination in the morning was the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, an unpredictably choreographed maze of streets and passageways leading to modern-day schools, offices, homes, and shops, as well as to ancient ruins and historical sites. The entire city is built of white stone taken from the surrounding hills, and the resulting architectural consistency and seamless integration of the old and the new makes this a special place. Timelessness is the word that comes to mind: there are very few places in the world where, the contents of the buildings and the appearance of the passers-by aside, the century in which you were strolling might be tough to determine.
After an hour or two or strolling through the Old Quarter, we emerged under the gaze of the Temple Mount. Standing beneath the golden dome, as it has for over two thousand years, we saw the Western Wall, to which so much Jewish hope and prayer has been directed over the thousands of years since the destruction and exile that followed the Roman conquest. After passing through a security check-point and segregating by sex, we were given some time to visit the wall on our own. Probably little needs to be said about just how special and meaningful this opportunity was.
After leaving the Old City and battling Jerusalem's mid-day traffic, the group dispersed for lunch among the shops and restaurants on Ben Yehuda street. This section of the city offers plenty of souvenir shops - many of which advertise outsized "Taglit Discounts" - and a taste of the group's immense appetite for shopping time was satisfied.
After lunch, pressed for time as usual, we did a quick drive-by tour of several government buildings, and then left the city for the South. Green hills faded to rocks and sand as we entered to Negev Desert, which spans the southern part of the country and covers 60% of its area. The foresightful among the group - those who knew to choose seats on the right-hand side of the bus - enjoyed a spectacular sunset, in which a desert haze dimmed the sun so that it was visible to the naked eye like a prematurely setting moon.
After passing the growing city of Be'er Sheva, we came to our home for the night: a small complex of large tents in the style of the Bedouin culture. These Arab nomads have inhabited the Negev for hundreds of years, and our group was given some insight into their past and present lifestyles. A communal meal was shared, a speaker answered some of our questions about the Bedouin life, and then all 46 of us settled into our single large tent for the night. After a campfire and a couple hours of song, we settled down to an interesting and challenging night of sleep: 46 people sharing one tent is always going to be "fun."
Dale
