View from the top

If you know me well enough, you knew from my last post that I was going to be back at the Muslim quarter of the Old City the very next day. This time though, a friend and I walked to it from the dorms. It was a pretty long walk, but Jerusalem is cooling down a bit, and so even though the sun was still beating down ferociously from above, there was also an occasional cool breeze to mollify the heat.

I bought myself one of the three things I vowed to buy in the Middle East. I bought a 20 shekel Azan alarm clock!!

When I was in Morocco, I loved waking up, yes even at five in the morning, to the muezzin's call to prayer resonating from all corners of the city. After going back to the states, I realized that hearing the call to prayer was something that I really loved and really missed. I read somewhere later on that in all the brick-a-brack type stores in any Middle Eastern souk, one can find alarm clocks that wake you up with the call to prayer-I knew I would have to get AT LEAST one. I'll probably end up buying up a collection before I return home.

And there, in the souk of the Old City, I found several! There were Azan clocks that rang five times a day, and multi-colored Azan clocks, small ones, big ones, and all wonderful. I bought one that only rings once since I figure I won't be home enough to enjoy the other four.

(You can see my new Azan clock as the crowning photo of this blog. By the way, do you like the new layout?)

After some intense roaming around, gobbling down sticky honeyed Arabic desserts, drinking pomegranate juice, and haggling for random unnecessary purchases, we took a breather by the entrance to Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock. We weren't allowed in because it's disrespectful to enter after a certain time especially during Ramadan, so we watched as huge crowds filed in. I have yet to visit the mosque and the dome, but I'd never found the entrance before-I'll get to them some day.


































Also, today as I was taking my jog, I realized why I put myself through this painful run almost every day. To be honest, I really dislike running-I would much rather be taking a nap. But as I gazed out at the view overlooking Jerusalem, I realized this view reminded me everyday how lucky I am to be here. As much as I complain about things around here, I would not rather be anywhere else right now in my life.

And I'm sorry to be cliche, but it also made me realize just how unique Jerusalem is. On the one hand, it is unfortunate that Jerusalem is still a divided city; half the city is festooned in colorful blinking Ramadan lights and is less "modern", and the other half is dominated by architectural giants and a lighted menorah. There are some Jewish Israelis who have never ventured into the Muslim quarter of the Old City or even to East Jerusalem, I'm sure it's the same vice versa, although more Palestinians/ Arab Israelis probably go to West Jerusalem for jobs than Israeli Jews go to East Jerusalem.

The longer I'm here, the more I feel the subtle and sometimes not so subtle tensions between Jews and Muslims. This city is full of unspoken rules and muffled discrimination. I'm starting to understand that both sides have valid points, both sides are marred by fundamentalism, both sides are misunderstood, both sides are just trying to exist, and ultimately, both sides are fighting for peace.

On the other hand, above the clamor of the city and the politics and the religion, the view from the top shows a tentative coexistence if only because of proximity of sacred sites, but it is a coexistence nonetheless.


(picture from www. jerusalemshots.com)