Experiencing life as a Tourist

Drew and I finally got to experience the tourist life for one afternoon. We woke up on an early Sunday morning, which for us is unusual because we take advantage of our days to sleep in, both of us waking and waiting for the smell of coffee to fill our bedroom, then remembered, Oh we are not in America. We then pulled out the Jerusalem map and made a sketch of what our day would entail, first a long walk to the checkpoint, then security check, hop on a bus to take us to Jaffa Gate, then walk down Jaffa street to find the nearest coffee shop, a continued walk to the travel agency where Drew’s adventures would begin, then to the shuk (farmers market), then back to the Old City, to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, back up all these stairs and steep alley ways, back on the bus to the checkpoint, through security, another long walk home, and finished with us passing out on the couch. With that we got ready and headed out to the world of the unknown. The walk to the checkpoint was…….long, and the only way was up, up and up. Our adventures through the city was filled with lots of people and lots of people kissing things, it’s always interesting to see how people respond differently when seeing artifacts that relate back to Christ. Some times it’s extremely hard to soak it all in because of the constant shoving and hurrying to take a picture, i was wishing the room was silent and peaceful, like the kind of respect people show in museums, only so that i could hear myself think and sit and soak up what was before me. It was enjoyable being surrounded by the constant smell of incense and the lighting of candles, the most beautiful thing was at times you could hear people whispering sweet prayers to their Lord, such devotion, desperation and passion.

After seeing all of these things and walking through small stone alleyways we both looked at one another and agreed it was time to go. As we headed away from the church we passed a cat with her dirty kittens, a man selling a bottle of water for way too much, a man trying to push his corn stand up this steep alley, people smoking and shouting, the colors of fabric replacing the skies, olive wood carvings of unseen camels….., shirts that makes us shake our heads, tourists taking their picture next to everything and nothing, people chasing after you to sell you an item way over priced, and the smell of warm pita bread making our stomachs roar. Such a fun day just being able to get away and experience the life of a tourist.