Today was quite a day. I was woken up to eat still-warm falafel and hummus before going to the Jerusalem mall with my (girl) cousin. The weather was insane (crazy wind, and then rain) and the mall was absolutely packed, as the Jews are getting ready for their Passover that starts next Monday, and the Christians have Palm Sunday this weekend, and Easter the following week-end. Needless to say, everyone is heading to the malls to take advantage of the holiday deals before the prices go back up. Finding parking was ridiculous and took about 15 minutes to find a spot, but that issue, along with the drivers here, deserve a post all of their own. We strolled around for a little over 2 hours, during which I cracked and bought the cutest pair of light pink heels. I haven't even changed my currency yet but they let me use dollars, which I thought was awesome!!! I already know I won't be doing much 'shopping' here besides souvenirs and probably Kinder's chocolate (hard to find in the States) and since these shoes were super comfortable, I gave in. My first purchase here!! I'd say the prices here are a big deterrent for me since 1. if/when I do shop, I thrive on bargain shopping, and 2. I don't feel there is anything here I can't find in the States. But I already knew this coming here, and planned accordingly, so it's not a concern. The exception will of course involve the endless religious trinkets, hence the 'souvenirs' (which will be purchased last). Those Old City open-air markets with tons of lovely scarves will also get my business, provided I get some serious bargains after exercising my haggling abilities (and trust that I will!!!).
As planned, later in the day we went to watch the/some Arab Catholics on the Via Dolorosa pilgrimage. There was only about 25 people in all, of different nationalities and age groups. For some reason I expected a lot more people to be there, but then I was also told that people go on this walk at any time throughout the day, and that if you wanted, you could even get your own cross to carry and go on your very own pilgrimage yourself... MMM, never thought of it that way... Before starting the walk, we looked around the Church of the Flagellation. The walk then started right across the street, at Umariya Elementary school, a Muslim school part of the Muslim quarter. I believe this is supposed to be the site of the prison where Jesus was tortured and kept until his crucifixion. We then visited the rest of the 8 stations, which is pretty much all of the Muslim quarter. Since these streets are lined with shops, there is constant commotion, cars and mopeds passing by (and these streets are narrow as heck; I still sometimes get shocked that cars can even FIT through!!!), and stray cats and animals in general. I was walking and looked to my right, only to have a huge white parrot with the feathers on his head raised up, staring at me with his beak wide open. As if I wasn't as surprised as he was that he's there, perched on the wall... LOL!!!! I wish I had caught a picture, but it happened so fast that I didn't have time to bust out the camera. Of course the walk ended at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which we entered and then continued in to the right, down 2 flights of stairs, the first of which leads to a big mosaic on the ground, and the second to a small, cave-like Catholic church. We stayed there a bit and a few prayers were said, and some songs sung. It concluded with a young man with a really beautiful voice singing a Latin song.
The people I attended with were Orthodox, and one asked a Catholic attendee if one Orthodox song could be sung during this pilgrimage, and the answer was a flat out 'no' (but almost like a "are you crazy?!" kind of response). Sadly, this only reminds me that divisions can be many in this place, even within Christian communities themselves. What about people who have parents of different Christian denominations (like my own for that matter)? Are they supposed to choose just 'one' denomination to 'like' better? Does denomination even matter? Shouldn't it be that we work on our hearts instead of which denomination we choose to claim? Will God ask us which denomination we are, and give preference, when we answer one way or another? I know what I feel, and I know that I enjoyed being there, and that is all that matters to me. To get home, we took this kind of shuttle service for Arabs and it was quite convenient (my first time on public transportation here!! LOL). Apparently there will be the major Via Dolorosa walk happening on Good Friday, and I believe we are going to be attending that too, but following a different route. Many things will surely happen before then, so I'll be sharing those as well. =) +
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