"Hello Pretty Lady People!"

Good Morning from East Jerusalem!

It is almost 6am here and I have been up for an hour and a half or so doing homework... We had our "orientation walk" into the city yesterday morning, and then afterwards, we were able to stay in the city and explore. I ended up in a group of 6 walking around the Old City and then we slowly made our way back to the center. The JC is on the Mount of Olives which is in East Jerusalem. The Old City is about a 20 minute walk from the JC, and is mostly in East Jerusalem. On the other side (and including part of the Old City) is West Jerusalem. Our walking tour took us from the Center, through East Jerusalem, through the Old City, and through part of West Jerusalem. We then backtracked (but wandered down different streets) on the way back. It was great :-)

I loved thinking as I was walking "I am seeing the city that I am going to be living in for the next four months," it was so Surreal!!! :-)

Here are a few shots from our walk:

St. John the Baptists Church (Greek Orthodox) -- Dr. Jackson said that this church is very rarely open (the last time he went inside was in the late 90s), so we got a treat!

 A view of the Old City from the top of a Christian Hotel

 Kippas for sale in West Jerusalem (the skull caps worn by Orthodox Jews) -- there are tons of really cool looking ones -- I snapped this picture because I saw a guy on the plane ride here wearing one that said "The Beatles" on it, just like this one and I thought it was rad.

 West Jerusalem (with Jane)

 Pointing to Jerusalem on this sweet art piece in West Jerusalem (the red is Europe, the orange is Africa, the green is Asia, and behind me is a tiny piece of America)

 We found these concrete cushions randomly in West Jeru (there is a sign there warning not to jump onto them, haha)

Outside the wall to the Old City

 In the Old City

Roman pillars in the Old City Cardo (Byzantine Period)

 Malia, Erica, Jane, and Erika :-)

 Entering the Jewish Quarter in the Old City

Spices!!!

Malia and Me in the Old City

Mikkel looking like a tourist...

Behind us is Damascus gate (entrance to the Old City)

The Jerusalem Center (a view from East Jerusalem)

Love you all!!!

-Erika

PS: the title of this post refers to what a guy said to our group of 6 (4 girls) when we walked past him in the Old City--as Americans (and especially as Mormon American Females) we stick out a lot, and I noticed several people commenting on it or just looking at us when we passed... Also, they all recognize us as Mormons (in the Money Changer there are notes from BYU students up everywhere, even a wedding announcement and a bumper sticker for the Utah Jazz!) and all the shopkeepers say things like "Hello Mormons!" and "Let the Mormons Through" and "Where are you from? Salt Lake City? You are Mormons!" It's great! I love it here :-) -E