First, before I begin: I have to make a quick apology. Apparently I ruffled some feathers in the British Isles yesterday when I posted that we would be "opening" for the King's Singers tonight. What I wrote was misleading: we were not to "open" for them tonight, but rather we sang right before the King's Singers concert in the plaza outside the venue. When I put "opening" in quotes in the last post, I did so to indicate we weren't "opening" per se, but were performing before them outside the venue. Let me be clear that our concert was in no way affiliated with the King's Singers. I would like to apologize for the international incident I caused in the process of updating my blog. I am still unsure how the blog got so much attention, but rest assured that this will not happen again, and I apologize for the wave it caused. This had nothing to do with Maya Shavit, Brady Allred, or the University Singers, and I hope it does not reflect poorly on any of those people. I am just a simple college student keeping up a blog for my family and friends to follow when I travel abroad. Any of this was completely my fault in my poor and misleading wording, and should not be blamed on any of the aforementioned individuals.
Alright, now that I got that done, I would like to announce that the University Singers have been invited to perform with Muse, Jimmi Hendrix, Crosby Stills and Nash, Bob Marley, and Owl City on the plane flight on Saturday evening. It will be the first Transatlantic concert!***
Today we saw Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and what an incredible day it was. We started the day on the Mount of Olives, which is, of course, an magical overlook of the Old City. Seeing the golden-topped Dome of the Rock nearly took my breath away. We have a guide for the rest of our trip, an Arab Christian named Suki (sp?). He pointed out all of the important sites from the viewpoint and their significance. Of course, I took plenty of photos. We also made friends with a couple of men who owned a camel and brought him to the Mount of Olives to ride for about 3 US Dollars. Of course, vast quantities of Singers lined up to ride the camel. This guy must make bank because he easily made about 100 US dollars in a half-hour's time.
The next stop was Mount Zion, said to be the site of King David's tomb and also the site of a beautiful church. The Mount is also supposedly the site of the Last Supper. The tomb of King David is a synagogue owned by orthodox Jews, so men and women were not allowed to enter together. After donning my yarmulke, I entered with our guide, who showed us that there was nothing actually under the blanket that covered the tomb. He explained that this was the place where the histories had placed the tomb of King David, and the actual tomb we visited today was just a place where we can remember him.
Next we went to the Holocaust Museum, Yad Vashem. This was an incredible place, built in concrete to replicate the death camps. We spent nearly two hours here, following the path of the museum and looking at letters, artifacts, and facts about the Nazis' extermination of the Jews. It was a very moving, and very sad experience. As amazing as the museum as a whole was, the two parts that were more incredible weren't part of the exhibits. The first was the Hall of Names, which has shelves three stories high filled with books of the names of people killed in the Holocaust. The room is round, and features a sunken reflecting pool on the very lower floor. Incredible. The second was the Children's Memorial, a pitch-dark series of hallways with the exception of several dim candles. The room, though, is made of mirrors, and the candlelight is reflected in the mirrors to create the illusion of millions of candles stretched out across infinity in the darkness. As we walked, a solemn voice recited the names of every known child killed in the Holocaust.
The next stop was a visit to another museum. There were two main attractions here. The first was a giant model of Jerusalem around the time of the Second Temple, just before the birth of Christ. It was very intricate, and cool to see the differences between then and now. The second was the Shrine of the Book, a place housing the Dead Sea scrolls. This was a remarkable experience. The actual Dead Sea scrolls were right there, with only a pane of plexiglass between them and my eyes. The history overwhelmed me. They had English translations of each scroll as well, so we could read what each one said.
Finally, we crossed the Palestinean border into Bethlehem. This is a town now under the control of Palestine, so you must cross through a very intense-looking wall in a militarized zone to enter the city. Once there, we ate a delightful falafel lunch (yum) and proceeded to the Church of the Nativity, built over the place where Christ was born. Inside, we were able to see a mosaic from the original church floor, dating to the 300s CE, the oldest mosaic in the Middle East. The columns in the church were also very old, dating to the 5th Century CE. But of course, the main attraction was the place where Jesus Christ was born. After descending a narrow stairway, we came upon an anticlimactic shrine surrounded by elaborate Greek Orthodox decoration. Somehow I wish they had just let the cave stay, so it would have felt more like we were actually there.
After the church we had the opportunity to shop at a local store where local Arab Christians made olivewood carvings and figurines, and the tour guide was friends with the owner so we received 40% off all of our purchases. I also had the chance to buy some more gifts from street vendors, including a small bag, which I will need when we explore the old city tomorrow.
At last, the big event of the day had come: the King's Singers concert. We arrived late to the venue but were able to sing about 5 nubmers to a bountiful audience in the plaza, who were very appreciative. Afterward, we went and saw the wonderful King's Singers perform, which was a great experience and a very enjoyable concert.
Tomorrow we are in the Old City of Jerusalem, so the pictures and updates will be plentiful. I am so very busy so I never have time to post pictures but I will try very hard to do so in the morning or tomorrow evening. We will be home soon, and can't wait to see everyone!
***Of course, this is a cruel joke. Just covering my ass. Please don't sue me...
