A friend emailed me with some questions about Jerusalem. I thought
you might find the questions and answers informative.
What is the architecture like? (and I add greeting culture)
East Jerusalem (Arab) has an aging infrastructure. There is
generally a lot of trash on the streets and it isn't very
well maintained. The buildings themselves aren't awful, just
fairly modest as a rule, and generally there will be up to five
floors in apartment buildings, which are the majority style of
building over here. Few houses are one story, with multiple
levels being the rule. It strongly reminds me of Latin America,
with Arabic
switched in for Spanish and different gender
communication expectations. In Latino culture, you greet whoever
the heck you want and almost all will reply. Here, guys say hi
to guys who will almost always reply, and same goes for
girls-girls (at least I imagine this would be the case if any of
the girls I go into the city with would
believe me...) It is considered improper in many places for
guys to say hello to women who are strangers and even more so
for women to say hello to men they don't know.
Architecture in West Jerusalem? High rises, apartment
buildings, light rails, clean streets, very western-looking.
Almost all buildings in this area--like all of them--are faced
with a beige/tan chipped limestone that hardens and grays
somewhat with age when it is in the sun, but this only makes it
harder and stronger. Which is good if your house is made out of
it. The Jerusalem center is made out of this same limestone,
keeping with tradition. In West Jerusalem you can try saying
hello to anyone you want, and they probably won't acknowledge
you, period. It just really isn't a greeting culture. Israelis
here, secular or religious, just aren't quite as friendly to
strangers (you just have to get to know them first.)
Architecture in the Old City? This is interesting. You have
structures in the Old City that are ancient, but none quite
dating back to the time of Christ (Jerusalem has been burned
down and rebuilt seven times.) There are probably a couple of
small churches that are older, but the Dome of the Rock is
really old. It maybe dates back to....691 AD? Yes. The temple
mount itself does date back to Herodian times, as it could not
be completely destroyed by the Romans when they destroyed the
temple itself in 70 AD. The city is divided into four portions, called quarters. They aren't equal in size. You have
the Muslim, Christian, Armenian, and Jewish quarters. Nothing in
the Jewish quarter is older than 1967 when it was rebuilt
following the Six Day War. The other quarters have a mix
of building, most of which I would say are very old. Portions
of the city are very residential, others are like
church/synagogue/mosque areas, and there are many, many
merchants.selling all kinds of stuff along the roads. Much of
the stuff sold in the Old City is stuff for tourists, but locals
also buy clothes, spices, and food there. And fluorescent pink pickled
jicama root and cauliflower, which doesn't quite classify
as food. The entire city wall (which has also been destroyed
every now and again) was rebuilt by the Ottoman emperor Suleiman
the Magnificent in 1536. You can walk along almost all of the
top of it, which I find incredibly enjoyable because it is like
I am on really old castle-y walls. Because I am. Other stuff
about the Old City since we are talking about it--the smells in
the Old City shift quickly as you walk through it. Let's
imagine.
(Dreamy harp noise sounds as the air before your eyes blurs....)
You are looking at Damascus Gate, one of the large gates of
the city. There is no room for cars, so most everything is moved with
carts or on foot. Trash is carried out by a small, slim
tractor hauling a short and tall-walled trailer--like 8 or 9 feet
tall. After it passes, You walk past a bunch of fruit vendors
immediately, and all around you people are selling clothes,
food, cheap toys, electronics--this is the what you could say is
the bazaar. The bazaars in this portion of the world are
indeed very similar to mercados in Mexico or Paraguay
I've been to. When it is closed, a metal or roll-down metal door
can be used to close it, and it is full of lots of things, and the
kind of thing depends on what kind of shop it is. For tourists, you
have ceramics, scarves, leather bags and sandals, assorted souvenir
junk, and also religious merchandise and supplies
for pilgrims--incense, candles, portraits of saints, etc. The
smells shift constantly Some are good, some are bad.. One second it
is recently butchered meat : P , next it is incense, then some
guy in front of you exhales and you get a faceful of cigarrette
smoke (which I think they mix other things into. It's still
revolting but into a different way). Then, you walk through the
smell of freshly baking bread, then you smell a leather shop, a
motorbike putters by in the narrow streets where only pedestrians
can fit. Then comes the smell of pickled foods, a tiny tractor
hauling garbage drives by, and all the while the background scent
of big, open spice shops pulses beneath it all like the
market's lifeblood. To figure that out....take every spice
in your cupboard and open them all, and take a big, deep breath.
Kind of like that.
And I love it.
Is it similar to Salt Lake?
West Jerusalem is a lot like Salt Lake but made all out of stone.
East Jerusalem and the Old City are pretty different. I don't
really like West Jerusalem as much. I feel like a lot of the
students prefer it because it is more similar to what they are
comfortable with, which I suppose is no crime, but I came here
in part to try to get to know something else entirely, and so
far its been pretty good.
What is the vegetation like?
When I got here, very brown. Very. Imagine Nevada in summertime.
Yes, Ethan, maybe we are hanging out somewhere by
Mesquite. Israel often alternately looks like Nevada or portions
of Southern California. It can be incredibly green when there is
rain, but that is just beginning now. Galilee (where I was
recently) is much greener as there is more rain that falls and
more water in general. Galilee looks more like Central
California.
I like plants and pay attention to them. So I was surprised when I
saw so many unfamiliar plants here. Which leads us to---
What kind of trees grow there besides olive trees?
Lots of pine trees (gymnosperms if you want to get botanical)
and piney things grow here.
Cedars, juniper trees, pine trees that look really, really
dry and so flammable.
Date palms, and other relatives that are inedible but
inevitable as you walk around.
Nopal cactus (look it up) is pretty common. This surprised me, as
it is from the Americas, but it was introduced here and thrives,
but not invasively--it's not taking over or anything.
Jujubes/jujube trees. Also pretty common.Supposedly used to make
the crown-of-thorns for Jesus back in the day.
Eucalyptus trees from Australia are all over. One of the world's
more
invasive species.
Lots of thorny plants.
Pomegranates. Citrus of all sorts. Loquats. Lots of
rosemary-like
bushes, but they're not. Laurel trees. as well.
Most of the dates are grown on plantations by the Dead Sea.
Bananas are also grown, and in low-lying areas such as Galilee I
have seen small mango trees. There are huge plantings of them
but none are more than a couple years old. Looks like someone is
investing a lot, because they aren't big enough to have fruit
yet. It gets cold here in the winter but doesn't freeze, so
anything that can tolerate up to being frozen does just fine,
and better if it needs little water. Water is a major issue
here. Gardens aren't watered with sprinklers, but drip
irrigation systems which are far less wasteful. Most of
the water comes from the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee. By
the time the Jordan River reaches the Dead Sea, 90% of its water has
already been taken away. So the Dead Sea is...dying. But if it gets
into your eye while you are there, you are reminded that you are
very
much
alive.
(Based off of the volume and frequency of yelling from my peers.
My eyes maintained normal salinity.)
What is campus like?
Campus is really pretty cool. It is a beautiful building and
probably the nicest one I will ever live in during my entire
life. Two drawbacks--you see everyone else all the time, which
is usually good but it can be hard to get quiet time.
Second--since the Center takes its security very seriously
(which has been reassuring of late)you
don't see a lot of the neighbors, so it isn't always like living
in a foreign country...I occasionally feel like I am coming back
to my palace in Agrabah away from "those irksome locals."
I have come to terms with this, though--I am not as integrated,
but I can do my part and talk to people anyhow, so I've been
able to meet some new acquaintances in their homes, which has
been really enjoyable. Annie pointed out to me that yes, the
Center is more isolated by nature, but it doesn't make it bad, just
different.
I am really going to miss it here.
