We finished our conference today a little before 5pm and our host here set up a custom tour of Jerusalem for us. So we went back to our hotel rooms and changed clothes, freshened up a bit. I laid down and almost fell asleep. Seems I'm dealing with constant sleep depravation. It's the traveling. I'm not complaining though. Really. I'm quite comfortable and am enjoying the trip. I'm simply tired from all the travel and speaking. Although, I'm getting used to both now.
I used to get extremely nervous before speaking. Today I stood in front of 300 people and didn't feel a single nerve. Just doing so much seems to make it easier. Knowing the content well helps too. But, as I sat there in the conference hall today right before my talk, I came to the realization that I wasn't a bit nervous. Finally! Our session feedback has been quite positive. Today we received almost all 4s and 5s from 1 - 5 scale. That's considered pretty good for this croud.
Anyway. We met our tour guide in the lobby. Marin Bezic, Guy (didn't get his last name) and I met him and jumped in his van. His name is Jacob Arava. Before I go into the tour, I gotta tell you, this guy was almost as interesting himself as Jerusalem. He was a german who spoke german fluently. I flexed my already sore german muscles with him and was surprised what I was still able to muster. He changed his name when he joined the Israeli airforce to learn to fly helicopters. They sent him home the first time because he said "I was too confident". Judging from his driving, I know exactly what he means. This guy makes the polish and greek cabbies look like grandma moses. No kidding.
As we were driving, I remarked to Guy (secular jew),
"How are you doing back there?"
He said, "I'm praying!"
I said, "I thought you were a secular jew."
He said, "The closer we get to Jerusalem, the more religious I get!"
I couldn't stop laughing out of humor and fear. This guy was nuts. Constantly switching lanes with no warning, tailgating at high speeds only a few feet behind, shooting the gaps between cars and constantly accelerating and braking. I was literally in fear for my life. Guy and I kept looking at each other like "Is this guy for real?". Marin asked Guy, "Do you know him?" Guy said "I've never met him before in my life."
His driving aside, Jacob had an interesting life. He crammed a whole days tour into two hours. He studied archeaology and then received his masters in historical artifacts or something similar. He collects coins, even has some roman, ancient jewish coins and others. He described a widow's mite to me. He was very knowledgeable about Jerusalem and the surrounding area, with dates on the tip of his tongue. He's been a tour guide for 35 years. In the end, I grew to really appreciate his sense of humor.
Jacob took us to the heart of Jerusalem and showed us as much as was possible for the late hour. Most sights were closed, but we were able to see through fences or cracks in the doors. We went to the mount of olives, the holy sepulcre, the garden of gethsemene, and the west wall of the temple. The west wall was definitely the highlight. I was impressed with the sacred character of the people who approached the wall. Well most of them. There were still those who seemed to disregard the nature of the place. Guy said that there was a tradition to ask for money at the wall for poor people, but that some had turned it into a business and kept the money for themselves. For a secular jew, he seemed pretty contemptuous.
For me it was a very solemn moment. I don't know why, but it was very emotional for me. Here was the place where Christ walked and taught. Even Marin, who describes himself as "not religious" was so impressed. Although, perhaps more for it's historical nature than spiritual. I touched the wall and could not help but notice the white shreds of paper with the names of friends and loved ones written upon them, stuffed between the cracks in the walls. The practice is to place the name of the person in the temple wall so that the prayers of those at the wall would bless them. I noticed that the women go down one side to the wall and the men to another. Overall, I was impressed with the reverence the jews showed for the temple. The western wall is considered the most holy place remaining to them because the temple was destroyed. My appreciation for our own temples multiplied. I was also impressed at how close everything is here. Caiphus' palace, the temple mount, the city of David, Bethlehem, the garden of gethsemane, mount of olives, and holy sepulcre all very close together.
As we finished, we went to a great little Kurdish restaurant. It too has a security guard in front with a gun and metal detector in hand. He wasn't friendly or even interested. He looked us over and asked me to raise up my jacket to see if I was carrying a gun. That would take a bit of getting used to.
I'd never had Kurdish food before, but was excited to try. I found it delicious. The finest discovery I made was a little drink that Jacob mixed up. He ordered fresh squeezed red grapefruit juice and sparkling water. Then mixed them up. It was very good and extremely refreshing. The food was great. All of the things I ate, short of the humus and tishini, was a new taste to me. I'm liking this middle eastern food more and more these days. This restaurant was no exception.
As we finished and went back out to the van, heart in hand, going forward with faith...
I asked Jacob, "Is your driving part of the experience?" He just laughed and seemed to drive faster. I guess I got used to it, or maybe it was just because the traffic was lighter and Jacob was free to keep it at 140KPH the whole way home, but I fell asleep, only to wake up when Jacob stopped for gas.
I'd do it again, even with Jacob, if he'd share some more of his red grapefruit drink with me.
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