Dec 10

Today we got up in our nice hotel, and we tried to get into the Dome of the Rock. Unfortunately, it’s a four day Muslim holiday, and it’s only open to Muslims. The Dome of the Rock is the place where it is said that the Islamic prophet Mohammed went to heaven, and where it is said in the Old Testament that Abraham was to have sacrificed Isaac.

Outside this very beautiful gold-covered dome was a soldier with a big gun, like there were soldiers with big guns everywhere. We also saw a plain-clothes guard, who looked like a normal guy, but he was holding an Uzi. It is mandatory for young Israelis to serve in the army: 3 years for men, and 2 years for women. It’s weird seeing all these people with automatic rifles walking around.

We then walked through the Arab Bazaar to the Western (Wailing) Wall, which is one of the most sacred Jewish sites, being where an ancient temple was destroyed. It’s a huge wall with lots Jews praying in front of it, with men and women separated. We also went to a museum of the history of Jerusalem, which included Roman ruins that I ran around on. My mom and I bought two things in the bazaar – one that was supposed to be $400 we bartered down to $100, and one that was supposed to be $200, we bartered to $50. The bazaar is very cool, because you see a combination of Israeli soldiers with automatic rifles, formally Jewish-dressed men, Arab women with head coverings, and tons of kids running around with BB guns.

We ate a bunch of delicious but dicey foods today – it’s very hard to tell what’s sanitary. But we had yummy pomegranates and pomegranate juice (which probably wasn’t too sanitary), and lots of salads, humus, and pita, and a chicken kebab.

When we got back we had some funny-tasting candy which (my Mom will tell you, too) had a vomit aftertaste (yup!).