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JERUSALEM II
2005
4:00 AM August 7, 2005

It is so hard to actually believe barring anything unforeseen, that I'm flying out of here in about 12 hours.  Tonight, I should be in Frankfurt.  And tomorrow night I will be at the Augustinian Monastery where Luther became a monk and started down the path to the Reformation. 

The time here in Jerusalem has flown by so very fast.  And I can't help but wonder if I've made any difference at all in the 2 months that I've been here.  Yes, I've preached some sermons that I wouldn't have even imagined--good, bad, or mediocre--and I can definitely say that preaching here, to people who live here so very intentionally and passionately here makes wonder about how easily I can drift along through life so thoughtlessly.

Julie put it in an interesting way--she said that the immorality of the Wall and the Israeli treatment of the Palestinians is so blatant that the wrongness of it seems to help define everything else.  And that's a difficult challenge for a pastor like me who preaches so very much in terms of affirmation.  I'm attaching the final version of my sermon for later this morning.  I'm also attaching a picture of the Dome of the Rock from the Lutheran Guest House, not far from Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in the Old City.

Tony from our music team was suddenly called away at the American Consulate, which is unfortunate--he has the guitar and Amy, the pianist is very new and uncertain about things.  They'll be heading over to Redeemer at 7:30 to practice the pieces or to select new ones.  "Ent-sh-Allah", as they say here--God willing. 

The first calls to prayer from the mosques have started.  I won't say that I'm going to miss them.  On the other hand, I wish that I had "taped them" or could digitally record them.  When you have three or four or even half-a-dozen mosques all going at once, it can really be something.  Between the Muslim "calls to prayer", the church bells ringing, the car horns honking, Jerusalem is an amazingly noisy place.  And a religious place.  But it is not in a hurry.  There were roadblocks because of weddings on the road up to the Mount of Olives and at Mount Scopus at the other end of the Augusta Victoria Compound when I drove back at the end of the evening.

Julie and I went back over to the same Garden Pizza Restaurant where Anne and Charles had taken me to welcome me back in June.  And we had the same wonderful "Greek Pizza" that we had then.  There was something very symmetrical about that. 

Some folks have been asking me questions about the tour that I won and when I'll be claiming it.  The short answer to that is, I don't know.  I only know that attempting to do that in September at the Perla Resort in Italy is not going to work.  I will definitely be talking more with Karl at Cycle Ventures International about the logistics of claiming that prize and making sure that there aren't any loose ends.  Perhaps the best bet for me is to simply go during one of the regularly scheduled tours that he conducts rather than trying to take advantage of the programs and persons that he works with outside of a tour package.  At the same time, I have to admit that it is great being able to use his resource people--contacts and locations in Germany.  I only wish that it had worked out so that some friends could join me at this.  Perhaps I could look at this time in Germany as a time for "scoping out" what a tour could look like for the future.

So much for "play"--now for work:  I still do not have my mobility papers completely ready yet, but I know that I've got to start interviewing for calls very soon.  I am seriously looking at the possibility of "interim" or "transitional ministry", but I will definitely need a strong supportive "home base" if I'm going to do that, and a place for my stuff out of storage.  That process begins in earnest late in August with a meeting with Bishop Michael.

On the other hand, I definitely want to communicate about the situation here in Jerusalem--the vitality and the life-and-death struggles in the Christian Community here in the Old City and in the Holy Lands are a story that Christians in the West must hear.  I've talked with Lutheran Bishop Munib Younan, about it and he agrees that I should do that on his behalf and he is also more than willing to come and speak to larger groups in Arizona if I manage to get occasions organized.  Their most pressing concern is for the funding of the Christian Schools in Israel and Palestine, and Julie has suggested that I work at doing "bike oriented" fund raisers--fund-raising rides for the Lutheran Schools in the Holy Lands or perhaps some bike tours to bring people back to Israel and Palestine to see what I've seen.

Meanwhile, the time in Germany is going to be relaxing in a different way than I was anticipating at the Resort in Italy.  And also quite different from the challenging city riding that I've been doing here in Jerusalem.  As I understand it, Thuringia in former East Germany is the largest contiguous forest in Germany with some of the finest biking trails in the country.  The monastery at Erfurt could well be the "home base" for biking to historic sites in just about every direction.  And if I have 4 days at the end--there is also Lake Constance. 

I'm not sure what internet service is going to look like, so I'll be in touch as the opportunities arise.

--Bob Jones, last word from Jerusalem--this time
11:00 PM August 5, 2005

It was hard, but I sold the Trek 800 back to the "Hole in the Wall" Bike Shop where I had bought it back in June for 250 shekels.  Between that and saying goodbye to the house keeper, really made it feel as though I was leaving soon.  And that's true enough.

After music rehearsal with Tony, Julie and Amy, we went over to the Austrian Hospice for a light supper and some strudel which was delicious!  Watching the sun fade and the old city lights go on from the rooftop garden there was really nice.

I was pleasantly surprised that both Tony and Julie knew the song that I'm using to conclude my sermon, "Be Not Afraid".  So I've asked them to sing it right after the sermon.  I may just let them finish my sermon for me.

We also really had a great conversation about the Wall(s) and the problem of American complicity in the Israeli mistreatment of the Palestinians.  Tony explained a lot more of his situation working with the American Consulate and the challenges he faces with trying to get "real contact" with ordinary Palestinians with such a heavy layer of security.  He isn't allowed onto any Public Transportation, he can only go into the Palestinian Authority with armored escorts.  And on and on it goes.  He did have a major triumph this week--there were over 50 vehicles that have been sitting in the desert outside of Gaza that are supposed to go to the Palestinian Authority--ambulances and various service vehicles--that have been out there for four or five years--bureaucracy.  Within a matter of days, he has been able to get them out of mothballs and to the Palestinians. 

Looking ahead, I have a room reserved at the Augustinian Cloister in Erfurt where Luther was a monk.  That will cost about 45 Euro or $55 which includes breakfast.  It's shocking how easy it was to line that up over the internet.  Karl also sent me an interesting map of the  Thuringian forest that I'm attaching to this note.  So it looks like I'll be starting from Erfurt after all.  I also found out that the local trains will carry bikes for free in Thuringia and Saxony.  What I may do, is to bike around locally and then take the train and the bike up to Wittenberg and bike back to Erfurt from there, with a possible stop in Leipzig or Halle or both on the way back. 

Well, I am tired, so I'm calling it a night.

--Bob Jones, winding things down in Jerusalem
5:30 AM August 5, 2005

Dinner last night with Holly and Allyn, Charles and Karin was wonderful.  We ate a classic California Salad with a blueberry vinaigrette on their shared back patio in Beit Zafaffa.  The conversation was wide-ranging, funny and sad and interrupted with a phone call with the news of the shooting of several Arab Israelis up in Galilee by a settler.  Since Holly, Allyn, and Charles all work for World Vision and are directly involved in development work on the West Bank, our conversation immediately turned to the question of the impact of the shootings--possible retaliations by the Palestinians and the sad fact that things keep spiraling on from one violent act to another.  We had to cut our evening short.

I biked out to Yod Kennedy again--for one last time.  And it was the first time that the place was actually open and I could get inside to see the perpetual flame and the bronze relief of Kennedy.  I was disappointed that the "perpetual flame" was an electric "flicker candle".  Apparently, they lacked the personnel to maintain a "real flame".  It would almost be better if they didn't have a light at all. 

I was also surprised to find that it's much shorter to cut through the towns of Aminidav and Ora on top of the ridge than to actually bike around the mountain with all of those "ups and downs" of the marked road to Yod Kennedy.  It's funny that I didn't find this out until I was just about ready to leave.  On the way back, I stopped in front of an abandoned building with a rather ironic sign--Institute for Science and Halacha.  Halacha is the Hebrew term for how you apply the Laws of Moses to daily life.  I'm attaching a picture.

Science and Halacha is the interface of Science and Technology--things like elevators, light switches, planes, and automobiles, plastics.  So many things that were not addressed directly in the Laws of Moses.  The challenge is how does an observant Jew deal with Kosher Laws and Shabbat Laws and the use modern technology.  One practical consequence has been the ruling that it is a violation of Shabbat for Orthodox Jews to operate cars, use ATMs, and even turn on or off light switches.  Looking at the condition of the building, it doesn't look like there has been much action lately.  Maybe they've moved to larger facilities.

And finally, I would like to apologize for sending out my early draft of my sermon.  I think I've tightened it up quite a bit and cut down on the American cultural references just a little.  Thanks to those of you who ventured some kindly feedback.  It really helped.

I think I've worn poor Karl out trying to get things sorted out with my "bike tour in Germany".  I swamped him with requests for information on contacts in the Luther part of Germany, and I think I've settled on a "base of operations" that is fairly centrally located in Halle (Saale), a college town of about 250,000 between Leipzig, Erfurt, and Eisleben, .It's a little further to Wittenberg, but more centrally located relative to the other three..  They seem to have a very active Biking Group with a good web site with a number of bike shops available and very good train connections.  Karl was pushing pretty hard for Erfurt, which is a wonderful, smaller town, but it really is at the far end of the group of towns that I want to see. 

Of course, if Halle doesn't work out, I can always rent a bike from there and go to the other places and just return the bike when I'm done.  It doesn't commit me to staying at a place that I don't like.  Hotel Prices in Eastern Germany seem very reasonable.  It looks quite possible to stay at three star hotels for right around $50-55, and I will check about bunking in at the Wittenberg Center and also maybe at the Augustinian Cloister in Erfurt where Luther joined.  What a thought!

Well, I have quite a bit of "packing" and cleaning and restocking to do today!

--Bob Jones, starting
10:00 PM August 3, 2005

Things both fell apart and came together today:  No-one showed up for volleyball at the LWF Compound on Mount Scopus this evening.  So I had a watermelon to dispose of.  That really wasn't a big problem--all I had to do, was to drop it off at the Guest House at Augusta Victoria Hospital across the street.

I wasn't surprised--so many of the "regulars" at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer are gone.  And I really shouldn't say "no-one" showed up:  Allyn had called earlier and though he was delayed for personal reasons, he was at the gate at 6:30 PM, needing a ride back to his apartment down in Beit Zaffafa on the south end of Jerusalem, literally two blocks from the gate of Tantur.  I gave him a ride and he fixed a light supper.  Actually, I'm going over to their place again tomorrow evening.  I had scheduled a meal together with Allyn and Holly about a week ago.  It amounts to my last official visit as a guest pastor here.  I'm attaching a picture of Beit Zaffafa from my time at Tantur.

My Sermon for this Sunday seems to have really fallen together a bit early, but I'm a little uncertain about it.  I was wondering if I could get some feedback on it, so I'm attaching it to my note today and asking if some of you wouldn't mind letting me know what you think.  I'm a little worried that the cultural references are a little too narrow for an international congregation like this.  And my quotes might be a bit too long.  Let me know what you think.

As far as things coming together--I got word from Karl from Cycle Ventures and he has some very good contacts and places to stay in and around the Luther sites in Germany.  He considers it some of the best biking in Europe.  We're working on my itinerary. 

One of his contacts is the pastor of the English Speaking Congregation at Wittenberg.  It's ironic, really.  It's the equivalent to Redeemer over in Germany.  We only have about four of these English speaking expatriate congregations around the world, and here I am, going from serving in one to visiting another. Maybe this says something about future calls, though with only four such positions, it seems pretty unlikely.

Meanwhile, the brother of my landlord caught me as I was heading into the apartment for the evening.  He had a refund for me--I had misread some electric bills that had been left in the door to the apartment a couple of weeks ago, and had paid for the electricity of all three tenants here.  What makes it complicated is that my apartment is actually small two apartments that have been combined into one, so I have two sets of bills.  Bills have been an interesting challenge here--I can handle some of the Hebrew, but these were addressed in Arabic which is impossible for me.  In any case, it is one of the "loose ends" that I had been worried about. 

I also stopped by a local store and bought some replacement items for the apartment--laundry soap, Arab coffee, pop, and bottled water.  Personally, I was shocked at how expensive these items were.  I still have a lot of that sort of shopping to do.  Frankly, it's easy to get "generic equivalents" of a lot of the things that I have used, but I'm finding it very hard to get the same name brands.

--Bob Jones, tying up loose ends in Jerusalem
3:00 PM August 2, 2005

Wow, talk about breaking your concentration!  Not knowing what I'll be doing next week has really thrown me.  I had planned on biking out to the Valley of Elah today to see the battlefield of David and Goliath one last time, but I really didn't feel right about leaving the city.  Physically, I wasn't feeling that good either.  I did manage a shorter ride over to the Jerusalem Forest and back by the Botanical Gardens. 

I stopped over at the Bike Shop where I had bought that Trek 800 on the way back and the guy was willing to buy it back from me for half price--275 Shekels.  That really isn't bad, when I think of the mileage I've gotten out of it:  Well over 750 miles since I bought it.  We'll do it either Friday or Sunday if I haven't sold it already.  It really was a good purchase--I figure that that would make rental on it something less than $1.50 a day or about ten cents a mile.

I'm attaching a picture I caught of some big construction equipment working on the Turkish Walls to the Old City.  It reminds me of a picture I took of some guys with jackhammers working on the trails in the Grand Canyon.  I guess you could say that major construction projects are never finished!

I have been trying to figure out where and how I could spend the 12 days I have in Europe without spending too much money.  There are a lot of variables, but I found a couple of good web sites on bike touring in Germany:  http://www.bicyclegermany.com/tours.htm  and http://www.mayq.com/Best_european_trips/Bodensee/Bodensee.htm
And of course, Mapquest makes it possible to know how many miles it is between the various sites (If only they had Mapquest here in Israel!).  I'm attaching a possible itinerary that I've been working on.  I also e-mailed Karl that I would really appreciate any good leads that he might have on places to stay and folks to get in touch with.

At this point, I'm looking at retracing some of the places that we went on our Globus Tour--the Luther sites, Bavaria and possibly the Black Forest.  I'd really like to get over to Wittenberg and actually spend some time at Eisleben and Erfurt and maybe even down at Augsburg. And I would really love to bike around Lake Constance.  It is so lovely down there.  I already lined up reservations at the same Holiday Inn where we stayed in Frankfurt--at a very reasonable $55.  I may do the same at the Holiday Inn in Leipzig at $51.  Beyond that, it's a matter of tracking down a rental bike, using my Eurail Pass and trying not to spend too much money on food.  Accommodations are definitely reasonable on the internet--much less than I expected. 

There are loose ends, of course.  Things like figuring out where and how to store my excess luggage while biking--I certainly can't carry two large suitcases with me on a bike.  And I'm pretty sure that they don't have the old lockers for storage at the Train Stations like they did 15 years ago!  I may actually try to do something that I had discussed with my mother before our trip--seeing if I can't leave some luggage at the Hotel in Frankfurt for the time that I'm in Germany.  We shall see.

--Bob Jones, with his head still spinning in Jerusalem
9:30 PM August 1, 2005

Well, it looks like I've run into communications problems with the folks at Cycle Ventures International:  Apparently, there was some problem with my reservations at the Perla Resort over in Riccione, Italy.  Because it is the peak of the high season, they aren't able to "squeeze me in"--it would be possible in September but not now.  This leaves me in the awkward position of having a 12 day layover in Frankfurt beginning on Sunday evening, with no place to stay there or in Italy.

Since I have a Eurail Select Pass, I e-mailed Karl, the director, back to see if they could get me some contacts in Germany, Switzerland or Italy.  I have to admit, that if things could work out in Germany, I really wouldn't mind doing some biking there.  The Romantic Road looked great for biking, so did the loop around Lake Constance, and frankly, so did a lot of the "Luther Country" in Eastern Germany.  There are discounts for hotels connected with Eurail, so it shouldn't be too bad.  I guess I'll just have to see what Karl is able to come up with.

Meanwhile, I will attach my sermon from yesterday.  It was a very special day with the baptism by the Bishop and that led to an appointment with him today.  We talked about possibly doing some fund raising for the Lutheran Schools and communications with congregations in the Grand Canyon Synod.  I may even do a cross country bike ride in connection with that.  I know that Walter Wangerin, the former host of the radio program, Lutheran Vespers did a bike trip to various towns in the Midwest raising funds and awareness for that program, until he had a rather bad accident on the road.

Biking has been interesting lately.  I am really having to face the fact that this is my last week as Guest Pastor at Redeemer and I've actually been taking quite a few more pictures with my rides.  I'm attaching a photo of a mosque that's only a few blocks from the apartment near the business district of Wadi Al Joss.  I'm finding that some of the traffic seems to be getting a bit more unpredictable these days.  Part of it, is that I'm biking closer to the peak traffic hours in the cool of the morning.  It is simply too hot to ride most of the rest of the day. 

I think I'm also coming to terms with the fact that I probably won't get back up to Galilee as I had hoped to do again.  Part of it is that I'm dealing with farewells--on Wednesday and Thursday night and meeting with the bishop took a good chunk of today.  I also need some time to work more on my Mobility Papers.  The trick is that I like to be out and about when it's cool, and when I would work on them, it's the heat of the day and I don't really have the energy to do as much as I should.  Frankly, they are tedious and it's hard to keep awake when I'm working on them

Not to end on a sour note like that, I'm thinking about driving out to American Independence Park about 20 miles from Jerusalem and biking down to the Valley of Elah where David fought Goliath--a rather appropriate thing to commemorate as I look at tackling the 20 pages of forms for my next position as a pastor.

--Bob Jones, winding things up in Jerusalem and trying to figure out what happens next.
10:30 PM July 29, 2005

You could call it a "low key day"--laying low because of the heat, recovering a little from the long ride yesterday, getting my sermon together for Sunday and working out details with the Bishop for a baptism on Sunday.  It's the son of an American contractor working on security for an NGO in Iraq. 

The bishop will perform the sacrament and Judy Rowe and I will serve as "proxy sponsors".  The actual sponsors--the Godparents--won't be here and the baptism will be after our regular services.  It's actually a study in things that I don't like to do in a baptism, but it is what will work with the Bishop's Schedule. 

I was hoping to get a chance to visit with the Bishop--I wanted to talk with him about presenting the situation here in Jerusalem and the Holy Lands when I get back to the US.  He was very frank about the situation with internationals and how we really are safe and respected by the Palestinian Community.  They see us as essential to communicating their dilemmas with the world:  The walls, the home demolitions, the checkpoints, the random searches, the unemployment while the press focuses on the very minor concessions that the Israelis are making in Gaza.  All of those protests about settlers disengaging from 10% of the illegal settlements while they continue building the other 90% on the West Bank.

The contractor commented on how in his view the situation has deteriorated in Iraq--that there are many places where he was welcome and safe a year ago but that it is now no longer the case.  It seems that we are drawing terrorists from other parts of the world to Iraq, but given what has been happening in England and in Egypt, not entirely.

I went ahead and posted a notice about selling the bike over at the reception area at the church.  It will probably take two weeks, and if I don't get any responses there, I'll take it back to the shop where I bought it in the first place.  Even if I only get about half of what I paid for it, it would be worthwhile.  At 550 shekels--about $150, you could say that I've gotten my money's worth out of it even if I don't get anything for it.  I will definitely have to look into getting one when I get back to the States.

I did a "sunset ride" over in West Jerusalem which was really pleasant.  It was cooling off and the traffic was already dropping because of Shabbat.  I'm attaching a picture of the Prima Kings Hotel over in Rehavia from earlier in the day.  They have a really nice French Restaurant inside. 

There's another "wedding party" going on with loud music blaring into the night again down a couple of blocks in the valley.  I have to admit that the late night street parties are one thing that I won't miss as I leave East Jerusalem--especially since I like getting out fairly early to go biking.  At least it's only on Thursday and Friday nights.

Well, I'm calling it a night whether they're ready to out there or not.

--Bob Jones, laying low in East Jerusalem
3:00 PM July 28, 2005

Well, I made it--I biked a loop from the Ein Kerem Junction on the west edge of Jerusalem down to Beit Shemesh on the Coastal Plains and then back up again this morning--a loop of about 31 miles. It's not quite as large as the loop around the Sea of Galilee from back in the Spring, but with the three sets of climbs--up to Sattaf from Ein Kerem, up to Soreq from Beit Shemesh, and up from Wadi Kerem to the starting point above the junction, and with the heat, I feel that it was more of a workout.  And frankly, since the assistant to the Bishop wanted to borrow the van again tonight, I figured that I'd better take advantage of it while I still had it.  I'm attaching a topographic map that I spotted on the side of the road near Soreq Cave above Beit Shemesh.  It's a little grubby, but still pretty informative.

I could have biked from the Apartment or even from the Armenian Parking Lot in the Old City, but I can see that the traffic and the heat would have just about wiped me out coming back across the city.

I think that part of it has to do with knowing that my time here is very limited.  And since volley ball went very well last night even without the Browns being there, I expect that we'll have one more night of volley ball next Wednesday, so I won't be able to wander too far from Jerusalem during that last week. Allyn and Holly have also invited me over to their place for supper next Thursday as a kind of "farewell", so I am definitely in the "closure" mode.  Mark Brown was probably right--he said on Sunday as we were saying our "good-byes" that I'll be coming back again some time.  I would certainly be open to bringing friends back over and I definitely know some economical and pleasant places to stay.  But that's down the road a ways.

I e-mailed Karl from Cycle Ventures International www.cyclecvi.com about my "bike tour of Italy" that is coming up in August.  So far, I haven't had any "takers" to join me on the trip, but I figure that 10 days at a resort that caters to biking along the Adriatic about 2 hours from Venice should be great.  A nice way to unwind from the tensions here, which are definitely building.  I know it's short notice, but if anyone is interested, shoot me an e-mail and I'll do what I can with Karl and the resort.  You can check out the resort at www.perlahotel.com .

I'm glad to hear that the rain has finally come to Arizona.  The best they have here are clouds in the morning but the sun burns them away well before noon.  And I can say from experience that it is a lot hotter and more humid down in Beit Shemesh

Well, I guess that's it for now.

--Bob Jones, biking in bigger loops around Jerusalem
10:00 AM                                                              July 27, 2005

I still have a long ways to go on the mobility forms:  Page 3 of about 20.  In the meantime, I seem to have misplaced the volleyball for the games this evening up at the LWF Compound, so I'll probably be out shopping for one along with some watermelon for both players and non-players.  I really don't know how many to expect--so many folks are gone, but others are returning unanounced.

I biked a 20 mile loop out to the Jerusalem Forest and on down to the Zoo again this morning.  The traffic was surprisingly light--especially over on the streets by the Knesset and the Israel Museum and down by the zoo.  By contrast, there was a surprising amount of car traffic in the Forest itself.  I really didn't expect that.

Given how tight time is getting before I leave, I'm thinking about biking the "40 mile loop" tomorrow from Ein Kerem up to Sattaf, down to Beit Shemesh, over by Emeq Elah, where David fought Goliath, and then back up to Ein Kerem.  What makes it a challenge is that I have to climb up to Sattaf from Wadi Kerem before I drop down to the Coastal Plains at Beit Shemesh, and then climb back up at either Soreq Cave or Tzur Hadassa, before I drop back down to Wadi Kerem.  In order to go east or west, you have to go "up and down" over ridges and wadies several times.  Some older roads follow the water courses and even a major highway like Highway 1 will have to climb over the foothills from the coasstal plain, drop down into a wadi and then make a final climb into the city.  The city itself is built on a series of ridges and wadis that seem to become more pronounced as you head south and east.

A typical elevation on a mountain in the Judean or Samaritan Mountain Range would be 2356 feet--Mount Scopus is the tallest in Jerusalem at 2651 feet, from a floor of 1040 feet on the coastal plain in Beit Shemesh.  That's not quite twice the climb from Cottonwood to Sedona, but you have to repeat it several times because of the many folds in the mountains.  On the other hand, if you were climbing from Jericho, we're talking a climb from about 1100 feet below sea level--something like climbing from Cottonwood to Flagstaff.  Frankly, right now, the heat is unbearable down in Jericho.  The mountains do get higher as you head north--Har Schmuel is 2704 feet and the Biblical Mount Gerazin in Samaria is 2863 feet.  And Mount Hermon in the north of Galilee is the truly highest at 7228 feet on the border with Syria.

Depending on how attendance is at the volleyball games tonight, I may call off games next Wednesday and head north in the van with the bike into the Golan Heights, where it should be a lot cooler and there would be a lot less traffic.  I may do a couple of short runs up there early and later in the week anyway.  We shall see...

I should also note a web site about "Police State Qualities" that seem to be coming home to roost here in Israel.  Take a look at this article from today's on-line edition of HaAretz:  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/604586.html 

How sad it is getting that a person can't even work in his own yard without having ID documents!  I certanly hope that things don't get that "security crazy" in the US!

2:30 PM

Well, I was able to locate an official weight volleyball over in East Jerusalem for about 70 Shekels--less than I paid for lunch over at the Lebanese Cafe by the Jaffa Gate.  Not bad!  I still need to think about picking up some watermelon at the fruit market up at the top of the hill for volleyball tonight.

I'm attaching a couple of pictures from my ride over in West Jerusalem.  One is a truly ugly looking "modern art" slide in a children's park above Ein Kerem.  I can't imagine the nightmares that that thing generates.  The other is another shot of Independence Park across from the American Consulate.  Actually, I found out that there are really two American Consulates here--one in East Jerusalem, not far from the American Colony, and the other in West Jerusalem, about two blocks from the West Entrance to the Old City.

I can't help but wonder if that might have something to do with the radical segregation that marks this country--with Palestinians in East Jerusalem and Israelis in the West.

Well, I'd better get going.  I want to get some work done before volleyball this evening!

--Bob Jones, keeping busy in and around Jerusalem
9:30 PM July 25, 2005

The old joke goes, "How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time."  Today I took the first bite of the elephant.  What a messy metaphor!  I downloaded the new mobility forms--over 20 pages between the two of them and started.  Mobility forms are my denomination's equivalent to job applications for pastors.  One form goes to prospective congregations and the other goes to the Bishop--well, actually both of them go to the bishop, but one is available for congregations and the other stays with the bishop..

I also started a new book:  EATS SHOOTS AND LEAVES by Lynne Truss.  It's a rather funny book on punctuation.  I had just finished Bill Bryson's SHORT HISTORY OF NEARLY EVERYTHING--another funny book on the history of modern science.  That is one thing that I can say about being "on leave from call"--I have definitely gotten back into reading.  And it makes me aware of how pressed I was feeling during those last months at my last congregation. 

I won't bore you with the full list of books that I've read during the past seven months, but I have five of them sitting on the bed stand.  Two I had read before, and one was actually from the short time that I was back in Arizona. 

I nearly quoted a section of Yann Martel's LIFE OF PI in my latest sermon.  The part was about the "conversion" of the young Hindu, Pi, to Christianity during a family vacation in the Tea Estates of Munnar in the foothills of the Himalayas.  This was followed by his "conversion" to Islam.  I didn't quote it simply because it was too long and complicated to explain in a sermon, but I love the wonderful way that Martel describes the "story" of Christianity from a Hindu perspective. 

Today was actually quite busy.  I only had time for one fairly short bike ride in the morning before heading into the office.  At the office, Christian, a teacher from Haiti showed up.  He had been attending church off and on for the past few months and had mentioned last Sunday that he would be leaving the country on Wednesday and that he had not be into the West Bank at all.  It is hard to imagine being here for 9 months and not visiting the West Bank at least once. 

He said that he had had problems with being subjected to frequent random inspections of documents and it had made him hesitant to tackle the checkpoints alone.  Since Julie wasn't free to get away from the Bishop's Office today, I wound up driving him down to Bethlehem.  I'm attaching a new piece of Wall Art near the checkpoint next to a Greek Orthodox Children's Center that is nearly surrounded by the Wall.

To be honest, I was surprised by how easy it was to get through today.  The press here has been talking about a military "disengagement" at Bethlehem, much like the one at Jericho back in March.  The document inspection on the way in was very quick and the fact that the soldiers weren't even at the gate on the way out made it hard to know exactly what to do.  You see, the signs say that you are to stop and wait for a signal from the guard before proceeding to the gate to have your documents inspected.  What do you do when there is no guard, except the ones with the machine guns at the turret up on top of the wall?

Unfortunately, many of the usual pilgrim spots:  St. Catherine's Catholic Church and St. Jerome's Cell--both right next to the Church of the Nativity and the Syrian Orthodox Church were all closed.  We did stop at the grotto of the nativity where a large group was singing Spanish Carols and at the Lutheran Church where there was an art exhibit from Austria.  And wandering down the Suq in Bethlehem is always interesting.  I dropped Christian off at the King David Hotel after a pleasant drive through Baca on the old Bethlehem Road.  He made an interesting comment.  He said that Baca was much more like what he expected for Bethlehem than Bethlehem itself was.  And he has a point--Baca has a very "small town feel" while Bethlehem is a sizable, lively city.

I also attended a presentation on "the Children of Abraham" at St. George's College which included a free supper.  It was actually the concluding presentation for a group of Anglicans who had been in Israel and Palestine for the past two weeks, visiting and studying the religious sites associated with Abraham--including Hebron, the traditional burial site of Abraham and Sarah.

Charles and Anne, my neighbors from across the street, made it back from England safe and sound.  We stopped in the street and had a brief visit before Charles headed up to the World Vision Headquarters at Augusta Victoria, where he works.  It was really something--they had had a dinner scheduled with the chief of police on the very evening when the bombing took place in London and they were expecting a cancellation, but instead he received a call that he would be there at 8:00 PM, but that he would have to leave early.  He commented on how strange it was to see their dinner guest in the evening news both before and after the meal.

Between paper work and getting out and about, I guess you could say that it was a fairly full day.

--Bob Jones, still preaching, biking and eating Elephant in and around Jerusalem
2:30 PM July 24, 2005

It's hard to believe that the Tour de France is just about over.  And with it goes my only excuse for procrastinating on "mobility papers"--the paper work that I'll need for interviews for my next "call" as a pastor. 

I have to admit, with my experience here at Redeemer, I'm tempted to look into "interim pastoral work".  The emotional commitment is really a lot less and the work that I do, which is mainly focused on preaching is very satisfying.  There is more to interim ministry than that-- with specific training involved to help congregations "transition" from one regularly called pastor to the next.

I mentioned the possibility to one of the "peace workers" during "tea" after church today.  He suggested that I really need a "base of operations" if I do that kind of work.  And he's right.  That's where a "home" in Cottonwood would be so very attractive--certainly nothing as complicated or expensive as the house that I had before, but a place where I could keep my stuff, have a roof over my head, and some friends.  It's an interesting thought.

I had all kinds of compliments on my sermon and on the service as a whole today.  Part of it is that the "Ecumenical Accompanists" have completed their training and they were looking for some "inspiration" before going out to face some very challenging situations.  These volunteers are on 3 month tourist visas, like the one I'm using, but they spend their time at "hot spots" where there has been trouble between Israeli settlers and Palestinians.  They watch the situations and give eye witness accounts to the church bodies from which they come.  Most of them go to places like Hebron where there have been "rock throwing" incidents or home demolitions.  I don't think that my sermon was as good as they were saying, but they needed to hear something and somewhere in there, they got some "Good News".  I'm attaching my sermon notes.

I'm also attaching a picture of a lion and an odd looking pyramid installation over by the Soldier's Home near Saccer Park in West Jerusalem.  It's part of a network of parks that have inter-connecting multi-use bike and pedestrian paths that connect the commercial, residential, and government districts in West Jerusalem.  They make it possible for folks who live in this part of town to bike-commute without having to deal with car traffic at all. 

I took Julie over to the Jerusalem Forest for a very short 3 mile ride around Mount Hertzl.  The drive over actually took longer than the bike ride itself because I also showed her this same park where I went biking today.  I'm hoping that she will find some use for her bike, but I'm afraid that she is not athletic enough to handle the mountainous terrain or the traffic in and around Jerusalem.  The reality is that you can't change people or geography all that much.

9:30 PM

I'm a little upset at Eurosport--they didn't cover the last stage of the Tour de France.  I gather it was not really a competitive stage, but more of a victory stage for Lance.  I wound up going over to ESPN to catch the presentation of the final jerseys and to hear Lance's comments. 

Well, I got up early this morning, so I'm going to call it an early night.

--Bob Jones, thinking about interim ministry as I look at my last few Sundays in Jerusalem
2:00 PM July 22, 2005

Security was down considerably from yesterday--at least earlier in the morning.  I hear that Connie Rice is out in the country and not in Jerusalem today.  I biked over to Agron Street and did some grocery shopping and the police barricades were down.  But when I tried to take a picture of the American Consulate from across the street in Independence Park, I was stopped by the security guards who crossed the street to tell me that I needed to delete the photos and then asked me to produce my identification. 

I didn't actually take any pictures--frankly, even across the street it was too close for the cheap digital camera that I have.  I asked the guards if that was Israeli law or US law and I pointed out that I had taken photos of the American Consulate in Salzburg, Austria in the past.  They told me that it was US law.  I asked them if there was anyone I could talk to in the Consulate about the matter.  They said no. 

Apparently, US citizens are not allowed to take photos of our own consulate:  The only piece of US territory in the country.  Actually, it's the only place that I've been challenged in this way--except for the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Community north of the Old City where it's against their religion.  So much for conveying a sense of openness and freedom!  And then I come back to the apartment and tune in to CNN to see there was a shooting by the police on the Stockwell Underground near London.  By the early afternoon, the barricades near Damascus Gate and St. Stephen's Gate were back up again. 

I checked my files and I don't have any photos of the Consulate, so I guess I'm still "legal".  I do have a photo of Independence Park just across the street which I'm attaching.  And yes, it is legal to park on the sidewalk that way.

10:00 PM

I survived a pirated version of THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN with Arabic subscripts.  Even with the commercial packaging, the quality of the print was terrible and there were only two tracks on the first disk so I lost "my place" when I tried to go backwards to replay a section that I missed when I left the room.  It went all of the way back to the beginning of the movie.

It's hard not to see the Settlers and other Religious Fundamentalists from today in the role of the Templars--calling for war against the infidel as "the will of God" and claiming that the more moderate voices of their own faith are not being faithful or worse yet, blasphemers. 

Since I've been watching the Tour de France on TV, it's hard to imagine that France was as bleak as the scenes at the beginning and end of the movie.  On the other hand, they came fairly close in capturing the feel of the mixed Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Jerusalem with mosques and churches side by side.  I'm attaching a picture from the "second floor" of the Old City--with mosques and churches (and satelite dishes) side by side.  Would that the realities on the ground between the three faiths were as well mixed.

Well, it is getting late, and between biking in the morning with Julie, watching the second to last stage of the Tour de France in the afternoon, and making sure that my sermon is ready for Sunday, tomorrow looks like a pretty full day.

--Bob Jones, skirting the edge of the law (in more ways than one) in  Jerusalem
3:00 PM July 21, 2005

I decided to drive the van over to Sattaf and bike from there today.  That turned out to be a lot more complicated than biking directly from the apartment in East Jerusalem.  With the traffic, it took an hour to get out there and nearly an hour and a half to drive back--literally the same amount of time that it would take to bike out there.  The traffic situation is truly terrible.  There was a flatbed truck stalled out on Highway 1 that stopped traffic back into the city.  It doesn't help that there have been some "problems" in the Old City and the police have sealed off Jaffa, Zion, Dung, and St. Stephen's Gates.

I understand that Connie Rice is going to be here tomorrow.  So if there are road blocks today, it's going to really be bad tomorrow.  I figure that Agron Street over by the American Consulate is going to be completely blocked off.  I won't even try to drive the van around the city tomorrow--we shall see about biking.

The Sattaf Forest was really nice--I started at the viewpoint close to where I turned back on my ride two days ago and headed west on Highway 395 out to Flaming Scrolls National Monument.  I'm attaching a picture from there.  The monument is dedicated to the 6 million Jews who died in the NAZI Concentration Camps and to the "birth of the State of Israel" and refers to a passage from Ezekiel. 

The "scrolls" are about 25 feet tall overlooking the Coastal Plain, about 5 kilometers from Beit Shemesh.  The ride was only about 16.2 miles, but was very mountainous, as is everything around Jerusalem.  I really don't mind, though--there is very little traffic and it is wooded and shady, and breezy. 

9:00 PM
I don't know if it's the heat or the police road blocks, but I was simply too tired to do anything after the Tour de France broadcast this evening.  These later stages are more strenuous than I was expecting after the Alps and the Pyrenees.  The countryside in that part of France certainly looks a lot like it does around here.

I had planned on picking up the DVD "The Kingdom of Heaven"--Julie has a copy.  It would be very appropriate to see it this week, given the fundamental issue of the Passage I'm preaching on from Matt. 13 is precisely that question--"What is the Kingdom of Heaven Like?", but I'm too tired.  In fact, I'm heading to bed.

--Bob Jones, braving the heat and the road blocks in and around Jerusalem
3:30 PM July 19, 2005

The logistics of the ride down to Petach Tikveh proved to be too challenging.  The distance came out to about 50 miles each way and I didn't get it all figured out until nearly 11:00 AM.  By then it was really getting too hot.  Julie wasn't really ready to commit until even later than that, so I went ahead and biked on up to the vista at Sattaf and the peach orchards and vineyards at Zovah.  The views are pretty out that way, but I have to admit that the climbs are a challenge.  I'm attaching pictures.

The fresh fruit here in Israel is really wonderful.  I remember running into Jaffa Oranges in Europe, and they're very common here and delicious.  I have a 4 kilo bag of them in the refrigerator and they ran less than 4 shekels a kilo--about $.50 a pound.  There are fresh orange juice stands all over the place.  The "favorite local drink" in Jerusalem is a mixture of orange and carrot juice.  I've tried it and it is delicious, but my real favorite is mint lemonade.  They use the mint so they don't need as much sugar to sweeten it.  There is also a mixture of mint and green tea that is very refreshing--especially iced.

Looking at the peach trees, it looks like they're just about ready for picking.  They cover the trees with nets and let the fruit ripen on the branches, so they really should be great when they're in.  I also picked up some tomatoes at the store and they were really great.  Again, they really seem to let everything ripen on the vine which makes everything taste wonderful, though the shelf-life is much shorter.

On the other hand, they package their milk differently than we do in Arizona, so you don't have to refrigerate it until you open it.  The shelf life on their milk is very long--I bought some that is marked to be good until October.  The milk runs about 5-6 shekels for a liter--about $1.20 -  $1.50 a quart so it is expensive. 

10:00 PM

Speaking of things ripening--the landlord picked some grapes off of the vines that are growing over one of the car ports.  He gave me a couple of large bunches, but when I tasted them, they were really too sour!  Oh well!

I must have stretched the cable on my bike calculator too much when I loaded it in the van over at the Armenian Parking Lot in the Old City this afternoon.  At 110 shekels ($25), it seems a bit too expensive to replace for less than three weeks of use.  I have most of my distances fairly well figured out now, though I do want to bike the loop from Ein Kerem to Beit Shemesh on Highway 395 and then back up the Elah Valley on Highway 386.  But for that one, I found that Russ has pretty accurate maps in the van.

Kids keep asking me what I want for the mountain bike--especially when I walk the bike through the suqs in the Old City.  I figure that it should be fairly easy to sell and for nearly what I paid for it.  I've gotten very used to the front shocks with all of the shifting back and forth from pavement to dirt and all of the potholes and broken-up roads.  I definitely need to look into buying one when I get back to the US!

The coverage on the Tour de France has been interesting.  Lance's lead is very strong, but the jostling for the rest of the top ten in the General Class as well as for the stage winners makes it worth watching at least for the last hour.  It was the last day in the Pyrenees--the last real mountains.  Still, I don't know if it was worth missing the Sulha gathering this afternoon down at Petach Tikveh, but I know that it was too hot and I was too tired for it.

Bob Jones, biking, watching, and preaching in Jerusalem
10:00 PM July 18, 2005

I am intrigued.  Julie alerted me to an event that is going on down near Petach Tikveh--just past the airport near Tel Aviv.  It's called the Sulha Peace Project that begins tomorrow with a "Peace Walk" and a 3 day series of meetings of Jews, Christians, and Muslims working towards peace in Israel and the Middle East.  Their web site is http://sulha.com/2005.html

I was able to locate the place on a map and a route that involves a minimum of Freeway.  Since Julie seems interested in going, I may bike down and meet her there with the van.  I wouldn't be free for all three days--not with volleyball tomorrow night, but it would be interesting to attend for at least one day. 

The geography of it is very appealing--Tel Aviv is down on the coastal plain so it would mostly be downhill.  It reminds me of one of the first longer bike rides that I took with Mark Luffman a couple of years ago:  We started from Sedona and ended at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Cottonwood.

Frankly, I'm getting a little bored with riding around Jerusalem itself.  I rode over to the north end of the Jerusalem Forest this morning and found where it ends at Highway 1 between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.  I was a little disappointed that I couldn't find the paved road that connects the north part of the park with the middle and the south end.  I'm attaching a couple of pictures from the picnicking area where I stopped for a snack before I rode back.  It came to about 25 miles. 

I'm also thinking that I need to get working on my mobility papers for interviews for a job after I'm done here.  I wouldn't want to wait until I'm back in the US for that and I wouldn't want to spoil my time in Italy with it either.  That leaves me the next three weeks.

Well, I guess I'd better call it a night!
--Bob Jones, biking, preaching and looking at options in and around Jerusalem
9:45 PM July 17, 2005

It's been a busy weekend--and stressful.  I biked out to the Jerusalem Forest again on Saturday and spotted another mural on one of the apartment complexes.  This one is off of Jaffa Street--not that far from the one on Agrippas Street.  Because it was the Shabbat, the streets were nearly empty. 

Julie and her friend Sasha, wanted to borrow the van in order to go on up to Ramallah and also down the Bethlehem before Sasha's flight back to San Antonio.  I really had my doubts as to whether we would be able to get in since HaAretz had reported a border closing and "clamp-down" on both Gaza and the West Bank because of the tensions--exchanges of mortar fire down in Gaza.  Julie assured me that it would not present a problem.  "Closings" are for Palestinians and Israelis but not for internationals.  I decided to go along, just to keep an eye on the van.

It turned out that she was partly right.  Getting into Ramallah was not a problem.  Sasha wanted to stop at the Quaker Boy's School and over at the Lutheran School.  She wants to come back and work in Remallah as a teacher in about a year.  She had an impromptu interview with an administrator at the Quaker School.  We also stopped at Arafat's compound and burial site which is actually rather nicely maintained.  I didn't bring my camera along, so I don't have any photos from there.  Finding an open restaurant was a bit more difficult.  It turns out that a lot of the restaurants were closed because of the conflict down in Gaza.  We did find one open and had a delicious lunch in the mid-afternoon. 

On the way out of Ramallah, Julie hit a dumpster with the side of the van.  She was trying to avoid a taxi that was coming right at us.  It didn't do any real damage--just added a little green paint to the white scrapes on the side of the van.  And it rattled my nerves a bit.  The line at the checkpoint out of Ramallah was long and tedious, much as it was the last time that I was up there back in the Spring.  I do have to admit that the city is very lively, crowded, chaotic, and very much alive.  It is definitely, a vital economic hub for the Palestinians.

Bethlehem was much easier to get into and out of than Ramallah.  We stopped at Gilo, near Tantur where I had spent 3 months at the beginning of the year.  The suq in Bethlehem was as lively as ever, even for a Saturday afternoon.  We stopped at the Lutheran International Center which was actually rather quiet.  We also stopped at the Syrian Orthodox Church where they were getting ready for a baptism, and at the Church of the Nativity.  There was a group of French Pilgrims in the Grotto, and they were getting ready for a wedding at the Catholic Church attached to the main sanctuary.  Old St. Jerome's Cell was still open which I like to visit when I'm down there.  Even though I have my doubts about the Grotto and all of the legends attached to the place, I am quite confident about old St. Jerome's cell--it was built after the main sanctuary.  Jerome actually complained about all of the pilgrims that would disturb him as he worked on his translation of the Bible into Latin there.  We picked up Kathy at the checkpoint coming out of Bethlehem, which was just about empty because of the "shutdown". 

Our visit to Bethlehem during the "closure" was an interesting counterpart to the poster that I had spotted over in Rehavia--we stopped over at Rachel's Tomb and asked if we could go in.  The soldiers there told us that it was closed and would not be opened until after sunset, but that they only felt safe admitting armored busses from Jerusalem.  Frankly, I don't think that we were ever in any danger in either Ramallah or in Bethlehem or even at Rachel's Tomb.  As has always been the case in the Palestinian Territories, Christian pilgrims are more than welcome--the Palestinians desperately need our tourism and our business.  I'm afraid that the real problem is the fear of the Israelis, themselves. 

All of the riding around, put a little pressure on me for my sermon for today.  I didn't finish it until about 9:00 PM last night and that was with a headache..  I am attaching my sermon notes and bicyclists may appreciate my references to both the Tour de France and bicycling in Jerusalem.  I missed the coverage on the Tour yesterday and a good chunk of today as well.  It looks like Lance's Team discipline is really paying off, but frankly, it doesn't look like I'm missing that much.

I do need to start thinking about the Bike Tour in Italy.  It's mainly a matter of reconfirming my Eurail Reservations and making sure that things are ready for me at the Perla in Riccione.  At this point, I have to admit that I'm regretting that I didn't opt for the last 10 Days of the Tour de France, but I did have to work with the schedule I have for anyone who is interested, the company who is sponsoring these tours is Cycle Ventures International.  Their web site is http://www.cyclecvi.com/

Well, I'd better call it a night.  It wasn't that busy a day--preaching on Sunday Mornings always knocks out the coolest part of the day, but I would like to take advantage of the cool part of the day for biking tomorrow.

--Bob Jones, preaching, biking and finding my way in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Ramallah
10:00 PM July 15, 2005

It is a worrisome sign--I'm attaching a photo I took of a flyer I spotted in English in Rehavia, right next to the Grocery Store where I often go shopping on Agron Street.  It's a neighborhood I thought I knew, but apparently it's more of a "battlefield" than I expected. 

The sign is advertising for regular bus tours to the Tomb of Rachel in Bethlehem and the Tombs of Abraham and the other Patriarchs and Matriarchs in Hebron.  Both are tension points within the Palestinian Territories.  I have been to the Tombs in Hebron--on both the Jewish and Muslim sides, but I have never been able to get in to see Rachel's Tomb in Behtlehem.  The soldiers would never let me in.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting a sign for something as provocative as a bus tour of disputed religious sites like that--not in that neighborhood.  Still, I'm almost tempted to go, just to see Rachel's Tomb and to see why I wouldn't be allowed to go on my own.  But, given what happened to me on the Temple Mount yesterday, probably not. 

The intersection on Agron Street a couple of blocks below the YMCA and the King David Hotel is a major spot for people to push their political views:  I have seen young people there passing out orange (pro-settler/anti-disengagement) ribbons some days, and blue and white (pro-disengagement) ribbons on other days.  It's also where the rainbow colored gay pride banners were flying after the mayor of Jerusalem officially refused to let organizers have a gay and lesbian parade for the first time in three years.  I'm also attaching a picture of the banners flying from the same corner.  It's also where the French Restaurant is, where my Mother and I had a late lunch one afternoon back in June.

We've had a major break in the weather.  A strong breeze from the West brought clouds in the morning and much cooler temperatures.  I was able to go biking both in the morning and in the evening after the broadcast of the Tour de France this afternoon.  It must have been terribly hot in this stage, the transitional country between the Alps and the Pyrenees--the riders were showing their exhaustion and the announcers were commenting on how many have dropped out of the race. 

Cool weather or hot, I think I'll call it a night.  Tomorrow I may go with Julie and Sasha to Bethlehem.  It's Sasha's last day here before she returns to Texas and she's also talking about going up to Ramallah.  Personally, I wouldn't go through that many checkpoints in one day, if I could help it..

--Bob Jones, preaching, biking, and watching in Jerusalem
10:30 PM July 14, 2005

Every now and then I am reminded of how much Jerusalem can be an exercise in frustration.  You can be surprised by opportunities that you never expected, and then thwarted at something that should be very simple. 

I started off the day with a ride over to the Jerusalem Forest, Ein Kerem, and the Hadassa Hospital.  It turns out that the shortest way across town is the least scenic.  I biked across on Prophets Street and it was right around 5 miles to get over to the Forest from the apartment.  The ride back was a bit long from Hadassa and the total was right at 20.5 miles.  I'm attaching a picture looking up the road to Ein Kerem from below.

I stopped at the Church Office on the way back and ran into Sasha, who had been trying to talk Julie into going over to the Western Wall.  After changing clothes (despite the hot weather, shorts are still not appropriate over there--especially on Thursdays when they have Bar Mitzvahs.

It was so ironic--at the square below the Wall, one of the holiest places on earth, there was an umbrella with the golden arches and advertising from McDonalds.  It was literally the last place on earth that I would have expected to find them!  Unfortunately, the picture that I took of that was at a poor angle so the logo doesn't stand out that well.  I'll attach it anyway.

It was late morning so we weren't able to go up on top of the Temple Mount.  One of the security people explained that it would be "open" again at 1:30 PM.  So after a bagel with smoked salmon and crème cheese (which was truly delicious), we returned and went up on top.  I tried to follow a group of children into Al Aqsa Mosque and was told that it was closed and I had a similar experience at the Dome of the Rock itself.  It wasn't really a surprise, but it still is frustrating.  The question is always--closed for whom and why? 

And the answer is always convoluted and tangled with fears of desecration and outsiders.  More specifically, it has to do with restrictions that the Israeli authorities have placed on which Muslims are permitted inside and the awkward situation of not allowing your own people inside but allowing Christian outsiders in.  More recently, of course, there was an incident where some Israeli settlers were attempting to approach one of the mosques and the Muslims feared that they were going to desecrate the building.  Stone throwing led to protests in the streets, roadblocks, and barricades.   In short, a terrible mess.

On a much more practical note--I tried to take the van over to the Grocery Store on Agron and found that the traffic was terrible and the parking impossible.  After driving around three times, I finally gave up and came back "home".  I would take the bike over, but my backpack is missing.  I had left it up at the Guest House at Augusta Victoria and now they are having problems finding it.  Things that should be very simple do get complicated.

Well, I'd better call it a night.  If I want to get up and do some biking early in the morning before it gets too hot.

--Bob Jones, trying not to get too frustrated
6:00 AM July 14, 2005

There is something about the smell of smoke that makes me a bit nervous.  There has been smoke in the air since volleyball last night up at the Augusta Victoria Compound and it has definitely gotten stronger as the night has gone on.  Now, when I'm camping, I don't mind it as much, because I have some sense of where it's coming from and why it's there.  But here in the city, it makes me worry a bit. 

It took quite a bit of the evening for the temperature to cool off.  The breeze up on Mount Scopus was rather warm until quite late.  And even as I was driving back after volleyball, there were still adults and small children out walking. I was surprised.  It reminded me of a comment that the Lutheran Bishop made the other day.  I got a ride the other day with him to pick up the van over on the far north side of Jerusalem and he mentioned how people here take a "nap" in the mid-afternoon because it is simply too hot to do anything else.  Then they stay up late into the night to take advantage of the cooler part of the day.  My variation on that, is to go back to the apartment, strip down to my underwear, get a glass of something cold to drink and then watch the Tour de France on TV from about 3:00 until 6:00 in the afternoon.

Sasha and I went out biking to the park next to the Israel Museum in the morning after a "coffee stop" at the Hillel Café off of Emeq Rafaim near Baca.  I picked up a new pair of biking gloves over at Andre's Bike Shop which is right in the neighborhood.  As it got hotter, we went over to the museum which is nicely air conditioned.  We looked at exhibits and then had lunch at the main restaurant.  I'm attaching a picture of the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum.  It doubles as a fountain during the Summer, which also helps to keep it cool inside.  The bike ride back into the Old City was very hot, but it felt good being able to pass through the traffic jam in Rehavia. 

I feel a little selfish taking the van back.  So many members of the staff at Redeemer seem to have good reasons to use it.  But I've been wanting to do some grocery shopping--more than I can carry in my backpack and I am responsible for it.  It needs to be washed rather badly, but to be honest, I don't know if I can do that at the apartment, or whether it would make more sense to take it over to one of the little "hand car wash stands" that they have on the side of the road over in West Jerusalem.  Some of them are attached to gas stations, like what you see in the US, others are little more than the guys you see on the street corners with the bottle of Windex and a rag.  It's been hot enough lately, that I wouldn't mind washing the thing myself.

I'm having some problems getting inspiration to put a sermon together on the parable of "the Wheat and the Tares".  That's our assigned Gospel reading for this Sunday.  One possible way of approaching it might be to reflect on the comment I heard at the local small grocery store down at the bottom of the wadi on the way to the Old City.  When he found out that I was working at the Lutheran Church, the gentleman commented that Christians and Muslims need to "stand close together" in order to survive the occupation.  Frankly, I thought it was a generous thought, given that the man really didn't know me and that I would be leaving in another month.  Whether we see each other as "wheat" or "tares", we are rooted together, and we can't afford to pull apart.

Well, I'd better get going.  It feels like it's going to be another hot day and I want to do some riding before it heats up too much.

--Bob Jones, trying to keep cool in Jerusalem
7:00 PM July 12, 2005

It's sad, really.  The suicide bombing at the Shopping Mall in Netanya with 3 deaths and wounding about 30 and the bombing in Lebanon.  You can safely predict that security will tighten here in Jerusalem.  It looks like we're in for a "long, hot Summer" both literally and metaphorically.  And I'm sure that the Western Media will continue to focus on the bombings in London. 

Meanwhile, I had another flat about a block from the Damascus Gate on a ride with Sasha in East Jerusalem--glass on the sidewalk.  It's a risk on the streets here as well, but at least they are marginally cleaner.  I was able to locate a new inner tube for about 8 shekels (about half what the last tube cost me). 

We salvaged a very hot day (over 100) by going through part of David's City National Park over in Silwan and waded in the pool at Hezekiah's Tunnel, just above Siloam.  ).  By the way, the water is clear, cool and very refreshing on a hot day!  I'm attaching some pictures from the pool.  We also walked across the stone steps of Herod's pool (at last after six months of waiting for them finish getting that part of the park open!). 

I left the bikes locked up at the Davidson Archeological Park by the Dung Gate and  found that my wedge bag under the bike seat was missing (along with a park tool and some change).  It appears that thievery is still a problem even in the Holy City.

Meanwhile, I got the van back, at last, but it looks like there are more mechanical problems.  It appears to be running rough. 

--Bob Jones, trying to keep cool in Jerusalem
10:30 AM                                                         July 11, 2005

I had gotten some feedback from the photo album on the Website
( http://luffman.us/bob.htm ) that I was being too narrow in my presentations and that I wasn't being candid enough about the oppression that the Palestinians are experiencing.  And it is true that I haven't gone through the Check points this time or spent a lot of time with Palestinians other than the staff at Redeemer.  Part of that has to do with the "hassles" that I remember from the few times that I did bike into the Palestinian Authority--partly from Israeli border guards, but also partly from Palestinian kids who chase after me with sticks that they try to poke into my spokes.  I think that it has to do with a lack of familiarity with "western style" bicyclists and boredom.

I biked up Wadi Al Joss and along the ridge line from Mount Scopus to the Mount of Olives and over to "the Wall" here in East Jerusalem this morning.  I am attaching a couple of pictures from there.  I didn't take any pictures right at the check point because I didn't want to have my camera taken.  Being an American, I doubt that they would keep it, but I didn't want to take the chance. 

What I saw close up was a line of Palestinian women waiting on the other side of the gate to be let in, and a long line of buses on this side waiting to give them rides to other parts of the city.  There was no movement on either side.  Things were very quiet for quite a few blocks on this side of the Wall.  I understand that the organist for the Arab language congregation at Redeemer lives on the "wrong side" of the East Jerusalem Wall, making it very difficult to get in for services on Sunday mornings.

At least the dividing wall at Bethlehem makes some sense--it was set up in a very insensitive way going through private and church property, but at least it divides the distinct communities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem.  In East Jerusalem, the wall seems even more arbitrary--here it divides a single community.  I had visited the parts of Jerusalem on the other side of the wall, and there is no distinction, no open space between one side and the other, beyond what the bulldozers have created, leveling homes and businesses.

According to HaAretz, the Israeli withdrawal from Bethlehem is supposed to take place this week.  Check the article at: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/598220.html.  Having seen how little the withdrawal from Jericho was back in the Spring, I'm not sure I know what a withdrawal from Bethlehem might mean.  I guess we shall see...

4:00 PM
I haven't been able to track down the van from the staff member at Redeemer--none of the bishop's staff are in today.  It's not a big deal, except that it has been quite a bit warmer again:  The "official" high for today is 90, though the Siler's thermometer was around 104.  It's about 85 inside without air conditioning, so I can see why people slow down a lot in the mid-Summer here, and take naps in the afternoon.  The problem would be if the keys don't get back in time for Iklaus to borrow the van on Wednesday.  Personally, I don't like driving it that much and get around better on the bike--though I don't know if people like it when I get all sweaty going into the office.  It takes about 20 minutes to "cool down" after the commute and I haven't worked out a shower arrangement with the school.  I'm afraid that it will be time for me to go by the time I get everything all sorted out.  Oh well!

--Bob Jones, laying low and keeping as cool as I can in Jerusalem
10:00 PM July 10, 2005

Another warm day.  I hesitate to call it hot, given how hot I hear that it has been over in Arizona.  Still, it was too warm to comfortably go out and bike after church--not until just before sunset.  I didn't go very far, even at that.  Just out to Baca along Bethlehem Road and back on Emek Refaim.  The traffic on Emek Refaim was a good reminder of why I prefer biking to driving in Jerusalem. 

I got the van back just in time to "loan it out" to Adib, a member of the Bishop's Staff.  His sister's family is visiting from the US and they wanted to get everyone into one vehicle from the airport in Tel Aviv.  I should be getting it back in the morning.

We had quite a crowd in church this morning--well over 40, but most were visitors and not regulars.  In fact, we were so short of regulars, that I had to scramble to get a second worship assistant for communion and a counter to help with offering afterwards.  For those of you who don't know, we are required to have two different people count and "sign off" on the offering every week.  It helps to keep us accountable.

I'm attaching a copy of my sermon notes for today.  For those of you who are interested, you may notice that the illustrations for the sermon came from the "Seed of Peace" weekend at Tantur and the Teleconference at Notre Dame on June 26.  I also figured that I had to comment on the terrible bombings over in London.  In short, you can actually see how I put a sermon together.

We have an interesting problem--one of the offering baskets has worn out.  I'll have to repair or replace it.  Some glue might do the trick.  That is one of the interesting problems here--there are plenty of merchants in the Old City who would love to sell you anything.  But given that most of my stuff is in storage already, and I still have the biking tour of Italy before I head back to the US in August, I really don't want to buy much of anything.  I bought a Palestinian embroidered "stole" before I left in April which I left here and I have definitely put it to use.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see that Antoinette from the print shop, has all of the bulletin inserts done for the rest of July.  That also means that I probably won't see her or many of the staff people at Redeemer for the rest of the month.  Vacation time. 

I am a little disappointed--I took off my yellow "Livestrong" wristband to show to a Palestinian kid who wanted to see it while I was biking over by the Damascus Gate the other afternoon.  As soon as he had it, he took off on his bike.  I didn't feel like chasing him, but it was disappointing.  I'm attaching a picture of the view immediately west of the apartment.  The tower in the distance to the right is the Rockefeller Center near where the incident happened. 

If tomorrow is hot, I may bike over and visit the museum there.  They have a wonderful collection of Islamic art.  It should also be cool inside.  If tomorrow is cooler, I'll have to look into another longer ride.  With the van, I may drive across town and see about doing some mountain biking over at Yad Kennedy.  The other possibility would be to drive over to Ein Kerem and then bike on some of the rural roads west of the city.

It is ironic--when I was at Tantur, I complained that it's located on the far South Side of Jerusalem, and most of the good biking was further north.  Now that I'm at Redeemer, I'm way over on the East Side of Jerusalem, and most of the good biking is on the West side.  Part of the problem is the wall here in East Jerusalem--it's only about 1 ½ miles from here on the other side of the Mount of Olives.  The tension over there is palpable. 

--Bob Jones, grumbling, biking, and preaching in Jerusalem
10:00 AM July 8, 2005

I biked up to Augusta Victoria and along the ridge around the Mount Scopus Campus and back along the by-pass to just east of the Old City.  It is always so nice and cool up there.  The streets were fairly quiet, which I guess is typical for a Friday with many of the Muslim owned shops closed now, or by this afternoon.  If only there were more Christians in Jerusalem, then we would have a three-day weekend every week!

The tune-up on the bike has worked wonders--I also took the plunge and put a water bottle cage and a seat wedge on the bike.  It is amazing how free I feel when I don't have to mess with backpacks or hydration packs.  I shouldn't speak too soon, though.  I'll probably need some sort of backpack for an overnight trip.  Given the fact that the office is just about "shutting down" the next couple of weeks, it looks like it might be a good time to do some overnight-type outings myself!

I managed to get the "masters" on the bulletin inserts at Redeemer for the rest of July finished.  All I have to do is to get them into the printer and we're all set until my last Sunday.  The limited time set me to thinking about the expenses that I've paid on the bike--I don't plan on keeping it.  I figure that I've spent something like 750 shekels or about $170.00.  That comes out to less than $4.00 a day--not bad for major recreation and commuting for six or seven weeks! 

The only disadvantage that I can see is that I get rather warm and sweaty biking even for the short 2 mile commute over to the office, and that isn't very good.  It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't such a climb into the Old City--and that's the case whether I go in through St. Stephen's Gate, the Jaffa Gate, or the New Gate.  I have figured out a slightly more "round about" way up along Wadi al Joss into the New Gate.  The real problem is that I like pushing fairly hard.  I guess what it amounts to, is that I need to look into shower facilities if I plan on bike commuting at my next church.

7:00 PM

I caught up with Julie and Sasha and the office Staff at Redeemer with a late morning "brunch" of mint tea, falafels, "suq bread", yogurt sauce, tomatoes and cucumbers at the office.  It was quite a treat!  The two are heading up to Galilee tomorrow for the weekend.  Obviously, since I have to preach here on Sunday I can't go with them.  In fact, I'll have to remember to pick up some bread for communion. 

Sasha and I went back over to the bike shop again to get the seat adjusted.  It took a larger wrench than the "Park Tool" that I have.  I'll have to track down a traditional crescent wrench at a hardware store so that they can make adjustments and repairs.  I'm attaching a picture from the paved road from Zion Gate to Dung Gate in the Old City.  I biked that way back to the apartment.

The 7th Stage of the Tour de France is interesting.  I had no idea that they would actually leave France and finish one of the stages in Germany.  They're heading for Karlsruhe.  The rain has certainly taken its toll.  What a mess at the end just in back of the leaders!

--Bob Jones, biking and preaching in Jerusalem
 
9:00 PM July 7, 2005

What a strange day!  The news about the bombing in London was terrible.  And things here were so peaceful by contrast.  I found out that most of the staff at Redeemer is going on vacation over the next few weeks.  So I've been trying to get my bulletin inserts done early--I have this Sunday and next Sunday already done, with July 24 and 31, and Aug. 7, there are only three more left before it's time for me to go. 

I walked over to St. Mary Magdalene Russian Orthodox Church  to meet with Julie and her friend, Sasha.  They were about 20 minutes late, and I was about 20 minutes early.  It didn't matter that much, it is so peaceful and pretty there.  I really didn't mind hanging out there for 40 minutes.  I'm attaching a picture of the steps up to the church and one of the beautiful golden onion domes, themselves.

Afterwards, we tried to drive over to the Jerusalem Mall--way on the south side of town, but the traffic was absolutely terrible.  I was reminded again of why I prefer biking to driving in Jerusalem.  After we ran into a 20 minute traffic jam over by the Dung Gate on the south side of the Old City, we turned around and tried going around the Old City the opposite direction and ran into another traffic jam.  I had warned them that Thursdays over by the Western Wall would be a problem because of Bar Mitzvahs that are scheduled there.

The Jerusalem Mall looks much like a Mall in the US, except that there are no discount stores anywhere close.  I seriously looked at some weight lifting gloves to use for volleyball--they were very reasonable (around 25 shekels), but too thick and heavy.  We had lunch at a rather noisy kosher "dairy deli" with nice salads, soups, pizzas, and quiches.  It was a little high, as most things were at the Mall. 

On the way back, we stopped at the bike shop over on Agron.  The traffic had let up quite a bit.  Julie got a new "cheap" mountain bike--a Nevada with 18 gears--Shimanos, but without quick release wheels for 570 shekels or about $120.  It does have "quick release" brakes at least.  I'll be checking back with them in the morning to see if either Julie or Sasha wants to go out biking.  I brought the Trek 800 back to the same shop for a tune-up and the old guy was able to get the front derailleur to work better than it had.  That's nice, but I suddenly realized that I'm looking at only one month before I'll need to sell the thing or get rid of it one way or another.

Meanwhile, they're having fireworks here again.  This time it's on our side of the Kidron Valley--north of the apartment, so I can't see them that easily out the windows.  I had seen a number of wedding parties in decorated cars as we came back from the Mall.  I can't help but wonder if the tragic news of the bombings in London will have any effect on either celebrations or security over the next few days.  I'm also going to have to rethink my sermon for Sunday to take that news into account.  I guess we shall see.

--Bob Jones, riding, shopping, and preaching in Jerusalem
12:00 PM July 6, 2005

It was a good ride, but I have to admit, I feel pretty tired.  I rode out west of Ein Kerem towards Beit Shemesh on Highway 386--not as far as when I had gone from Tantur all of the way to Soreq Cave.  This time I only went as far as the rest stop at the beginning of Independence Park just past the intersection with Highway 3866.  I also stopped at the bottom of Wadi Kerem at Sataf, but I didn't go looking around for the rather famous "goat cheese caves" that they write about in the Fromer's Guides. 

It's a beautiful ride--a round trip of just over 35 miles, I'm attaching a picture of the Wadi with a train at the bottom.  I believe that they now have the train going from Beit Shemesh to Jerusalem, but I don't know how much it costs.  If they do, it could be an interesting option for folks who want to go out biking, but don't care to do all of the climbing back up to Jerusalem.

I ran into a cyclist from Jerusalem out there.  She drove out to Sataf and biked from there, the 7.5 miles up to the park.  That way, she avoided all of the city traffic and that hard climb back up into Jerusalem at Ein Kerem.  Her goal was to do the 15 miles before 10:00 AM, I didn't spot her driving back (there aren't many alternatives until you get back to Hadassa Hospital), so I suspect that she didn't get back in time.

It's staying partly cloudy here today, and that's great!  It means that the temperature will not be as high.  The breeze from the coast must be pushing a lot of moisture up into the air.  It was great to have that at my back coming back into Jerusalem!

10:15 PM

I had forgotten how much of a food calorie deficit a ride like that can generate.  I actually had two suppers--one at the house before volleyball and a cookout after the volleyball game (a farewell event for several of the expatriates who had volunteered for World Vision and I believe for the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Accompaniment Program.  In any case, there was a large crowd up at the LWF Compound and only three teams playing volleyball.  They kept on going after supper as well. 

Mark asked me to host the volleyball on Wednesday nights after they leave on July 24.  There will actually only be a couple of Wednesday nights that I will be here after that, but I should be able to help out for a couple of Wednesdays. 

I never did go in to the office today, but I managed to get two bulletin inserts pretty much ready to go.  I'll just have to take them in to the office tomorrow morning.  I'll probably do a shorter ride beforehand. 

--Bob Jones, preaching, riding, playing volleyball and eating in and around Jerusalem
 

 
Dear Family and Friends,

Sorry, but I had mislabeled the picture I attached to the last message.  What you saw was a picture of the Damascus Gate into the Old City.  I am attaching a picture of the slick intersection at St. Stephen's Greek Orthodox Church here.

Again, my apologies!

--Bob Jones, still making mistakes
 
9:00 PM July 5, 2005

The way that Lance got the Yellow Jersey back was so sad.  Watching Zabriskie go crashing down just over a kilometer from the end of the Team Time Trials at the end of the 4th Stage was tragic.  It really was hard to watch him come in.  And I'm sure it was bitter sweet for Lance and the Discovery Team as well. 

I'm surprised that he wasn't more badly injured, given how badly torn up his jersey and biking pants were.  According to Eurosport, it was a chain ring that skipped.  I have to admit that a fear of crashing like that is something that keeps me from riding faster myself.  And that's true here in Jerusalem, where the paving stones in the Old City can be slick and wet, and the pavement in the newer parts of town can be very uneven.  There are a couple of spots where I have slid fairly badly--there's one corner at the stoplight at St. Stephen's where I turn to go up to the Dung Gate that seems to be slick with oil on the road, but no serious spills yet.  I'm attaching a picture from down there.

I wasn't able to reach Julie on her cell phone today, which was a little worrisome.  Frankly, I need to get the van back.  Not so much because "I need it"-- I can definitely get around without it.  But I know that someone else in the office really does need it, and I am responsible for it.  I also have to admit, it would make life easier to be able to do some grocery shopping that way.  As it is, I am carrying my groceries in the green backpack, which is roomy, but still limited. I would also like to take at least one longer trip up to Galilee with it.

I had also had some problems getting hold of the Browns up at the Lutheran World Federation today.  This was mainly to see if Nick and Sebastian were going to be accompanying Tim at Services on Sunday.  I tried several times on the land lines, but no luck.  I begin to see what Russ means when he says that he often feels pretty good if he manages to "get one thing done" each day.

It was a lot cooler today--and breezy, than it had been on Monday.  I probably should have gone a longer ride, as I had planned.  As it was, I rode around East Jerusalem up by the Mount Scopus turnoff and Wadi Al Joss after a couple of hours in the office.  Part of it, is that I know Antoinette, our print shop person at the offices is leaving on vacation at the end of the week and I want to have at least a couple of week's bulletins in for her to work on before she leaves. I managed one, and I want to have another one done by tomorrow.

I'm heading to bed a bit early tonight--mainly because of going out early this morning and wanting to go out riding early in the morning.  It leaves me pretty tired in the evenings.  I also have to admit that there really isn't that much that's very good on TV after the coverage of the Tour de France--even with satellite.  Oh well.

--Bob Jones, preaching, biking a little, and watching the Tour in Jerusalem
 
8:30 AM July 5, 2005

I finally found the bike shop on Agrippas Street--more broadly, I finally found Agrippas Street which was no small task.  One of the guys at a bike shop over in Baca had mentioned that they carry more "used bikes" at this particular shop and he mentioned the address as though it was somewhere that anyone could easily find.  I had looked for it before when I was first looking for a bike earlier in June and had no luck.  But with Julie and her friend wanting used bikes to get around town, I thought I would give it another shot.  I figure that we'll probably be out looking at bikes either today or tomorrow.  I'm attaching a picture of an interesting mural on an apartment building on Agrippas within a block of the shop.

It's an interesting neighborhood just below Jaffa Road--one of the major streets in town that is generally restricted to public vehicles.  That makes it hard to get there.  The neighborhood is certainly not as nice as Baca, but it has a sort of Bohemian feel to it, in an Orthodox Jewish sort of way.   I believe that it may be an area that is in the process of turning "ultra-orthodox"--I know it's right next to one.  I'll have to ask Daniel Rossing, resident expert on inter-religious affairs over at Tantur about that.

Ultra-orthodox neighborhoods are areas that are dominated by very, very strict orthodox Jews who enforce community dress standards and adherence to the Shabbat.  Bicyclists with our shorts and jerseys are frowned upon in these neighborhoods, though I haven't actually had anyone hiss or throw stones at me for biking through one.  I have been warned that it can happen, so I tend to avoid those areas.  I can't imagine a bike shop surviving in an Ultra-orthodox Jewish neighborhood. 

Biking early in the morning has the double advantage of getting out and about before it gets too warm, and beating the city traffic.  There is significant cloud cover today, so hopefully it won't be quite as warm as it was yesterday.  On the other hand, the sun could easily burn it off.it is July after all!

10:30 AM

What a remarkable tradition!  I got an e-mail from our Quaker Friends and it was not at all what I had expected.  Well, to be honest, I didn't know exactly what to expect!  The gist of the note was that they weren't "angry" or upset at all as far as Sunday Worship was concerned, but that they had simply exercised a Quaker Worship Tradition of "standing down", where one chooses not to participate but also not to interfere when something is happening in worship with which they disagree.  They were sure that there were people present who appreciated the singing of a Patriotic Hymn close to the 4th of July, but simply couldn't participate.  They also expressed appreciation for the information that I sent on Julia Ward Howe and her Mother's Day Statement. 

What a contrast with some of the attitudes and restrictions that I was thinking about with the Ultra-Orthodox earlier today!  We could all learn something from the Quakers!

--Bob Jones, biking, learning, and preaching in Jerusalem
 
10:30 PM July 4, 2005

I decided not to go to the big 4th of July doings hosted by the American Consulate over at Notre Dame.  When I biked by the compound, the security looked pretty major with big heavy barricades and plenty of guards.  Between that and the heat of the day, and a big lunch with Julie, another pastor who works at Redeemer, and her friend visiting from the US, and the prospect of facing a major "dress-up" social occasion alone, I didn't really feel like going so I passed the invitation on to Julie and her friend (it was only for two). 

That may have been a mistake, because Charles and Anne, my neighbors from across the street who had been gone for some time met me at the gate of the apartment complex.  They were all dressed up and ready to go as I got back from a late afternoon bike ride and I know that the Bishop was going to be there.  My ambivalence about going may be emotional fall-out from the folks being upset with the Service yesterday in church.

I reduced my biking to a basic commute into the Old City through the New Gate and a ride around the Old City just before sunset.  I also played "tour guide", taking Julie's friend on foot over to the cistern and pools at St. Anne's and Ecce Homo along the Via Dolorosa. 

We were looking for some place cool to visit in all of the heat while Julie worked on power point presentations that she had to have ready for today.  I'm attaching a picture of the chapel from some of the excavation work near the pools of Bethesda at St. Anne's.  The pools were a source of water that was used at the Temple.  Some of the cisterns date back to the 3rd or 4th Century BC.  The acoustics at the church of St. Anne's are very lively, people were singing hymns and it was so loud that you couldn't talk.  I was surprised that it cost 7 shekels ($1.50) to visit each of those sites.

It really is getting warm these days so I'm figuring on doing my real biking very early in the morning.

--Bob Jones, laying low and trying to stay cool in Jerusalem
 
1:00 PM July 3, 2005

I think I succeeded in offending a number of the "regulars" in the congregation this morning.  It was not because of my sermon, which might have been a bit too sympathetic in my description of the Jewish observance of "Shabbat", but because of the final hymn--"The Battle Hymn of the Republic". 

A number of folks refused to stand, let alone sing the hymn.  We have both Quakers and Mennonites in the congregation and I have to admit that I had not thought that much about the militant nature of the words--it did come out of the Civil War.  It is ironic when you think about the pacifist sentiments of the author, Julia Ward Howe.  I'm attaching a part of her Mother's Day Address as well as my sermon for today.

The "Battle Hymn" itself was written in explicit support of the Union during the Civil War, but Howe came to oppose War and to advocate for Global Disarmament in light of the terrible and pointless bloodshed of the Franco-Prussian War in the 1870's.  She never retracted her hymn which was often played or sung at public engagements where she spoke for Peace and Disarmament. 

I rode out into West Jerusalem to "cool down" a bit after the Service.

10:00 PM

I watched Stage 2 of the Tour de France but I have to admit that it was harder to follow than the simple time trials of Stage 1.  181.5 kilometers (112.53 miles) is a long ride--longer than El Tour de Tucson, but tomorrow's Stage at 212.5 kilometers (131.5 miles) is even longer.  It is longer than I could imagine myself doing in a single day.  I believe that eurosport.com is probably one of the better web sites for live coverage on the internet.  Eurosport is the one network here that has live broadcasts.

Just before sunset, I biked the dirt roads up the Mount of Olives and along the ridge by the Mount Scopus Campus and down Wadi Al Joss.  I'm still working on making that initial climb without stopping.  It's only slightly over 6 miles, but is the easiest East Jerusalem Ride I can manage.

I'm heading into the office briefly tomorrow to look at the invitation that Pastor Siler received for a 4th of July Reception for US expatriates over at Notre Dame, which is a very nice location only a mile and a half from the apartment.  Depending on when it is, and how dressy it is, I may go.  Otherwise, I'll take a shot at a longer ride out to Ein Kerem and Sataf (the cave of John the Baptist) and down to Nahal Kattav (a nature walk).

--Bob Jones, puzzling my way through the July 4th Weekend in Jerusalem
8:30 AM July 2, 2005

Infomercials are irritating whether they are in German or in English.  The high-energy, rapid fire, enthusiastic promoters who put together a breakfast of omlets, fresh ground coffee, and muffins, seem to be the same no matter what language they happen to shout. 

I thought I would catch the very beginning of the First Stage of the Tour de France--a 19 kilometer time trial into a headwind on a bridge to an island off the Atlantic coast, but I forgot that they are an hour earlier, not an hour later than we are here in the Eastern Mediterranean.  They had listed the sport programming as resuming at 8:30 AM, but when I turned the TV on, they were in the middle of a German Infomercial for "Der Magic Bullet"--a food processor with 19 different attachments for only 99.99 Euro. 

With the "farewell communion service" for the Youth Groups at 10:00 AM at Redeemer, I'll need to head in to the office before the Time Trials begin--oh well!  There are three weeks of the Tour.

7:30 PM
The Service was a lot later at Redeemer than scheduled--which is no big surprise here.  The Bishop presided over communion and gave the visitors (and us locals as well) some embroidered Palestinian coin purses "to put prayers in".  He commented that the group had helped to show the Palestinian youth of the local congregations that not all Americans are the same--a good message for them.  I joined the group up at Papa Andrea's again.  I'm attaching a picture of some shoppers in the Christian Quarter as they appear from up there.

It's something watching the Time Trials in the Tour de France live.  Most weren't that interesting.  Lance's time trial was very exciting--overtaking Ullrich by 1.06 minutes and almost beating the early leader Zabriskie--and I thought that watching Time Trials would be boring!  I did my own 19 kilometers today--actually more like 12.79 miles or 20.59 kilometers over in West Jerusalem.  Not that I would even pretend to match their times--I know better than that.  It's also the case that there is no such thing as "flats" here in Jerusalem.

I'm attaching a picture of a modern art sculpture entitled "New York Place" over in West Jerusalem inspired by the Statue of Liberty--again appropriate for the 4th of July weekend.  It was just off of the Jaffa Road a few blocks from the park next to the Knesset. 

They're having a concert over at Redeemer tonight--a classical flute and harp concert in the Courtyard.  It is tempting, but I have to admit that at 50 shekels the concerts are expensive. 

Bob Jones, biking, preaching, and watching the Tour
6:30 AM                                          July 2, 2005

My apologies!  I looked at the picture and text that I had sent in the nice format that Mark Luffman is providing on his web site: http://luffman.us/bob.htm
and I realized that the picture of Yad Kennedy that I attached was from much closer than half a mile.  Sorry about that.

Today is Shabbat again, which means the streets of Jerusalem should be nice and quiet.  I haven't figured out which route I'll be biking today, but I do intend to also take a look at the first stage of the Tour de France coverage on Eurosport. 

At 10:00 AM, I will be participating in a "farewell communion service" over at Redeemer for the Youth Groups from Sweden and Michigan.  I feel somewhat guilty that I hadn't participated that much with their visit, but I must admit that their schedule has been very difficult to follow.  That is an aspect of life here that would really drive me crazy.

Their final hours will be up at Augusta Victoria, bottling olive oil.  Oil from locally raised olives is one of the sources of fund raising for the Hospital.  I'm attaching a picture of the nearby Mount Scopus Campus of the Hebrew University that I took from the roof of the apartment.

The temperature has been slowly climbing--still in the mid-80's.  But the fact that the breeze is slowing down and the humidity is up around 45%--these are making the weather a bit more of a challenge, but still nothing compared to the heat that some of you are facing in Arizona. 

Well, keep cool!
--Bob Jones, biking, watching the Tour, and preaching in Jerusalem
2:00 PM July 1, 2005
Dear Family and Friends,

It seemed appropriate to bike out to the Yad Kennedy Memorial for the July 4th weekend.  I have to admit, though, that the weather is starting to warm up a bit.  There is still a breath of a breeze, but it's nothing like what it was like for most of last month. 

While I was out there, I biked around to some of the recreational areas, including a number of trailheads for the Trans-Israel Mountain Bike Trail.  I ran into some tourists from Brazil at the Memorial.  On the way back I ran into some cyclists from Australia and the US who were asking for directions.  When I get the van back, I'll look into possibly doing some mountain biking out there.

It isn't practical to do any real mountain biking out there without the van since it's a 12 mile ride across town just to get out there.  It would be like riding a mountain bike out to Sedona from Cottonwood and then hitting the trails, except that you're dealing with about 8 miles of major city traffic before it starts to let up.  I'm attaching another picture of Yad Kennedy from about half-a-mile down the road. 

I stopped at the grocery store in Rehavia again--I keep forgetting that the shops here in East Jerusalem close on Friday afternoons for noon prayers, just as the West Jerusalem shops close for Shabbat.  I'm beginning to see that local food products are a lot cheaper than international ones--local raisins run 10 shekels ($2.40) for 400 grams (just under a pound) as opposed to California raisins which are 19 shekels ($4.60) for 500 grams (a pound)--and the local ones are much fresher.  A bag of Jordanian potato chips costs 1 shekel--about a quarter, while US potato chips run about 3.5 shekels--about 85 cents.  I have to admit that I never thought that I'd ever be buying Jordanian potato chips--or that there even was such a thing.  Pocket bread costs 3 "breads" for 1 shekel--3 "breads" for about a quarter.

A lot of vehicles are parked along the side of the road and in the Kidron Valley on the East side of the Old City.  I'm attaching a picture of that as well.  I don't know if it's another protest or some sort of major observance on this side of town. 

9:00 PM

Well, TV looks promising for the Tour de France.  I just caught part of the opening photo sessions prior to the first stage on Eurosport.  Axel Merckx was just up for his team.  But Lance Armstrong and his Discovery Channel Team were the real stars of the show.  The presentation is in French, of course, but the commentary is in English.  We're only an hour ahead of France here in Israel, so it will be very close to real time.  Sweet! 
 


--Bob Jones, biking, shopping and preaching in Jerusalem
7:00 PM June 30,2005
Dear Family and Friends,

I caught up with Julie and the van--finally.  The Youth Groups from Michigan and Sweden have had an unpredictable visit with long waits in Ramallah and elsewhere in the area.  And it doesn't look like they'll be heading up to Galilee either.  Maybe it's just as well that I haven't done that much with them. 

From the Old City, I biked over to the Jerusalem Forest, down to the Zoo, and back on Bethlehem Road with a quick stop at one of the Bike Shops over in Baca.  I was looking for some slime, but ran into tube liners instead.  They were a little high at 30 shekels each:  about $7.00.  One of the families from Redeemer was asking about strategies for handling stickers and flats, but I think I'll ask them if they would want to spend that kind of money on their bike or not. 

The ride came to about 20 miles.  I'm attaching a picture of the Soccer Stadium down by the Jerusalem Zoo.  I think I'm just about ready for a longer ride out of the city, but I may want to pick up a spare inner tube or at least a patch kit just to be safe.

I photocopied the route from the Fromer's Guide down to Beit Shemesh, the Massua Forest, and the valley of Elah (pages 180-183), but I am a little concerned about distances.  It does include a stop at Sataf, where the archeological work at the "cave of John the Baptist" is taking place (a number of members of the congregation have been working at that dig for a few weeks now).  What I need to do, is to find a place where I can spend the night south and west of Jerusalem in case the ride is too much for a single day.

I hear that the weather has been beastly down in Arizona and the fires are terrible.  They do quite a bit of trash and field burning here in East Jerusalem but nothing that gets out of control.  The local fire station is about 4 blocks away on the opposite side of the valley from the apartment.  Our high temperatures are still in the low- to mid-80's and our lows are in the mid-60's with a strong and steady breeze from the west. 

Don't feel jealous, but do feel free to come and visit!
--Bob Jones, biking and preaching in Jerusalem
10:00 PM June 29, 2005
Dear Family and Friends,

It turns out that I was more worried about things at Redeemer Lutheran than I needed to be--I talked with Tim and found out that he is not leaving until the end of July and that he will accompany worship for most of the month.  In other words, the only Sunday that I may have to be concerned about is Aug. 7.  What a relief!

Our games on Mount Scopus were delayed because of a protest that the Settlers were conducting over at the Mount Scopus Campus of the Hebrew University.  I don't have a decent picture of the Hebrew University, but I am attaching one of the Wadi Joss in East Jerusalem which is below the Campus.  The view is from my rooftop.

Biking up on Mount Scopus was a bit more challenging today.  There were traffic slow-downs that were caused by the protests.  Similar slow-downs have taken place on Highway 1 between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.  The Settlers are the 400,000 Israelis who live in settlements in the West Bank and near Gaza.  The government is in the process of returning around 10% (20 settlements--16 from Gaza and 4 from the West Bank out of 205 as of July 2004) of this property back to the Palestinians.  100 settlements have been determined by the Israeli government to be illegal.  Here is a link to a Voice of America report on this from back in March of this year:  LINK

Supporters of the settlers have taken to flying orange flags and streamers on their vehicles and to wearing bright orange t-shirts.  As a result, I have avoided wearing my "blaze orange" biking shirt so as to avoid confrontations.  Supporters of the Israeli government policy of disengagement and withdrawal are showing blue and white streamers and the traditional Israeli flag.  There are children on the street corners in West Jerusalem distributing blue and white streamers. 

So much for Israeli politics. 
--Bob Jones, preaching, biking, and playing volleyball in and around Jerusalem
7:00 PM June 28, 2005
Dear Family and Friends,

It's been a surprisingly productive and busy day--I biked out on Highway 395 from Ein Kerem to Castel--the opposite direction that I biked it on Easter Monday trying to find the group who were walking the "Road to Emmaus" out to Latrun.  The ride was 23 miles.  I'm attaching a couple of pictures of the roadway, which is very nice with some real climbing.  Unfortunately, I still haven't found a way back into Jerusalem from Castel other than Highway 1 from Tel Aviv or to literally retrace my route from Ein Kerem.  As a result I climbed up Highway 1.  At least it has a decent shoulder going into town. 

I'm looking at another couple of longer rides in the same area--the Frommer's Guide to Israel describes a route that I have partly ridden out towards Beit Shemesh, but it makes the same mistake in distances that I remember from other Guide Books--it says that Soreq Cave (above Beit Shemesh) is only 12 miles from Jerusalem.  I know from experience that it is 22 miles.  The 44.5 mile round trip was one of the longest that I took back in the Spring.  Frankly, I think they got their miles and their kilometers mixed up and it makes me a bit more cautious about biking in that direction.

The Guide describes a number of vineyards and cheese caves in the countryside west of Jerusalem.  I know that the wines are very good, though I have to be careful since it both dehydrates me and can give me headaches.  The country is mountainous, but very pretty.  I may wait until Sunday as that gives me the option of spending the night at one of the guest houses or monasteries out there.

For tomorrow, I'll probably bike up on top of Mount Scopus--I have to do that anyway with the Wednesday Volley Ball.  I'm trying to alternate between biking in East and West Jerusalem--the roads in East Jerusalem are rougher with lighter traffic, and there seem to be more "off road" options.  The roads in the West are in better condition, but I have to negotiate the Traffic around the Old City and the City Center.  I'm also a bit more cautious with the Old City after my flat the other night.  It's good that I could replace the tube so easily, but riding at night in the Old City presents the risk of hitting broken glass before you even know it (yes, I do have a small headlight for the bike). 

In the office, I found that Antoinette, our "print shop person", was not working today because her uncle had died.  It's probably just as well because I may have some changes in the bulletin.  Things are getting a bit shaky for our Sunday Services--Christiane, our regular organist, is going back to Germany after this Sunday for six weeks of vacation and Tim, the pianist who plays back-up and has worked hard to put a worship "ensemble" together, is heading back to Australia.  In other words, after this Sunday we don't have any accompanists for Worship.  Would anyone be interested in coming to Jerusalem after July 3 to accompany our services?  I'll be making a similar plea at the Volley Ball Games tonight up at the LWF Compound. 

--Bob Jones, looking for musicians in Jerusalem
10:30 PM June 27, 2005

Supper at Papa Andrea's was good.  The setting was especially good.  It's just a block up from Redeemer in the Christian Quarter of the Old City.  I'm attaching a photo of the view from up there.  Tony Banchs, a young man from the congregation invited me out to have supper with his family who are visiting from Stuttgart.  Tony works with the US military trying to help the Palestinian Authority get their military and police forces sorted out. 

He seemed pretty well informed on some aspects of Islamic Culture from assignments in Kuwait and other parts of the Middle East.  He pointed out that the mosques that have green lights in them are often Shi'ite and not Sunni.  I wasn't aware of that. 

For those of you who don't know, the Shi'ites and the Sunnis are the two major branches of Islam:  Most Muslims are Sunnis.  They are more decentralized.  The Shi'ites are a minority but are dominant in Iran and Iraq.  The gist of the division seems to go back to the line of descendants of the Prophet Mohammed and who has the authority to interpret the Koran. 

Unfortunately, I had a flat in the Muslim Suq on the way back to the apartment.  I think I rode on some glass.  I was surprised to find that the toy shop up the hill from the Red Crescent Women's Hospital was still open at about 8:30 PM and they carried the right size of inner tubes.  That's only a couple of blocks from the apartment.  It only ran 15 shekels--less than $4.00.  They even installed it for me, but got the wheel on backwards.  I had to reverse it when I got home.

I caught part of a special on "The Science of Lance Armstrong" on the Discovery Channel when I got home.  It was really pretty good.  Since Lance's team is sponsored by the Discovery Channel, I wonder if they'll also be covering the Tour de France here?  We shall see.

The other thing that I've been thinking about are possible routes for longer bike rides around here.  I may also want to get a patch kit or at least a couple of inner tubes, but getting a few rides out of the city would be very nice.  And to be honest, I'm getting a little tired of the city traffic.

--Bob Jones, dealing with the ups and downs of life in Jerusalem
10:00 PM June 26, 2005

Dear Family and Friends,

The simulcast at Notre Dame was both more and less than what I had thought.  It was hosted by Dan Rather, but it was not connected with "60 Minutes".  Instead, it involved a group meeting in Washington D.C., groups that were meeting at synagogues, mosques, and churches in 50 different locations across the US, and groups in Egypt, Jordan, and South America.  They had a large screen satellite downlink with panelists that included Muslim, Christian, and Jewish religious and political leaders from the US, and leaders from Jerusalem both political and religious. 

The leaders included Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, president emeritus of the University of Notre Dame, Congressman Peter King from the US House of Representatives, Sheikh Imad Falouji from the Palestinian Legislative Council from Jabalia, Gaza, the Right Rev. Riah Abu El Assal, Bishop of Jerusalem of the Anglican Church, Rabbi David Rosen, International Director of Interreligious Affairs in Jerusalem, American Jewish Committee, Imam Yahya Hendi, Chaplain from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Rabbi Paul Menitoff, Vice President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, Rev. Leighton Ford from the Billy Graham Association and World Vision, and Rev. Dr. J. Martin Bailey Advisor of Churches for Middle East Peace. 

Rev. Leighton Ford was especially encouraging, though they were all decidedly moderate voices from the broad center of all three Western Religions.  I won't bore you with more details about the presentations, other than to say the whole thing was very encouraging, though it would have been better if there had been more people in attendance--they failed to fill the auditorium at Notre Dame.  If you are interested in the sponsoring groups for the program, the two groups have web sites:  www.adifferentfuture.org and www.walktheroadtopeace.org

My supper visit to Tantur was also enjoyable and challenging.  The meal was delicious, but I also found out that Father Amado, a Philippine priest who had arrived at Tantur just before I left back in April, had biked all over Israel and Palestine during his stay after I had left:  Down to Jericho, around to Nazareth and the Galilee, down the Jordan River Valley--all of the places that I had thought about biking before.  Well.I don't want to leave that challenge unmet. 

Now that the landlord has been here to "check out" the plumbing problem in the guest bathroom, I feel pretty confident about getting out and biking in larger and larger circles around Jerusalem .  I'll look at overnight trips fairly quickly.

I'm attaching a picture of Tantur from the Hebron Road.  If I remember correctly, it is Arabic for "top of the hill".

Meanwhile, I found out that the van is up in Ramallah with the Youth Group.  I ran into Julie Rowe at Notre Dame.  Although she didn't mention it, I expect that I will be getting the van back some time this week.  But I really have to admit, that I definitely prefer biking the city to driving the van.

--Bob Jones, out and about in Jerusalem
6:00 AM June 25, 2005

Dear Family and Friends,

I did manage a second bike ride--not up the Mount of Olives, though.  I wound up biking out on Bethlehem Road and back on Hebron Road.  It is so nice being able to bike those when the traffic drops for Shabbat. 

I was a little disappointed with grocery shopping on the way back.  I had stopped at the little shop where I have been picking up bread, but this time they were all out.  I guess I'll have to go over by Damascus Gate and the East Jerusalem Business District.  I haven't had any "Suq Bread" since I got back--the fresh baked kind that comes in huge loops with an herb mixture.  Frankly, they wanted too much for it the last time I stopped by one of the vendors over in the Old City.  It would probably be cheaper outside of there.

The weather is staying mild.  It is breezy just about all of the time and the high is in the low to mid-80's.  The low is in the 60's--almost too cool for shorts in the breeze.  But I manage to warm up when I start peddling. 

No luck locating a plumber yet.  Fortunately, the water puddle by the toilet is small and manageable for now--especially with the water on the tank turned off.  I keep a towel on the floor there.  The advice that I have gotten is to not try and fix it myself.  The fixtures here are quite different from in the States.  If nothing else works, I'll ask around at church tomorrow. 

1:00 PM

I am definitely finding shorter ways of getting around these days:  I found my way through the Old City to the New Gate (finally) and shaved 3 miles from the ride across the city to the Jerusalem Forest--right around 6 miles and I decided to go on down into Ein Kerem and then up by Hadassa Hospital.  Biking back into East Jerusalem the round trip totaled just over 20 miles.  I'm attaching a picture of the Hadassa Hospital as viewed from the Jerusalem Forest.

I stopped across from the Damascus Gate to pick up some "Suq Bread".  It was only 2 shekels--less than half of what it costs over at the Jaffa Gate.  I decided to heat up some spaghetti sauce as a dip along with the herb mix that they provide with the bread.  Mmm good!

Bob Jones, enjoying Shabbat in East Jerusalem
9:00 AM June 24, 2005

Dear Family and Friends,

I attended a High School Graduation Ceremony at the Anglican International School for Sebastian Brown, one of the members of Redeemer.  It was an interesting event, but not really that photogenic.  There were 8 graduates--two were Americans.  There were a couple of Palestinians, a Russian, a Cypriot, and one from Ireland.  It was funny--they concluded the ceremony by playing Alice Cooper's, "School's Out".

I feel a little guilty--I gave Sebastian a card, but no money.  To be honest, it was hard to find greeting cards.  I wound up getting two sets of cards from Redeemer--they are pretty, old prints of colorized photographs of the Holy Lands from 1900.  The process was quite complicated--the black and white photographs were put on glass and projected onto a screen, redrew the photo and then water colored the product.

I thought I'd give you an early warning.  I understand that this Sunday's 60 Minutes on CBS is going to feature a "live segment" from here in Jerusalem.  I'm going to try and get into the auditorium at Notre Dame which is where they'll be broadcasting.  I believe that it has to do with the Palestinian/Israeli Conflict. 

BTW, things are getting a bit tenser around here.  The Israeli Extremists who are opposed to the disengagement have taken to displaying bright orange flags and streamers on their cars.  Since I'm living and biking in East Jerusalem which is predominantly Palestinian, this means that I can't wear any biking clothes with any orange in them unless I want to be identified with that movement.  Personally, I think that these settlements are illegal and the disengagement should be immediate instead of waiting for two months until both sides get an opportunity to build-up their forces.

Well, I'd better get going:  The housecleaner is going to be here soon and I need to be ready to give her instructions before I take-off for the day.  I also need to put the laptop away so that I don't tempt her unnecessarily.  My plans are to go biking out to West Jerusalem--maybe out to the Kennedy Memorial.  I want to get a sense of how far that is because I may do an "overnight ride" one of these days out that way--down to Beit Shemesh and the Valley of Elah, where David fought Goliath.  There are a couple of monasteries out that way that I understand are really nice for overnight stays.

12:00 PM

Well, there's good news and there's bad news.  The good news is that it's a lot closer to the Jerusalem Forest from here than I thought.  It's only about 7 miles.  That means that riding out to Ein Kerem or on down to Beith Shemesh is closer than I had thought.  The bad news is that the toilet in the guest bathroom is leaking.  I turned the water off until I can find a plumber.  I figure that I won't be doing any "away evenings" until that's under control.

Traffic was surprisingly light this morning.  I'm attaching a couple of pictures of Oscar Schindler's grave.  .  I stopped out at the Christian Cemetery on the south side of the Old City below Zion Gate.  The Hebrew inscription reads, "Whoever saves one life, saves the whole world."  The German reads, "the unforgettable life-protector; who saved 1200 persecuted Jews".  I don't know if you have all seen the movie, SCHINDLER'S LIST--if you haven't I would really encourage you to do so.  It's depressing, but also very powerful and it's great to see that he really did exist.

I may hop on the bike for one more ride this evening.  Now that I know a back-way up to the top of the Mount of Olives, I really don't have to worry about the traffic.

--Bob Jones, biking around Jerusalem
9:00 AM June 22, 2005

Dear Family and Friends,

I was surprised--I biked across to West Jerusalem, way south towards the Jerusalem Mall and it was a round trip just short of 9 miles.  Somehow I thought it was further across the city than that.  Of course, I didn't go to the far west side--to the other side of the Knesset or the Israel Museum or on over to the Jerusalem Forest or Ein Kerem.  It tells me that the city is not as big as I had thought, even from East Jerusalem.

Since I didn't run into anyone in the office yesterday other than the German staff, I figure that I may head over a little earlier today just to see who else is there.  I also hope to recover my sermon notes from Russ's computer in the office.  I thought I had saved it on a floppy disk, but when I checked it, it was an earlier, incomplete version.

I should mention to those of you from Arizona--I hear that it's been pretty hot out your way.  Not to disgust you, but the temperatures have stayed in the low 80's here.  It cools off into the 60's at night with fairly strong breezes from the West.  The people here complain about it being hot for this early in the Summer, but frankly, I think it's wonderful.  Tiberias is a bit warmer--mid-90's for highs. 

I've been talking with one of the other staff pastors about maybe heading back up to the Sea of Galilee to do some more biking next week.  They have some company coming and were thinking about a nice way to see the sights up there.  My thought would be to either bike around the lake again, or maybe bike on down to Beit Shean and take the road to Afula.  It should be a little cooler than right around the lake.  Frankly, it was already a little warm when I was biking up there in April.

10:30 PM

It was really a surprise up at the Volleyball Games at the Lutheran World Federation Compound--most of the chaperones for the Youth Group visiting from the US are cyclists--they seemed quite knowledgeable especially about Mountain Biking.  The oldest member is a "son of the congregation" from Redeemer here in Jerusalem and is looking forward to a long ride when he gets back to Michigan.  It turns out that they also knew the pastor who had served at Spirit of Joy Lutheran in Cottonwood before I got there.  An interesting case of "small world".  Apparently, they are quite involved with the biking community and have church sponsored biking events.

They had green bands with the phrase "Bridges not Walls" in Arabic and English like the yellow "Livestrong" bands from the Lance Armstrong Foundation.  As soon as they saw my yellow band, they insisted that I have one of theirs as well.  There were 18 in their group altogether.  It doesn't look like they will need me as a driver--if anything they have the opposite problem of not having enough space.

I'm attaching a picture of early dawn over the Old City.  I took it from the Jerusalem Memorial Park, a short walk from the Apartment.

--Bob Jones, preaching, biking, and playing volleyball in Jerusalem
8:30 AM June 21, 2005

Dear family and friends,

My 7:00 AM bike ride on top of Mount Scopus this morning was great!  The half-mile climb up to the saddle between the Mount of Olives and Mount Scopus is a terrific starting challenge.  It's reminds me of the climb up Mingus Mountain behind Jerome, but it's a lot shorter.  Once on the saddle, I headed north towards the Mount Scopus Campus of the Hebrew University.  The campus is very quiet right now because Summer Session hasn't begun yet.  On the other side of campus, I rode along the ridge of the mountain going from Palestinian to Jewish neighborhoods.  The view up there is amazing, but it was hazy today so I couldn't see the "mountains of Moab" or the Dead Sea.  The ride back down was also interesting, I went through the business district of Wadi El Joss and wound up on the opposite side of the Kidron Valley from my apartment.  The entire loop was 7.23 miles, but a fairly strenuous workout at right around 40 minutes.  I'm attaching an earlier picture from the top of the Mount of Olives.  I forgot my camera again!

10:00 PM

The day was unusually quiet, though the evening has been marked with fireworks.  I have gotten used to that on weekends--weddings and block parties seem to be the norm around here, but this is a Tuesday.  Still, I can't complain, I have an unobstructed view of a lot of the Kidron Valley which means I can see for miles around.

I went into the office around 12:30 PM and most of the staff was gone from the Bishop's Offices.  The secretary of the German Congregation was in and so was an invitation from the American Consulate for Russ to go to a special dinner celebrating the 4th of July.  It looks like a formal affair at Notre Dame, just outside the New Gate.  I suspect that I could talk my way in since the phone number on the card was for declining only.  I'll have to talk to a few other folks from the congregation to see how that works.

I'm still having problems getting to the New Gate from Redeemer.  I wound up below Jaffa Gate again.   What I may have to do, is to try biking in that way from outside of the Old City.  To be honest, I don't mind getting lost in the Christian Quarter that much--the suq is so much less crowded and brighter, though I'm sure the businesses would prefer that it if it were busy like the Muslim Quarter. 

I have to admit, I thought about biking back up to the top of the Mount of Olives again at sunset today, but I was just too tired.  Oddly enough, it hasn't been that hot, and the wind seems to always be from the west, so I would be "pushed up the hill".  With the youth group activities and volleyball tomorrow, I'll have to see about doing all of my biking in the morning.  My guess is that I'll probably have to drive the van full of teenagers up to the top of Mount Scopus and the Lutheran World Federation Compound tomorrow evening.  We shall see.

--Bob Jones, calling it an early night in Jerusalem
10:00 PM June 20, 2005

Dear Family and Friends,

I have got to learn to carry my camera with me when I go out biking.  I did manage to remember it this morning when I biked back over to Agron Street by the bike shop where I bought the Trek 800.  I'm attaching a picture of that shop from across the street. 

It's right next to the American Consulate and across from Independence Park, about two blocks west of the Old City.  The closest "Western style grocery store" that I have found yet was just up the block.  I did some shopping and picked up some of the best spaghetti sauce and mini-sausages. 

The weather is also getting warmer, but I think I've figured out how to schedule bike rides here.  I'm doing the opposite of what I did at Tantur in the Winter--I ride in the morning and go into the office in the afternoon.  A lot of the other pastors and staff members at Redeemer seem to be in the office in the afternoons but not in the mornings.  I went with two of them over to the Armenian Tavern for baklava and coffee (I had already had spaghetti for lunch). 

The waiter told me that their baklava was not going to be ready for another hour when he brought everyone else's order, but then he disappeared and showed up about 15 minutes later with four pieces of baklava--I suspect that he ran down the street to another shop to find some.  Maybe the next time, I'll go later and find out what their baklava tastes like.

I turned the van over to Julie today for the Youth Group that will be getting back into Jerusalem tomorrow.  That means that I'm really dependent on the bike for basic transportation.  I offered to help out with the driving with the Youth Group and will probably be involved with getting them to the volleyball games up at the Augusta Victoria Compound on Wednesday. 

Emil at the reception desk tried to tell me how to get out of the Old City with a minimum of steps through the New Gate.  Unfortunately, I got turned around and wound up back at the Jaffa Gate, but I went by a couple of shops that have a great display of hand painted ceramics.

I capped off the day with a late afternoon bike ride up to the top of the Mount of Olives, just in time to watch the sun set over the Dome of the Rock.  The sunset was magnificent, which is why I regret not having my camera along.  Hopefully I'll remember to bring it along the next time I bike up there in the late afternoon.  The ride down on the steep narrow road by the Garden of Gethsemane was a challenge.  I walked a lot of it because there was so much traffic and it is the rule here that downhill traffic here must stop so that uphill traffic can pass.

--Bob Jones, finding my way around in Jerusalem
10:00 PM June 19, 2005
Dear Family and Friends,

Church today was interesting--it was something of a scramble getting everything set-up without Sri to help out.  Unfortunately, I forgot to make any announcement about it, so I'll have to try and line-up someone during the week. 

It was surprising that we had so few regular members of the congregation in church today.  The guests from Tantur, an archeological dig, and one of the Bible Lands Institutes made-up about half of the 20 who were in attendance. 

I see that I had forgotten to attach my sermon notes in my last e-mail even though I said that i would.  I'll attach it here.

I managed to purchase a bike calculator at one of the bike shops over in Baca:  A poor one that doesn't have an average speed, trip time, or maximum speed setting.  All it does is give me current speed, immediate trip distance, accumulate miles, and a clock.  For non-bikers that probably doesn't mean much.  But I have to admit that it shocked me that I could find one that had so few functions on it. 

On the other hand, it does mean that I'll be able to be a lot more accurate about distances from the apartment here in East Jerusalem.  I'm attaching a picture of the Jerusalem YMCA, a local landmark in West Jerusalem that was designed  by the same architect who designed the Empire State Building. 

The evening was interesting and a little awkward--the Brown family who hosts the Wednesday night Volley Ball up at the Lutheran World Federation Compound across from Augusta Victoria Hospital between Mount Scopus and the Mount of Olives, gave me about 10 minutes notice about another evening of Volley Ball tonight.  I suspect that I was last on their list to invite because they had missed church in the morning.  

They had a good excuse though--they had decided to go with their sons to the cave of John the Baptist, an archeological dig over in Ein Kerem.  I have to admit that I would skip church too, if I had an inside invitation to go to that dig--if I weren't leading worship!  They had quite a crew for volley ball--we had something like 18 players, so we divided into three teams.  The wind up there was really something.

Since I biked up there, I had a fairly good excuse for leaving before it got too dark.  It felt good being able to bike up that hill without stopping.  Still, I have to admit that my legs are a little sore from starting up after not biking for the last three weeks.  I hate to think what condition I would be in if I didn't get a bike before my Bike Trip in Italy in August.

Bob Jones, preaching, biking, and playing volley ball in Jerusalem
4:00 PM June 17, 2005
Dear Family and Friends,

I guess you could say that I've taken the plunge and bought a used bike at one of the "hole in the wall" bike shops.  It's a Trek 800 Mountain Bike with front shocks, 21 speed Shimanos and quick release in front and in back.  At 16.5 it's a little small for me, but the other option was a new one that was 19.5 that would be real problems if I had to stop suddenly.  It's the same model number as the one I used from Tantur, but that one didn't have any shocks.  It's no thing of beauty but I'm attaching a picture of it.

The price was right too--though the price on new bikes here isn't that bad--the 19.5 that I was looking at ran 1550 shekels--well under $400.  And the used bike that I picked up was 550 shekels--right around $125.  I was able to pick up another helmet and a bike lock for 140 shekels.  That brought the total to about less than 700 shekels--about $155.  The only thing that I'm missing is a bike calculator, but I figure I'll just do familiar routes for a while--with the notable exception of biking to the office across country by the bus parking and then up through St. Stephen's Gate on the Via Dolorosa.  I'll also need to add the distance from the apartment to the walls of the Old City just about every time I ride.

I can tell that I won't be breaking any speed records with it, but I should be able to get rid of it rather easily when I leave in August.  In fact, I should be able to "dump it off" on one of the staff people over at the Lutheran School, or possibly one of the sons of the family up at the Lutheran World Federation compound or one of the other younger members of the congregation. 

Since I bought the bike this afternoon and I was invited for cocktails with my neighbors this evening at 6:30, I didn't really have time to go with George down to the VW Shop in Bethlehem.  It was a little disappointing, but on the other hand, getting a bike was an even higher priority for me. We had some confusion about where and when we were meeting and we wound up meeting again at the Armenian Parking Lot.  I really need to take a picture of that place too.  I seem to spend enough time over there. 

I have to admit, I'm looking forward to biking over in West Jerusalem tomorrow.  Shabbat is always so peaceful over there.  And it's a lot quieter over here as well.

Shabbat shalom!

--Bob Jones, back to biking in Jerusalem!
10:00 PM June 16, 2005

Dear Family and Friends,

This could be interesting.  I've asked over at the church about getting a "used bike" for the rest of the time that I'm here.  And Emil, the front desk receptionist, is going to work on it.  Actually, on this side of Jerusalem, a mountain bike makes more sense than a road bike--there are dirt paths that begin about a block from my front door that would save me quite a bit of time and distance getting over to St. Stephen's Gate and on into the Old City.  If it works out, I should become a commuter biker.

I'm also definitely making connections here with the folks at Redeemer:  I got an invitation for cocktails tomorrow evening and a dinner engagement coming up next week.  Meanwhile, it also looks like some friends from Tantur are going to check about inviting me over there for Sunday Dinner, which is a major social occasion.  Frankly, it's interesting being on the receiving end of one of those invitation instead of being one to invite others.  Apparently, Tantur has a good reputation for outstanding Palestinian Cuisine. 

On the other end of things, I had a serious communication problem with the folks at the Armenian Parking Lot.  The man at the gate was asking me how many hours I had been parking there today--I tried explaining in English, German, and Hebrew that the space was prepaid.  No, I don't know any Armenian and the English speaking shop keeper down the street was not available.  The man finally realized that I was a Lutheran pastor and that I was driving the van that belonged to the Lutheran church. 

Tomorrow the van goes into the shop and I'm figuring on heading down to Bethlehem with it.  It's going to be a close call--the Youth Group from the US is also going to be arriving on Friday.  They will be going over to Amman, Jordan to meet up with a Swedish Youth Group and when they come back, they will need the van and probably another vehicle as well.  So getting a bike is quickly going to become a practical necessity. 

We also had our first significant power outage.  It happened right in the middle of a wash cycle with the Computerized Washing Machine.  I was really wondering if I would have to re-program the thing when it started up again an hour later or whether there would be a power surge that would do some damage.  But it seems that the electrical equipment around here is designed to handle these sort of temporary power outages. Fortunately, it was well before sunset.  Still, it was late enough for me to look for the emergency lights that they have charging all of the time here.  I know that power outages are common in the Winter here, when the load is high with people heating their homes with electricity.  Apparently, the same thing happens in the Summer with people cooling their homes--though frankly, with the afternoon breezes, it's hard to see any real need for air conditioning.  It's still early Summer, though.  We shall see.

I'm attaching a picture of the apartment across the street.  If you look carefully, you will see a man on the street balancing a large rack of bread on his head.  He was selling his bread by calling out with a ringing voice that you could hear a block away.  We are definitely not in Kansas anymore.

--Bob Jones, beginning to settle in here in East Jerusalem
5:00 AM June 14, 2005
Dear Family and Friends,

I took my mother to the airport in Tel Aviv this morning at about 3:30 AM.  We had to part at the first security station where she checked her baggage.  It was a very quiet drive back up to Jerusalem and I crawled back into bed   Unfortunately, I forgot to give her my phone number so she can't call me if she gets stuck.  Oh well!

The rest of today looks pretty quiet.  I'll probably wander up to the church offices later this morning.  I noticed that there is a place up the street from here where they sell bikes.  I may head up there and take a look, though I think that most of what they have are "toys" for children.  Frankly, I'm also thinking about checking with the folks at Tantur about the possibility of borrowing their bike for the rest of my stay.

I had some problems with the van yesterday in the Armenian Parking Lot--I may have parked too close to one of the other cars there.  I have it in a locked parking space here by the apartment and I may just leave it here until Thursday morning when George is supposed to take it down to Bethlehem for some repair work.  Frankly, I'm tempted to hitch a ride down to Bethlehem with him--partly just to see how things are going down there, and maybe to stop over at Tantur and see folks there as well.  It should be quiet there this week--the students enrolled for June are up at Galilee this week.

It has been getting pretty warm during the day here--into the low to mid-80's.  But with high ceilings the apartment stays pretty cool.  The trick is to keep enough windows open to allow for cross ventilation for fresh air, but not so open as to let too much heat in.  As far as biking is concerned, it looks like early morning is my best bet--much as it is in Arizona during the Summer.  But, first things first--I need to look into borrowing, renting, or buying a bike.

5:00 PM

The walk into the Old City through the Lion's Gate this morning was interesting--there was a security checkpoint right at the Gate and this time they stopped me, questioned me, checked my passport and called in my name.  There was no problem going out this afternoon.

I'm attaching a picture of the police and military forces from Tantur on the Bethlehem border.  There is supposed to be a clear distinction between the police (in blue uniforms) and the Israeli Defense Force (in green).  But it looks to me like they work pretty closely together.  They were both together at the Lion's Gate too.

I'm gong with George in the van to the repair shop in Bethlehem on Thursday.  It sounds like it's going to be a family event.  It should be interesting to see Bethlehem as someone's home.  I figure I may stop at Tantur and see about borrowing their bike.  We shall see.

--Bob Jones, making my own adventure
June 13, 2005

Dear Family and Friends,

It's hard to believe that the time has gone by so quickly--today is the last day for my mother's stay here in Jerusalem.  There is so much that we didn't get to do--partly because of mechanical problems with the van, partly because of incidents on the Temple Mount in the Old City and subsequent road blocks.  But we also managed to do a lot:  Just today we got over to the Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of All Nations, the Pool of Siloam, and over to the American Colony for lunch in the Courtyard Restaurant.  I'm attaching a picture from the place which has been compared to Rick's Café in Casa  Blanca. 

Church went well yesterday with a large group of pilgrims from the US.  I'm also attaching the manuscript of my sermon for those who might be interested.  I still haven't decided how much to do at the office and how much to do here at the apartment.  I know that I will have to use the printer at the office since my lap top is having problems with the printer here.

We wound up at Notre Dame for lunch after church--the prices were very reasonable.  And I was able to talk Mom into trying some Chicken Shwarma.  It was her first taste of authentic Palestinian Cuisine and I have to admit, I was very tasty--mildly spicy slow grilled chicken with onions on pita bread and a nice lettuce salad with sweet dressing.  I'll probably find my way over there again.

Unfortunately, Sri Mayasandra, the volunteer who had been helping me with "set-up" at the worship service has been called home to India, so I'm going to have to manage on my own and try to draft some more help for next Sunday.  My best bet will be the volley ball games on Wednesday night. 

Well, I'd better close.  Since I'll be driving my mother down to the airport in Tel Aviv at 2:00 AM tomorrow, it's going to be an early night tonight. 

Bob Jones, pastor, tour guide, chauffer in Jerusalem
June 10, 2005
Dear Family and Friends,

Well, we had a number of surprises today--the first one was practically outside our door.  The police had a roadblock at the intersection at the bottom of the hill below our apartment so I had to go up north in order to get over to the West Side of the Old City.

Our original plan was to go over to Gethsemane which is actually quite close by--in walking distance actually.  But the roadblock sent us in the opposite direction.  We wound up over at St. Andrew's again--only this time it was to go to the gift shop, where the fixed prices are lower than a lot of the prices in the Old City.  Mom was able to get quite a few nice things and helped out a very good cause with "fair traded craftwork" from Palestinian women in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron, and Gaza. 

From there we went on over to the Israel Museum which was really nice.  We only had a few hours to visit since they close at 2:00 PM on Fridays to allow their employees to go home early for Shabbat.  Every time I go to that museum, I'm struck by some artifact that I hadn't noticed before.  This time I was surprised to see that some of the Egyptian pieces actually had cuneiform writing on them--the style of writing that originated in Mesopotamia and not traditional Egyptian hieroglyphics.  Also, the Assyrian frescos were covered with cuneiform writing as well.  It was also striking to see the ancient military reports that were sent from various strongholds in ancient Israel.  I'm attaching a picture of one of the mosaics from the "archeological garden" that is outside the Children's Section of the Museum. 

We nearly had an accident on the road in front of the Knesset with a taxi who drove straight on a left turn lane.  I nearly turned into him as I was going to turn left myself from my lane which was marked for either going straight or turning left.  He honked and yelled at me that I was in the wrong lane and I returned the favor. And this was in West Jerusalem where there is actually more room on the roads.

We had to drive quite a bit further with the detour from the incident, but finally made it over to Ein Kerem for a late lunch at one of the open air restaurants there and then a ride in the country west of Jerusalem.  I'm afraid that the whole thing caused Mom to have a "panic attack" later on in the evening for which she didn't have her medication.  Frankly, I think she's relieved that she will be heading back to Arizona fairly early next week. 

Tomorrow should be a lot quieter on the roads since it is Shabbat.  I think we may take a stab at going over to Gethsemane again.

Well, take care and safe driving!
--Bob Jones, out and about in Jerusalem
June 9, 2005
Dear Family and Friends,

It's not quite your classic "good news/bad news" situation, but it's pretty close:  The good news is that I have my sermon ready and so we have the time free to head up to Galilee with my mother.  The bad news is that there are problems with the van that are serious and I don't feel exactly safe driving those kinds of distances in a foreign country with a vehicle in need of repair.  So we're looking at alternatives. 

Today was kind of interesting--I had left my watch last night up at the Lutheran World Federation Compound across from Augusta Victoria Hospital which is on the ridge between the Mount of Olives and Mount Scopus.  I had played some volleyball with some of the younger members of the congregation who get together and play volleyball up there on Wednesday nights.  About half of them were from Australia and two were getting ready to head back.  In any case, the games got pretty lively and I had to take my watch off and then I forgot it.

Going up there to get the watch was a good excuse to take Mom up there to see things.  I then took the van to the Armenian Parking Lot where the husband of Iklaus, the church secretary, picked up the van to go to the shop in Bethlehem.  Meanwhile, I took Mom over to the church offices and then down the length of the Christian suq and then through a tiny part of the Muslim suq and finally to the Cardo--the ancient Roman street in the Jewish Quarter that was the center of Jerusalem from about 340 to 700 AD. 

I don't have any new pictures of any of these places when they are busy and frankly, my newer cheap digital camera doesn't have a flash so it isn't bright enough.  We stopped briefly at the view of the square below the Temple Mount before taking a cab back to the apartment.  After our walk down from the Christian Quarter through a small part of the Muslim Quarter and on into the Jewish Quarter, Mom was simply too tired to tackle going inside of the square or the archeological gardens.  I'm attaching an earlier picture of the view from above the square.

We went over to St. Andrew's again for supper, the same place we had been last Saturday.  I think Mom is getting tired of all of the new things--she ordered the same spaghetti she had had before.  Sometimes it can be a real comfort to have something familiar.  I had a Greek Salad which was great except that they had green olives instead of black ones.

I think I'm going to plug for going down to Beit Shemesh because it's a pretty drive and then on to Elah--the valley where David fought Goliath.  It's a lot nicer out in the country which I think Mom will appreciate.  And frankly, it isn't that far from here.

Well, it is getting late so take care.
--Bob Jones, all prepped up but with no place to go and a broken van
June 7, 2005
Dear Family and Friends,

Well, things seem to have calmed down a bit here in Jerusalem.  The barricades were all down on the way into the Old City and there were far fewer soldiers out and about.  Unfortunately, the battery on the van was dead--I left the lights on, though for the life of me, I can't remember doing it.  Still, it gave the Bishop's chauffer a chance to run the van around and check it out.  It should be in fine shape for a trip up to Galilee, but now I'm not sure whether we really have the time for it.

This was the second day in a row with some sort of celebration at the Church Offices.  One of the daughters of a staff member graduated from Bethlehem University with a job at the International Peace Center in her area of expertise.  Much of the discussion around pizza had to do with how unusual it was for a college graduate to actually have a job in their area of training. 

Aside from the dead battery, I think that things are starting to come together--I now have a cell phone with over three hours of time credits on it.  I got the high speed internet at the apartment to work.  And I'm gradually catching up with friends from earlier this Spring.  I also found a short-cut on a dirt road past one of the major bus parking areas over to St. Stephen's Gate.  The paved roads take the long way and it's actually a lot cooler away from the pavement and the cement.  I'm attaching a picture of the upper part of the Kidron Valley that I took on the shortcut.  It really is heating up now.  I was surprised at how warm the walk was back from the Old City this afternoon.  On the other hand, because it is on the third floor and there seem to always be breezes, the apartment is actually quite comfortable even without air conditioning or evaporative cooling.

Since I wear a clergy collar on the way to work and seem to know where I'm going most of the time, I get asked directions rather frequently on the way to and from the Church Office.  I have to admit it is rather flattering, but it was similar to when I was biking around the city before.  And I noticed that someone has been keeping a bike in the basement of the church compound, so I may ask around about that and see about lining up a bike for myself.

Biking was much easier around Jerusalem than driving is.  Because of the frequent traffic jams and restrictions on which lane you can turn from on different streets, and the huge 8 passenger van that I'm using, I find that I often have to drive a long way around to get where I want to go.  I had to drive quite a ways through a pretty grim part of North Jerusalem to get back to the parking area at a French Restaurant near the German Colony.  We spent most of our cash on the meal so we didn't have any shekels when we stopped at the local grocery store on the way back to the apartment.  Oh well!

I'd better close.  Tomorrow night is the congregational volley ball up on Mount Scopus.  After that on Thursday morning, I hope we can take off for Galilee.

--Bob Jones, back at work in Jerusalem
June 6, 2005
Dear Family and Friends,

Well, it would happen that there would be an incident in the Old City while my Mother is here in Jerusalem.  The link to Ha-Aretz should explain at least some of the situation here:  http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/584941.html

The strange thing is that there was an early news release that I caught on the on-line version of Ha-Aretz on Russ's PC at the church office around 10:00 AM this morning.  So the initial event must have happened fairly early this morning.  It seemed unusually tense heading in to the Old City--I walked up through the Lion's Gate and the Via Dolorosa which goes immediately north of the Temple Mount instead of going all of the way around to the Damascus Gate. 

Apparently, a group of Jewish visitors went too close to one of the Mosques up on the Mount and some Palestinian youths responded by throwing stones.  The walk back to the Apartment was especially unnerving as I went through all of the police barracades on the way back to the apartment this afternoon.  There were at least five of them.  They were not worried about folks leaving the Old City.  I'm attaching an earlier picture of the gate.  Even then there were some police barracades, though they are lying unused on the side of the road.

It would really be nice to head up to Galilee and get away from all of this for a couple of days, but unfortunately, the van is acting up.  I'm supposed to bring it in to be worked on at the shop in Bethlehem tomorrow.  I guess we could take a bus up to Galilee or rent a car, but any of these things is going to take some time. 

It also turns out that the CD-Rom with the rough drafts of the bulletin inserts for the next two months is not working.  In other words, I need to have access to the internet in order to get the information for the bulletins for next Sunday and I need to relay it to the Church Printer on Friday. 

It's fortunate that we picked up some groceries yesterday, but it would have been even better if we had gotten more.  The big problem, of course, is that most people buy their groceries on a daily basis around here and they cook fresh, so there isn't that much in the way of canned goods in the stores.  At least not stuff that we're familiar with.

Well, I'd better close for now.  Take care and keep us in your prayers.

--Bob Jones, taking it a day at a time
June 5, 2005

Dear Family and Friends,

I have to admit, I had a couple of major surprises today--one was very positive:  Attendance at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer was up rather dramatically.  More and more people just kept coming in as the service went on.  I asked a couple of the regulars about it, and they said that it had been even better last Sunday and that it had been up quite a bit over the past few years.  I would put attendance in the mid-30's. 

The counterpart to that, of course, is the traffic.  It took me nearly half-an-hour longer to get the van through city traffic for the short distance from the apartment in East Jerusalem to the Armenian Parking Lot where we have an assigned, prepaid space in the Old City.  And while I wouldn't exactly call the Suc in the Christian Quarter crowded, it was dramatically busier than it had been earlier in the Spring.  Frankly, Mom is having some difficulties with the climbing and the distances that we have to walk in order to get to the church building in the Old City.  I noticed that they have motorized personal carts for disabled people available just past the Post Office in the Old City, but there are many steps along "King David Street" down to Muristan Road. 

The other surprise had to do with costs--we went to the mini-Mall on Pierre Koenig Street that I had visited a few times from Tantur and bought a few groceries and supplies in the supermarket on the bottom floor.  The total came to nearly 200 shekels--about $45.  And that was with a minimum of meat--a single pack of cold cuts, some milk, eggs, bread, cereal, instant coffee, toilet paper, a box of Kleenex, a couple of grapefruit, orange juice, a small bag of potato chips, a couple of packets of instant soup, some rice, a small can of decaffeinated coffee, a liter of Seven-up and some pastries.  Of course, when I think about it--supper on Saturday night at St. Andrew's ran about the same and that was a simple meal of spaghetti, lasagna, coffee, and iced tea.  In short, food costs look like they will run a lot more than I had expected. 

I'm attaching a picture of the apartment complex where I'm staying.  It's a three story building with three very large apartments about half-way up between the Mount of Olives and Mount Scopus.  We're talking about heading up to Galilee the early part of this week--possibly starting Monday afternoon.  My commitments at the church leave us with only these first three days relatively free.  It's about 200 miles up to Galilee from here, and I'm hoping that we can go up through the Jordan River Valley around Jericho.  I'm a little concerned because even though it's a shorter route, I know that the busses don't go that way anymore.  The other option would be to go west along the Mediterranean and around Nazareth.  I will stop and ask at the Board of Tourism Office at Jaffa Gate after I stop in at the Church Offices this morning.

Well, I'd better close.  It's getting late and tomorrow looks rather busy.

--Bob Jones, guest pastor in Jerusalem
10:00 PM June 4, 2005

Dear Family and Friends,

I guess you could say that today was a test of both my knowledge and my limits when it comes to managing in Jerusalem:  I found out that the pita bread from the freezer that Mom and I ate last night was the communion bread for church tomorrow.  Fortunately, there were about 4 more pieces there.  I ran into the receptionist at Redeemer and a very interesting display in the court yard from the Wittenberg Center about the collaboration of Lutheran and Roman Catholic religious leaders with the NAZIS concerning "ethnic Jews" during World War II.  Sad, but important to know.  It also says something important about our need for honesty concerning the past whether it's good or bad.

Picking up the van from Christ Anglican Church Parking Lot was a challenge.  I had forgotten how large an 8-seater van and how small parking lots in the Old City can be.  When I folded in the exterior rear view mirrors on the right and left door panels, they made a terrible cracking sound and I thought I had broken them.  It turned out that I was mistaken.  I had over-extended one, but it snapped back rather easily. 

Since the refrigerator was nearly empty, we decided to go "out to eat", which turned out to be more of a challenge than I had expected.  It was something of a double bind--I'm really familiar with the Jewish, West Jerusalem, which is just about entirely closed down for the Shabbat.  I'm a lot less familiar with East Jerusalem, where we're actually staying. 

We wound up driving all around West Jerusalem--down to Gilo, where I had spent three months at Tantur, over by the Zoo, down to Ein Kerum, by the Jerusalem Forest, and back by the YMCA and St. Andrew's near the City Center.  We finally found the Coffee Shop at St. Andrew's Scots Presbyterian was open and that they have wonderful spaghetti and lasagna at a fairly reasonable price, though the service was terrible.  It was also interesting to see how many Jewish patrons stop there for a late afternoon snack as well.  I think that they find the Shabbat restrictions a bit confining as well and appreciate a little Scottish-Italian Cuisine.

I'm attaching a picture of St. Andrews from earlier because frankly, I think the quality of my first camera is simply better than the new one.  I think I'm going to have to look into picking up a new one here in Israel.

Well, I'd better call it a night.  Church is fairly early tomorrow and it's going to be tricky finding a place to park near the Old City on a busy work day--now that I think about it, I should be able to park in the Armenian parking lot where they have a space reserved for us. 

--Bob Jones, slowly getting back into the swing of things in Jerusalem
June 4, 2005
Dear Family and Friends,

We made it safely to Pastor Siler's apartment in East Jerusalem.  It was a fairly eventful trip:  There was a second security screening at the airport in Frankfurt before we reached the gate and when we arrived in Tel Aviv, there was an "incident" with some suspicious luggage that prompted the airport security to ask us to move to the far end of the baggage claim after I had gotten mine but before my Mother got her suit case.  When we finally got her luggage we had a rather wild ride in one of the sheroots to Notre Dame and then fireworks, music, and dancing down in the streets of lower East Jerusalem that went late into the night. I suspect that it had to do with the release of another 400 Palestinian Prisoners by the Israelis, but I told Mom that it was because of her safe arrival.

We're taking it easy today--it is Shabbat, after all.  And we've been doing some laundry in a very small washing machine.  I'm attaching a picture of the Old City from our kitchen window.  The scene is magnificent, much as Pastor Siler had mentioned before--that eating breakfast in their apartment is "a religious experience".

I am having problems with internet connections on my lap top, so I'm planning on e-mailing this from the church office in the Old City.  They have internet service on Siler's PC there.  Tomorrow I preside at worship at English Language Service so I figure it won't hurt to get over there today, just to check things out.

Well I'd better close and see about the next load of laundry.
--Bob Jones, back safe and more-or-less sound, in Jerusalem
 
 
May 25, 2005
Dear Family and Friends,

Just one final note before leaving Hamburg--a friend from Cottonwood suggested that I make a special point of visiting St. Michael's Church in Hamburg.  We actually stopped there three times:  It is a remarkable place.  The bell tower affords a view of the entire city, and we took the elevator up there for a view on our first night there.  We returned the next day to actually see the interior of the church which features a pulpit that is designed like the front of a ship--not unlike the pulpit in MOBY DICK.  There is also a wonderful statue of Martin Luther near the entrance and a dramatic sculpture of the Arch Angel Michael slaying the Devil.

I wish that I could have taken pictures of the interior of the church, but unfortunately, my cheap digital camera does not have a flash feature.  I am attaching pictures of both the Luther Statue and of St. Michael.  I'll get back in touch from Berlin!

--Bob Jones, in Germany
May 24, 2005
Dear Family and Friends,

Today was very full and eventful much as I had expected.  The Boat Tour of the Docks of Hamburg was amazing.  We got up close and personal with a number of the large shipping vessels that are currently at the Port of Hamburg.  Home of the largest port in Germany, Hamburg is actually a city of interconnected islands at the mouth of the Elbe River and is still several miles from the Baltic Sea, though it obviously has a number of deep, wide channels with direct access to the sea.

I was amazed at how large the port is and how many people it seems to employ.  It also has a personal and family significance since this is where my ancestors emigrated from northern Germany over 150 years ago.  Hamburg is the only major German port that still maintains emigration records since the 1850's.  Unfortunately, I believe that my people left Germany before that, so family genealogical research still incomplete.

It was also a very powerful experience to head up to Lubeck through the farm country of Schleschwig-Holstein.  This was the country where a number of my family originally came from.  Although tour books describe the country as flat, I found that it was actually rolling hills filled with bright yellow fields of canola.  Somehow, I doubt that it looked quite like that in those days over 150 years ago.

Lubeck was a remarkable experience.  The historic town is entirely on an island in the middle of a river.  The seven church spires dominate the skyline, but, interestingly enough, since it was predominantly a trade city, the merchant's church is actually taller (and more important) than the Bishop's.  I have to admit that I was touched by the musical history of the town--it was the home of J. S. Bach's wife, and our town guide told the story of how Bach came all of the way from his home to find a student and found a wife instead.  One of Lubeck's churches also houses a pipe organ that Dr. Albert Schweitzer played prior to leaving for his medical work in Africa.  I'm attaching a picture of the spire of that church.

Lubeck was also the home of one of my favorite German writers--Thomas Mann, though I have to admit that I have never read his story of the decline and fall of one of the prominent families of Lubeck, THE BUDDENBROOKS.  The stories that I'm far more familiar with are DEATH IN VENICE and JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHERS. 

Supper was a wonderful Halibut and beer at one of the great Shipping Halls from 1532. 

Well, again I had better close.  I hope that I will be able to get these e-mails sent soon.  They are starting to pile up.

--Bob Jones, on Tour in Germany
May 23, 2004
Dear Family and Friends,

The trip from Cologne to Hamburg via Bremen was fairly uneventful.  Our Guide pointed out when we drove by the turn-off for Bielefelt, the home of the von Bodenschwink Institute Bethel Home for Disabled People.  We didn't stop there, of course.  It wasn't on the original tour itinerary, but I was pleased that our guide was willing to comment on it.

Bethel was one of those pockets of resistance to the NAZIS back in World War II.  It was a Lutheran Home for Disabled People that dated back to 1867 but during the NAZI extermination of Disabled People, Pastor von Bodenshcwink was able to shield the residents in his institution by fighting the NAZIS with their own bureaucratic red tape.  He and the citizens of this community effectively hid the disabled under their care throughout the war.

Bremen with it's focus on the traditional Grimm's Fairy Tale -- "The Musicians of Bremen" was very enjoyable.  It is also known for it's semi-legendary medieval hero, Roland.  I am attaching a picture of his statue from in front of the Rathaus in the Historic Center of Town.

We arrived in Hamburg in time for supper, a brief spin on an exercise bike in the hotel exercise room, and an evening looking over city from the great bell tower of St. Michael's Lutheran Church, a visit to the St. Pauli (Red Light) District of Hamburg, and a show of the musical fountain at the City Gardens near the University.  Prostitution is legal in Hamburg (and in Germany in general), but I was struck by how young the prostitutes and their clients looked--the whole scene looked much like a Junior High School Dance with clumps of young men egging each other on and young women primping themselves and flirting with the men. 

Our City Tour Guide pointed out that there are serious social problems with legal prostitution (abusive pimps and women unable to Â"get outÂ" of the profession), though the police and health departments work hard to regulate it.  The Salvation Army conducts Sunday Morning Services at one of the Strip Joints in the St. Pauli district.  And the whole district is named after a Roman Catholic Church that also serves the community.

The Musical Fountain was a fountain and light show much like the ones you would see on the Strip in Las Vegas, but the music is entirely classical. 

Well, IÂ'd better call it a night.  Tomorrow is busy with a daylight visit to the Docks of Hamburg and a tour of Lubeck, the medieval Â"Queen of the Hanseatic League of Free CitiesÂ".  In other words, today and tonight have been very full and tomorrow promises to be very full as well.

--Bob Jones, in Germany
May 22, 2005
Dear Family and Friends,

Hello from Germany!  My mother and I have been through some interesting adventures on our way--we missed our original connection from Atlanta to Frankfurt because of weather problems that closed the airport and forced our initial flight to the Birmingham airport to refuel and wait out the storm in Atlanta and then we missed connections to catch a back-up flight two hours later.  As a result, we had to stay overnight in Atlanta and catch a flight 24 hours later.  This caused us to miss the first day of our Tour of Germany.  We took a high speed train to Koln (Cologne), Germany to catch up with our group.

Koln is a very bike friendly town--I'm attaching a picture of our driver from a Cycle-taxi that we took from the Dom, the Gothic Cathedral down by the Rhine River back to our hotel.  I'm also attaching a picture of the old Cathedral itself.  I apologize for the poorer quality of the pictures--these are not from my Olympus Camera which had not made it back in time from repairs after my last adventure down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

We sat in on a part of the 5:00 PM Mass at the Cathedral which featured some wonderful organ music and the bells of the church.  The food here is excellent--very German and very plentiful:  Schnitzel, red cabbage, hot potato salad, smoked salmon, pastries, breads, and on and on. 

Prices are a bit high and the dollar is weak at about 1.4 dollars to the euro, but it looks like I may be able to pick up a replacement camera in Hamburg.  They have a duty-free system in the port that allows me to take a refund on the 16% value added tax when I leave the country.  In other words, I can spend up to $232 for a $200 camera. 

Since I haven't run into free internet service in the hotels here, I will probably be sparing on my use of the internet.  As a result you will not hear very often from me until we get to Israel.

Well, I'd better get going--I was thinking about checking out the exercise room here to see about doing some "spinning" on an exercise bike before supper.

--Bob Jones, on tour in Germany

 

 

 

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