Posterous theme by Cory Watilo
Matthew Creber

From the Heart of the Muslim Quarter, Old Jerusalem

Hey everyone!

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I'm really sleepy. So i'm going to do this in bullet points.

Today i have:-

  • Travelled through Luton Airport
  • Got myself through Tel Aviv airport without losing ANYTHING! (although there was a brief moment of panic when i thought i'd left my passport on the plane)
  • Managed to successfully convince security that I am, in fact, in no way sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, and that I will definitely not be spending any of my time in the West Bank. I didn't feel very convincing, but they let me in.
  • Made friends with a (British) Human Rights student, with whom I navigated the streets of Jerusalem in order to...
  • Found my accomodation! Deep in the Muslin quarter, which is a kind of stone nest of ancient buildings and history and Palestinians and Jews and Christians, and just sort of wonderful. If contentious.
  • Taken Arabic language tips from the guy who runs the restaurant nearby. | identified the food as falling into the "chicken" and "chilli" catergories, but beyond that i'm stuck. I rather suspect, if i were to continue receiving language lessons from him, i would end up with the Arabic equivalent of a broad Cockney accent.
  • Made friends with a bunch of Palestinian teenagers.
  • Discovered that my hostel has wifi. So keep an eye out for updates!

Thanks for all your support and encouragement. Tomorrow I am going to head out and really get a good look around the old city. Expect pictures of street vendors, religious sites and CATS!