Today, some of my friends and I were walking around the Old City. We met some of the shop keepers that Keri Ralls told me to meet (Sheban and George). Sheban was fantastic! He and I talked for a while. I love him. He is the nicest guy. He walked me to George's and on the way he said that all of the merchants in the Old City call the Mormon's "Sheban's children." haha! I love it. He also was telling me about how he treats the girls like sisters instead of wanting to do other things with them, like some of the merchants. Sheban is a really respectable person. In his shop, he gave us juice, told us to feel at home, and he always gives decent prices. You never have to, and never should, haggle at Sheban's, because it's disrespectful when he already offers such amazing prices. I love Sheban.
Anyways, there were eight of us in the group, and five of them wanted to go home, and the rest of us wanted to stay and try to see another site if we could. We were trying to find our way to the Armenian quarter of the City for a long time, but we kept getting lost. So the other five left to go back to the JC through Damascus gate, and we (my friends Becca, Jarrett, and myself) continued our search for the Armenian Quarter of the City. When we finally got there, Jarrett talked to one of the guys at the monastery and he gave us an entire personalized tour of the monastery and the Armenian quarter of the City. We must have been looking for over an hour. It was of the the most peaceful places I've been in the City so far. (This includes the Garden Tomb, but that's just because there were hundreds of people at the Garden Tomb.) During the tour, we saw the tree that Christ was apparently tied to. I believe they called it his first prison. But the gentlement who showed us around (his name was Robert) took us in all of these areas where it said "authorized personnel only" and it was absolutely beautiful. I wish I could have taken pictures, but they specifically said no cameras, so I didn't take any. But take my word for it - it was beautiful.
Afterwards, it was getting dark. We are supposed to be out of the Old City by 7:15 and in the Jerusalem Center by 7:30. Dinner in the JC ends at 7, and the time was 6:30. (Now that you have a timeframe for all of this, I can tell the story). We knew we wouldn't have time to get back to the JC before dinner, so we went into the Jewish Quarter to buy a falafel. The gentleman made Becca and my falafels, but had to cook more of the stuff he puts inside a falafel for Jarrett. So Jarrett spoke Hebrew to the man for a bit, while Becca and I ate our falafels. We made friends with the shopkeeper, and he was really nice, albeit he spoke almost no English. So afterwards, we knew we wouldn't make it back to the JC on time, so we got a taxi. This was about 6:50.
About five minutes into the ride, I went to get my fare for the taxi out of my wallet for the taxi. It was at this time that I realized: I didn't have my wallet anymore. Now, there aren't a lot of stories of people losing their wallets in the Old City of Jerusalem and getting them back. My heart dropped. We scoured the taxi for my wallet, but we just couldn't find it. We asked the taxi driver to turn around, but Jerusalem traffic was so heavy that it took us until 7:10 to get back. I could have run back faster.
As soon as I found out my wallet was gone, I said a prayer, hoping I could find it again. But I realized, that we are not the ones to set the conditions of the prayer. So I prayed to Heavenly Father that I could find it, if it was His will, and if I couldn't find it, I prayed that it would fall into the hands of someone who desperately needed it. After i said this prayer (and it was a constant prayer in my heart all the way back), I felt at peace. Now, for those of you who know me, it is not common for me to feel at peace when I lose something. But I really felt okay, because I trusted that if I didn't find it, that someone would find it who needed it.
As soon as we got back, Becca, Jarrett, and I sprinted towards the restaurant where we got the falafel (it's required for us to travel in groups of three). It was 7:10 and it's a rule for us to be out of the Old City by 7:15. So we sprinted back to the restaurant. Once there, the shopkeeper, who spoke very little English, was pointing vehemently at the ground. We got back and he kept saying, "No number, how I contact you?!"
He had found my wallet. I could have kissed the ground he walked on.
He showed me, essentially, how he found my wallet. He re-enacted the story for me. Haha. Apparently a customer had sat down, seen it, and pointed it out to him. He picked it up, saw my picture, and recognized it was me (one of the kids he had become friends with just about half an hour earlier). He kept the wallet behind the desk, and gave it back to me when I came back, everything still in it.
I got my wallet back, after losing it in the Old City of Jerusalem. This, my friends, was nothing short of a miracle.
Anyways, I tipped the man who found it (I should have given him more but I'm still figuring out this shekel business) and paid the extra fare of the cab, but I don't care. It's better to be able to pay that little bit than have lost my wallet altogether. I am so grateful. :)
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The rest of things around here have been going really well. I have a reading assignment due in two hours and another homework assignment due for the morning, so I can't write much more, but I wanted to write down the story of my wallet before I forgot it. CLASSES ARE PHENOMENAL. I LOVE MY CLASSES. LOVE THEM. LOVE THEM. AND MY TEACHERS. EVERYTHING ABOUT JERUSALEM IS AMAZING AND I LOVE IT ALL.
A few people have asked what extra security measures have been taken with the Osama Bin Laden thing. Honestly: none. Ha. Not that I know of, anyways. I don't think the threat level is really significantly higher, comparatively speaking, for us. I mean the Jerusalem Post stated, "Current information suggests that al-Qaida and affiliated organizations continuet o plan terrorist attacks against US interests in multiple regions, including Europe, Asia, AFrica and the Middle East. These attacks may employ a wide variety of tactics including suicide operations, assassinations, kidnappings, hijackings, and bomings." I mean, what else is new? Just kidding. :) We're being particularly careful, but I think that the Osama bin Laden thing affects you in the states more than it affects us. So breathe easily and know that I am in safe hands. :)
I love you all, and know that I'm thinking about you and you're in my prayers. :) Have a fantastic day, everyone!
Anyways, there were eight of us in the group, and five of them wanted to go home, and the rest of us wanted to stay and try to see another site if we could. We were trying to find our way to the Armenian quarter of the City for a long time, but we kept getting lost. So the other five left to go back to the JC through Damascus gate, and we (my friends Becca, Jarrett, and myself) continued our search for the Armenian Quarter of the City. When we finally got there, Jarrett talked to one of the guys at the monastery and he gave us an entire personalized tour of the monastery and the Armenian quarter of the City. We must have been looking for over an hour. It was of the the most peaceful places I've been in the City so far. (This includes the Garden Tomb, but that's just because there were hundreds of people at the Garden Tomb.) During the tour, we saw the tree that Christ was apparently tied to. I believe they called it his first prison. But the gentlement who showed us around (his name was Robert) took us in all of these areas where it said "authorized personnel only" and it was absolutely beautiful. I wish I could have taken pictures, but they specifically said no cameras, so I didn't take any. But take my word for it - it was beautiful.
Afterwards, it was getting dark. We are supposed to be out of the Old City by 7:15 and in the Jerusalem Center by 7:30. Dinner in the JC ends at 7, and the time was 6:30. (Now that you have a timeframe for all of this, I can tell the story). We knew we wouldn't have time to get back to the JC before dinner, so we went into the Jewish Quarter to buy a falafel. The gentleman made Becca and my falafels, but had to cook more of the stuff he puts inside a falafel for Jarrett. So Jarrett spoke Hebrew to the man for a bit, while Becca and I ate our falafels. We made friends with the shopkeeper, and he was really nice, albeit he spoke almost no English. So afterwards, we knew we wouldn't make it back to the JC on time, so we got a taxi. This was about 6:50.
About five minutes into the ride, I went to get my fare for the taxi out of my wallet for the taxi. It was at this time that I realized: I didn't have my wallet anymore. Now, there aren't a lot of stories of people losing their wallets in the Old City of Jerusalem and getting them back. My heart dropped. We scoured the taxi for my wallet, but we just couldn't find it. We asked the taxi driver to turn around, but Jerusalem traffic was so heavy that it took us until 7:10 to get back. I could have run back faster.
As soon as I found out my wallet was gone, I said a prayer, hoping I could find it again. But I realized, that we are not the ones to set the conditions of the prayer. So I prayed to Heavenly Father that I could find it, if it was His will, and if I couldn't find it, I prayed that it would fall into the hands of someone who desperately needed it. After i said this prayer (and it was a constant prayer in my heart all the way back), I felt at peace. Now, for those of you who know me, it is not common for me to feel at peace when I lose something. But I really felt okay, because I trusted that if I didn't find it, that someone would find it who needed it.
As soon as we got back, Becca, Jarrett, and I sprinted towards the restaurant where we got the falafel (it's required for us to travel in groups of three). It was 7:10 and it's a rule for us to be out of the Old City by 7:15. So we sprinted back to the restaurant. Once there, the shopkeeper, who spoke very little English, was pointing vehemently at the ground. We got back and he kept saying, "No number, how I contact you?!"
He had found my wallet. I could have kissed the ground he walked on.
He showed me, essentially, how he found my wallet. He re-enacted the story for me. Haha. Apparently a customer had sat down, seen it, and pointed it out to him. He picked it up, saw my picture, and recognized it was me (one of the kids he had become friends with just about half an hour earlier). He kept the wallet behind the desk, and gave it back to me when I came back, everything still in it.
I got my wallet back, after losing it in the Old City of Jerusalem. This, my friends, was nothing short of a miracle.
Anyways, I tipped the man who found it (I should have given him more but I'm still figuring out this shekel business) and paid the extra fare of the cab, but I don't care. It's better to be able to pay that little bit than have lost my wallet altogether. I am so grateful. :)
----
The rest of things around here have been going really well. I have a reading assignment due in two hours and another homework assignment due for the morning, so I can't write much more, but I wanted to write down the story of my wallet before I forgot it. CLASSES ARE PHENOMENAL. I LOVE MY CLASSES. LOVE THEM. LOVE THEM. AND MY TEACHERS. EVERYTHING ABOUT JERUSALEM IS AMAZING AND I LOVE IT ALL.
A few people have asked what extra security measures have been taken with the Osama Bin Laden thing. Honestly: none. Ha. Not that I know of, anyways. I don't think the threat level is really significantly higher, comparatively speaking, for us. I mean the Jerusalem Post stated, "Current information suggests that al-Qaida and affiliated organizations continuet o plan terrorist attacks against US interests in multiple regions, including Europe, Asia, AFrica and the Middle East. These attacks may employ a wide variety of tactics including suicide operations, assassinations, kidnappings, hijackings, and bomings." I mean, what else is new? Just kidding. :) We're being particularly careful, but I think that the Osama bin Laden thing affects you in the states more than it affects us. So breathe easily and know that I am in safe hands. :)
I love you all, and know that I'm thinking about you and you're in my prayers. :) Have a fantastic day, everyone!
I am glad that you found your wallet. Try not to lose it again okay? I love you and miss you!
ReplyDeleteAren't you supposed to put things like that inside a ZIPPERED fanny pack that you wear in front so it never falls out of a pocket or is in danger of being pick-pocketed or something???
ReplyDeleteSorry Jeff, it was your MOM (not anonymous) that posted that last one. I'm still figuring out how to do this...
ReplyDelete