2011 Holy Land Study Tour - Day Twelve

Day 12 - Jerrash and into Jerusalem:

Short entry today, as it was basically a transition day.  We started out the day with a tour of the ancient Roman ruins of Jerrash, and then it was back into Israel.  This one took a bit longer than last time around because there was a bit of confusion regarding border taxes being paid or not.  The process with both border crossings (out of Jordan and into Israel) took around 2.5 hours.

But all that was forgotten when we got to Jerusalem and our home for the final leg of the trip, Dormition Abbey, just outside the walls of the Old City.  The monks here are all German, and Brother Joseph, our main contact, was as welcoming as could be to us. We then had time to take a quick walking tour to get our bearings in the Old City, going very briefly to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Christian Quarter, as well as the Western Wall (Kotel) in the Jewish Quarter.  Obviously much more extensive time at both locations will be spent later in the week, with far greater detail addressed about the history and the significance of these and other locations in the holiest city in the world. (Oh, and by the way, Fr. Michael also showed us the location of a rather notorious showdown from the tour two years ago that involved a member of the group getting fleeced by a rug shop owner—got the police involved, somewhat ugly situation but brought somewhat under control and makes for a humorous story to tell later on).  We ended the night with a group conversation and visit up on the amazing roof deck of the guesthouse looking out across the entire city of Jerusalem, and marveled at being there as we debriefed on our time in Jordan. Topics covered here included observations from our women of how acutely aware of their gender travel in a place like Jordan makes them, although it came with an understanding that as far as this region of the world is concerned, Jordan is probably one of the better nations in that regard, despite its still rather rigid culture.   We retired early tonight (much to my chagrin, of course) and anticipate tomorrow’s walk of Jesus’s path from Mount of Olives (later the site of his ascension into Heaven) and into Jerusalem culminating with more time at the Holy Sepulchre.   Night all—keep following our adventures this last week…….

Alex