Giovanna

Giovanna
Excited to be chosen for the EDI GSL Experience in Israel

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Welcome to Jerusalem!


Today was our first day in Jerusalem and it was exciting to get to see some more of the city. We had an early morning, making trips to the bank and then the local marketplace to get some food for the week. We had our first real Israeli falafel, and then headed over to the Old City for a two-hour tour.


The tour brought us through the four quarters of Jerusalem and highlighted the holy sites for each of the represented religions (Christians, Muslims, Jews and Armenians). What struck me the most as we wandered the pathways of the Old City was how much of a long and complex history Jerusalem possesses. Despite all of the issues of conflict, it was interesting to see how different religions and factions manage to coexist in the city.



Rivka, the Cornell liaison in Israel, then took us for dinner at the Jerusalem Theatre. After some delicious food and much need rehydration, we spend a couple of hours driving around with Rivka, who gave us a fantastic tour of Jerusalem; some of the highlights included viewing the Knesset, the President’s house, a Kibbutz, Hebrew University, and the promenade.  Seeing these sites provided us with a taste for the city and a better idea of the various places to visit more in depth in the future.

While Lawrence and I are still a bit jet-lagged, we are greatly looking forward to our first day at the Commission tomorrow!

Laila Tov (goodnight),

Laura

3 comments:

  1. So glad you all made it ok and had such a great tour on your first day! Good luck at work today, keep posting these great blogposts :) -Erin

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  2. Hi guys,

    So great to see the photos of your trip so far!! Sounds like you are having a fantastic time!! It looks pretty hot in the photos, is it? How is your first week of work going? Thinking of you lots, hope your week is going really well!!

    Ishbel

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  3. Hi Ishbel,

    Sorry I didn't see this until now. Yes, it is very hot here but it's been cooling down a bit lately (from high 90s to low 90s/80s). However, it usually gets pretty chilly at night. Our first week went great and I'm really enjoying working at the Commission! I will try to get another post up soon with more details about the work.

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