You're getting to be a habit with me...

Hello, dear readers! I apologize for the dearth of posts recently; ulpan is almost over so there's been little news, there have been few expeditions due to the tensions over the UN vote, and overall I haven't had much to share. However, I did have a couple of adventures this week!

First of all, I have a confession: my name is Grace Hudkins, and I am addicted to French Hill Falafel. The falafel store that is a two-minute walk from my apartment serves the best falafel I've had in my life for less than $3 -- delicious, convenient, and cheap! It's the trifecta. I honestly don't know how I'm going to be able to return to American falafel. I've already told Ian that upon my return to the US, we will be scouring the Bay Area for the second-best falafel!

In other news...for the most part, it's been a pretty quiet week. On Wednesday, I visited the shuk with my friends Carolyn, Arielle, and Cara. This was easily the best trip to the shuk ever, and I will tell you why: Yosef. Who, you ask, is Yosef? Well. Carolyn and I had been discussing cooking on the train ride over, and we discovered that we both have great Indian food recipes. But, we lamented, we didn't have the spices to make them. What's a poor girl to do? Go find a spice shop in the shuk! We were strolling through and stopped to look around the outside of one shop.
Who wouldn't stop to look? (Photo courtesy of Arielle!) As we lingered, the gentleman who was working there came out with a scoop of a combination of spices and told us all to put out our hands and try it. We each tasted it, and it was really good! Cara bought some to add excitement to her couscous. Enticed by the delicious flavours, we ventured inside. We got to talking with the gentleman, Yosef, in both Hebrew and English. He welcomed us to Israel, helped me find the many spices I need to make dal, and then told us to go behind the counter so he could take a picture for us! And here is proof of our expedition:
From left to right: Cara, Carolyn, me, and Arielle! We also visited Berke, an international student at HU who is from Mexico, who recently got a job at the fancy cheese shop. We tasted some delicious Jarlsberg, I eyed an imported cheddar (oh how I miss good cheese...). Carolyn wound up purchasing some, but I had other things in mind.
(Another photo courtesy of Arielle.) I stopped by the fresh pasta shop next door and bought some delicious cheese and pesto ravioli. It was a bit pricey, but after making one serving, I can confirm that it was worth the price! I don't think that it will be a weekly purchase (2 servings was about the same price as an imported pint of Ben & Jerry's -- approximately $10), but, like Ben & Jerry's, it is a luxury that I will allow myself from time to time! All in all, It was quite a successful outing.

On Thursday, after ulpan and a quick meeting with my advisor (I have now officially added The Emergence of Biblical Israel!), I packed up my backpack with water and a hat, I met up with Kate, Esther, Robert, and Rachel, and we boarded a bus to Ein Karem. (Warning: here is where the picture-heavy part of the post begins! I apologize that not all of the pictures are mine...I stole a few from a friend, credit is given below.)

Ein Karem is a village on the western edge of Jerusalem. It's one of those places that's like an oasis: you're amazed that somewhere so near a city can be so quiet and peaceful. We met our tour guide, who was sadly not Nigel Yossi, but he was a nice guy named Yaan. (We determined that the reason for different tour guides is because Yossi is a devout Jew and this tour focused on visiting several churches. But we missed him!)

Our first stop was the Church of St. John the Baptist, a Franciscan church which is believed to be the site where Elizabeth gave birth to John. As our tour guide told us the story of Elizabeth and Zachary unexpectedly having a son, I couldn't help but smile -- this history I knew! Esther, a Jewish friend, was amazed by the parallels between the New Testament and the Old Testament (e.g. Elizabeth and Zachary compared with Abraham and Sarah, the Passover story and Herod's slaughter of the innocents). This riffing off the Hebrew holy texts lent credibility to the authors of the Christian texts! For those who don't know the story, Elizabeth and Zachary were an older couple who had given up on having children as she had gotten too old. Then one day, an angel came and told Zachary he would bear a son. He didn't believe the angel, so God took the power of speech from him. But, lo and behold, Elizabeth was pregnant and gave birth to a son. (People who know the story -- yes, I'm skipping a few details here, but I'm going to come back to them later!) Just as they were about to circumcise him and name him after his father, Zachary wrote, "His name is John." Thus he regained the power of speech and said a prayer. Outside in the courtyard of the church, they had beautiful tilework that bore, in countless languages, the prayer that Zachary said.

The church is built on the ruins of a Byzantine church, of which parts have been preserved:
After hearing this story and wandering the courtyard a bit, we went inside the church, where there was a service going on. My friends and I went straight to the spot where John is believed to have been born, then stepped outside to watch the service, listen to the music, and look at the incredible artwork.

Because it's a Franciscan church, the decor of the interior is very Spanish with beautiful tilework:
We wound through the streets of Ein Karem, taking in the beautiful scenery, and eventually arrived at the convent of Notre Dame de Sion, founded by two French brothers. It is home to nuns who work in the community, nuns who live and study only in the convent, and occasionally, terminally ill people who wish to spend their last days in an idyllic and beautiful setting. There's also a guest house for people who want to get away for a while. There were lovely gardens and breathtaking views:
From there, we could also see an absolutely gorgeous Russian Orthodox church in the hills. We unfortunately couldn't visit because it's apparently a bit tricky to get in, especially in large groups, but we still heard a bit about it. It was commissioned by Elizabeth of Russia, but construction stopped after she was killed in the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. Construction didn't resume until after the fall of the Soviet Union, and it was completed only a few years ago.
Our next visit was my favourite site, and also the most difficult to get to: the Church of the Visitation. It was several flights of stairs to get to the church itself, but the vista was incredible and the church was beautiful.
This is a church that was built on a crusader church, as you can see here:
This church is venerated as the site of Elizabeth and Zachary's summer home where she and Mary met. (Here, New Testament dorks, is where we add the details that were neglected before!) In Elizabeth's sixth month of pregnancy, she was visited by her cousin Mary, who was in her third month. When Mary announced her pregnancy, it is said that the child leapt in Elizabeth's womb, and Elizabeth blessed her. After this, Mary said a prayer now known as the Magnificat, which is, like the Church of St. John the Baptist, written on tiles in the courtyard, and "Magnificat" is written in bricks at the entry.
There's also a lovely sculpture depicting the visitation:
Inside the chapel, there was some incredible artwork, including what is now my second-favourite depiction of the Virgin Mary and Jesus:
(Photo credit: Robert Pines.) There was a lot of other beautiful artwork depicting scenes that I am so familiar with from my Episcopalian upbringing and my New Testament course. It's one of the times that it's nice to be a goy!
Before descending back into the village, we sat outside of the courtyard looking out on a magnificent view and listening to Bach's Magnificat. It was pretty incredible!
Before returning to Jerusalem, we stopped and got some delicious ice cream (glida in Hebrew) -- mine was chocolate chip cookie flavoured :)
(Photo courtesy of Robert!) Since the tour, I have left the apartment very little and the K'far not at all -- the city is on high alert because of the current political situation. In fact, the only reason I went on the Ein Karem tour was because it was sponsored by the university so I was guaranteed to have protection and not get lost. We're all watching and waiting and praying for the best. I've been studying my Hebrew, reading articles on the situation, and relaxing.

It's nice; I've started to become more comfortable with daily life, the city, and the university. I'm hoping to spend next weekend venturing out and visiting the Old City or Ein Karem again, or familiarizing myself further with the city center. But things are about to change...tomorrow is the last day of ulpan class, Monday is the final exam, and then I plan to do some traveling during the Rosh Hashana break before the semester begins! At the recommendation of Jennifer, MHC and HU alumna, I've hoping to visit Akko and Cesaria over the course of three days, then returning to Jerusalem to spend Shabbat resting up and preparing for the semester to begin :) The rest of this afternoon is to be spent in bed with my Israel travel guide figuring out how to get there, where to stay, and what to do. Stay tuned...