Day 27

Old Testament this morning, then out into the Old City for a little bit to finally go see the Dome of the Rock. Up close it is absolutely amazing. The tile work is so beautiful and there is elaborate Arabic script all around it with teachings from the Qur'an. It is blue and green and yellow, but from far away only the blue stands out. It is on the Temple Mount, with these incredible views of the valleys surrounding it. We got there a little after 10 and they close it to visitors at 10:30, so we didn't get to stay very long but I will definitely be going back a lot I think because it is one of the most peaceful places in the Old City, since everyone there is reverent and quiet, unlike the people selling and shopping in the streets.

The fastest way to get to Dome of the Rock is by passing through the gate by the Western Wall. We stopped there for a minute on our way back, and saw a bunch of little boys and girls all dressed up with gold paper crowns, kind of like the ones from Burger King but way more legit. I asked one of the moms what was going on, and found out that they all go to a Jewish school, and today was the day the first graders were all going to get their first Torah. It was really neat, there were Rabbis and it was kind of like the school programs that we have in the States. The kids didn't seem to think it was as cool as their parents did, but they all looked so precious in their little suits and dresses.

On our way back we walked through the Kidron Valley and saw Absalom's tomb and a few other really really old tombs there. The Kidron Valley is what separates the Old City from the Mount of Olives, which is where the JC is. So normally when we walk to the city we walk down the hill and then right back up the other side, but if you're going through different gates it's fun sometimes to walk down to the valley and then follow it for a little bit before going up to the city.

Still working on reading and homework... We had our Hebrew class again today, learned 3 new letters and reviewed the old ones. We had to review for a while, since we haven't had class for 2 weeks and with all of the other work we have, not much studying has happened lately. We have a bunch of midterms and quizzes coming up next week, (on my birthday), but I'm still going to try to go out into the city as often as I can.

After dinner we had the second round of games in the volleyball tournament, and my team won both games again! It shows less that I have any skills and more that my teammates have amazing skills at rescuing my poor shots. But either way, we are on to the semifinals!