Splashes of life around Jeru

"Jer-uuuu" (make the "ou" sound go for as long as you like) is what we have all somehow begun to call our beloved town. Our time here is quickly coming to an end which has thrown everyone into a weird warp speed. There are so many papers to write, places still to see, friends to get together with, souvenirs to buy, pictures to take, and food to try.
Here are a few pictures from around town last week. I'm trying hard to see this country, not through the eyes of one who has gotten used to all the amazing cultural differences, but through the eyes I had when I first got here.

Darling little Jewish boy, no more then 3 or 4, all ready to go in his little Kippa (Jewish male head covering) and tzitzit (tassels of his prayer shawl that are hanging out of the back of his shirt).

A soldier just chilling in the Jewish square with piles and piles of guns out in the open...

Ash, Kaytlin, and me in front of the "Wall of Remembrance" at the Yad Vashem (the Holocaust memorial and museum). We spent only four hours at this place but I could have easily spent another four! The museum was very well done and broke your hear while fascinating you at the same time. As we were leaving, I stopped to contemplate for a second and pray that there would never be another holocaust and mass genocide for anyone, when I was struck with the fact that the evils that I had just been educated about were happening right now in Africa and other places in the world. Made me wonder if one day my children would be going through a massive museum to the African genocides or if mankind will fight back before more blood is shed...

On the way home from a trip to the market, I stopped to get some night shots right outside the old city walls. The traffic was busy, the moon shone brightly, and I felt so blessed to be here.
The Palestinian Heritage center is actually in Bethlehem. Kaytlin and I stopped here on our way home from Arabic. This is a model of the way the Palestinian Bedouin used to live.Also in Bethlehem...can you read the street name? Yasser Arafat!!! (-:

Well, that's all for now. I just got back from the country of Jordan at the beginning of this week and will post the pictures from that trip very soon.