Wednesday, May 14, 2014

May 14 afternoon

The most famous landmark in Jerusalem is the building with a gold dome called The Dome of the Rock.  It's governed, strangely enough, not by Jews, but by Muslims.  They're very militant about how long we can visit the sight and they make women wear these shawls if we aren't completely covered, which is why I'm wearing a turtleneck jacket in 95 degrees.  They have guards shooing you about.  Pretty soon, the loudspeakers all over the city called the Muslims to prayer so they cleared the ground of all non-Muslims and, the Muslims came flooding through the gates.
We had some free time so I explored the Old Jerusalem area and drank their famous treat which is icy lemonade in clear cups with mint leaves...very refreshing!
Israel is one of the best-kept secrets in the world.  Also, when many of the shop owners learn we're Mormons, they love us and give us special mint tea.  They try to get you to come into their shops and browse, so they offer you coffee or tea, but with Mormons, they know we don't drink that, so they give us mint tea.  I think they know us because of the BYU Jerusalem Center, which is adjacent to the Garden of Gethsemane.      

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