From the Old City to the Basketball Courts
I stayed in Jerusalem this weekend and had a couple of different experiences. On Friday, I went for a walk in the Old City with my friend Sara.
In the 10th Century B.C., King Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem and from that point on, it was a magnet for religion. Here is a picture of the Dome of the Rock (gold) and the Al-Aqsa Mosque (grey), rising behind the Western Wall. That piece of land is the holiest site in all of Judaism and the third holiest site in Islam.
Not far from that site is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which stands on the place where Jesus was crucified and buried.
Here are some views from the Old City Walls.
On Thursday, I bought a basketball for 25 shekels and went to the basketball courts at Gan Hapaamon. I walked onto the court and saw somebody wearing a Michael Jordan jersey. Of course, I yelled out like an idiot: "Hey, are you from Chicago?" He stared back at me blankly. No English. I played halfcourt 3-on-3 with a mixed group of Arabs and Jews. I spoke a little Arabic to the Arabs, a little English to the Jews and we kept score in Hebrew. Words like "foul" and "Allen Iverson" were the same in all three languages. Aside from the trapezoidal lane and the occassional language barrier, it felt like playing basketball in the US.
With the internationalization of the game and the news that Israeli Lior Eliahu is going pro this year or the next, I expected the courts to be packed. Clearly, the game's growing here. Rachel, the office manager at my work, is a big basketball fan. Yet, the popularity of basketball here lags far behind that of soccer, as evidenced by the fact that the bars are packed every night with people watching the world cup. Still, it's good to know that there's a place where I can go meet Arabs, Israelis and Americans and we can all relate.
In the 10th Century B.C., King Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem and from that point on, it was a magnet for religion. Here is a picture of the Dome of the Rock (gold) and the Al-Aqsa Mosque (grey), rising behind the Western Wall. That piece of land is the holiest site in all of Judaism and the third holiest site in Islam.
Not far from that site is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which stands on the place where Jesus was crucified and buried.
Here are some views from the Old City Walls.
On Thursday, I bought a basketball for 25 shekels and went to the basketball courts at Gan Hapaamon. I walked onto the court and saw somebody wearing a Michael Jordan jersey. Of course, I yelled out like an idiot: "Hey, are you from Chicago?" He stared back at me blankly. No English. I played halfcourt 3-on-3 with a mixed group of Arabs and Jews. I spoke a little Arabic to the Arabs, a little English to the Jews and we kept score in Hebrew. Words like "foul" and "Allen Iverson" were the same in all three languages. Aside from the trapezoidal lane and the occassional language barrier, it felt like playing basketball in the US.
With the internationalization of the game and the news that Israeli Lior Eliahu is going pro this year or the next, I expected the courts to be packed. Clearly, the game's growing here. Rachel, the office manager at my work, is a big basketball fan. Yet, the popularity of basketball here lags far behind that of soccer, as evidenced by the fact that the bars are packed every night with people watching the world cup. Still, it's good to know that there's a place where I can go meet Arabs, Israelis and Americans and we can all relate.
posted by Nate | 5:52 AM
2 Comments:
Dear Nate,
Harvey and I look forward to reading your postings. They are so interesting and so informative. What amazing experiences you are having.
Perhaps you could tell us something about your work in a future blog.
Best wishes, Ellen and Harvey
Nate-dog! It sounds like you're having an awesome time. Nice blog. I look forward to reading this good stuff all the time. Keep on truckin'.
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