Photos: 1-4. Our work at En Karem, taking down parts of the biblical teaching site to move to headquarters. These pictures are of us dismantling the arbors (coverings that will be used in the teaching room at BFP headquarters above the tables for the biblical dinners). The last photo is a “before” shot of the mold, mildew, and cracked plaster in the laundry room that the “other” Daniel and I worked on this week.

It has been a busy week, so I’m writing my latest post today, Saturday. Thanks to those of you who have e-mailed me wondering why I haven’t updated my site sooner!

My last blog focused on one event and was full of pictures, so I’m going to make this one about “odds and ends,” answering some of the things that many of you have asked me about living here in Jerusalem.

I have a new identity, of sorts: everyone is calling me “Daniel!” My full, formal name, which hardly anyone has ever called me in my life! It’s fun, and I like it, hearing a new appellation. I think this version of my name stuck with the Bridges For Peace people because, to help everyone remember my name, I introduced myself as “Hi, I’m Dan--Daniel, like in the lion’s den.” So my full name is what the people here continue to call me. Of course, depending on where the speaker is from (South Africa, Germany, New Guinea, Korea, Australia, England, Russia, etc.), “Daniel” can sound quite different. A fresh name, for my fresh way of life here.

The currency of Israel is the “New Israeli Shekel” (NIS). So when you see the price of something--for example, a container of yogurt--it appears as “6 NIS” on the carton. The exchange rate right now is 4.7 shekels to $1.00, which is quite strong. To make it easy, I round things off and say 5 shekels equals $1.00. The tricky thing is buying things by weight; then you also have to figure out metric amounts and what the base is (grams, kilograms, etc.) So when you see the price of cheese, for example, at 75 NIS, you have to know it costs that much for a kilo, which is 2.2 pounds. I buy 200 grams (a little less than half a pound) which then costs 15 NIS--or about $3.00. Can you follow all of that? It still takes me awhile to figure out, but I haven’t let any merchants take advantage of me being a “foreigner!”

I’m drinking “longlife milk” mostly--which is the stuff that is treated or radiated or something, so it doesn’t need refrigeration and can be stored for months. We give tons of this milk to the people we feed through the food bank, and it’s what was in my apartment when I first arrived in Jerusalem. It is 3% too--very rich--and I really like it on my cereal now!

Jerusalem is a city of the three major faiths, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. However, I have hardly been disturbed at all by the “call to prayer” from the city’s Muslim minarets, and only once have I seen an Arab on his prayer mat. I do live quite far from Arab neighborhoods, but I thought I would at least hear the sounds of Islam prayer regularly. The only times I have noticed this obvious reminder of the presence of Islam here is when I’ve been in the Old City and on the Mount of Olives, which are in close proximity to the Arab Quarter and East Jerusalem. I’m glad I’m not bothered by this rather unpleasant sound!

Your most-asked question is if I “feel safe” here? Actually, it is safer walking the streets of Jerusalem than in almost any city in the USA. Street crime is virtually non-existent (well, there are pickpockets!), women walk alone at night all the time, and if anyone is attacked, other Israelis get involved immediately to stop it. This comes from the fact that every Israeli has been in the military, knows how to handle guns, and most likely has dealt with violence first-hand. I feel the same degree of safety when I’m in Arab areas as I do in Jewish neighborhoods, and I have never been treated with hostility or animosity by anyone. There is the Middle Eastern “in your face” manner of engaging each other which is more rough and brusk than how we act amongst ourselves in the USA, but this is not impolite, disrespectful, or meant to be offensive. This is just how people talk and act and relate. It’s refreshing, actually! Different; takes some getting used to, but something you adapt to and accept.

Terrorism is a concern, no doubt about it--not just for me, but for every Israeli. I’ve told you about the unrest in Jericho two weeks ago, when the Palestinians were going to release a prisoner who killed an Israeli official. Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) went in and took over the prison, moved prisoners out, and made sure this didn’t happen. Of course the Palestinians didn’t like this at all, felt their sovereignty was violated by Israel, and reacted violently. This shut down Jericho, and it is still tense in this Palestinian territory. Last week, two suicide bombers were thwarted, one half way between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. A “red alert” was issued, and one of our BFP staff leaders suggested we stay away from public places for a few days. Earlier this week, Palestinians in Gaza launched more rockets into Israel, and the IDF responded with force to put a stop to these attacks, killing several people there.

It turns out that I’m living smack in the middle of where at least 10 suicide bombings I know about have occurred over the past five years--one just around the corner at the falafel stand next to our neighborhood market! This is the city center, where government buildings, international business, popular restaurants, shopping, clubs, and other sources of entertainment are located, so the terrorists targeted this area for their devilish deeds. Just as it’s still hard for me to believe how close I live to the Old City and all the holy sites, it’s also hard to believe I live surrounded by locations where such horrible devastation and loss of life has taken place. For example:

August 9, 2001: Sbarro’s Pizza Restaurant, now the bagel store where I stop each Sunday night after church to buy my bagels for the week, at the corner of Jaffa and King George Streets. 15 dead/130 injured
September 4, 2001: A man disguised as an orthodox Jew blew himself up on Ha Nevi’im St. by mistake (no death or injuries); his head flew over the wall of the Catholic school down the street from where I live, and the nuns covered it to keep the kids from seeing it!
December 1, 2001: the center of Ben Yehuda Street, the open air mall that is always filled with people, where I walk regularly, use the ATM, and shop, just two blocks from my apartment. A double suicide bombing occurred here. 11 dead/188 injured
April 12, 2002: A woman blew herself up at the Jaffa St. entrance to the “shuk” where I shop every Friday for my fresh fruits and vegetablels, spices, dried fruits and nuts, pita and “borekas” (phylo dough stuffed with sweet or savory fillings), cheese, etc. 6 dead/85 injured
July 29, 2002: The falafel stand around the corner that I mentioned, exploded by a 17 year old youth from Bethlehem. None dead/5 injured
June 11, 2003: A bus in front of the Clal Building on Jaffa St.--the building where I go to church on Sunday nights at King of Kings Community. 17 dead/100+ injured
February 22, 2004: Jerusalem bus #14 was blown up less than a mile from my home. The eerie thing is that I ride this same bus line and route to and from work--and our bus stops at this very site where the terrorist explosion occurred. 8 dead/60+ wounded

Had enough? Obviously, this makes the security concerns of this city and country very real and personal to me! However, the precautions, training, and number of protectors everywhere in Israel is astounding. They are light years ahead of any other country in the world when it comes to security and protection now, and frankly, living day to day with my regular routine and activities, I don’t think about terrorism or bombs or security any more than I do in the USA each day since 9/11. I give a lot of credit to my supervisor, James, and his family too: they arrived in Israel in August of 2001, just as this rash of suicide bombings began, right here in their neighborhood on Ha Nevi’im Street. They never once considered going home to South Africa! They believed God had brought them here to work with BFP and trusted in His divine protection throughout those difficult years when explosions were happening all around them. They have several “miracle” stories of just missing the sites where the bombings occurred.

So the short answer to your question: YES! I feel very secure and safe here in Jerusalem.

Laundry: the washing machines in Israel are SO SMALL! I can barely fit two pairs of jeans, a towel, and a sweatshirt into one load. And it takes nearly two hours for one load to wash! The dryers are just as small. It takes forever to get my laundry done...

Hot water is HOT! I mean, it’s nearly boiling when it comes out of the tap. All Israelis seem to heat their water only twice a day too--at least with electricity. The rest of the time it is done with solar panels. Everyone has a timer for the kitchen and the bathroom, each one set to turn on for just an hour or two before taking showers and doing dishes in the morning or evening. In spite of this, I have never run out of hot water during the day.

Last Sunday I went back for a tour of the City of David (I mentioned this location in a previous blog so I won’t go into details here). Unfortunately there were no guided tours available that day, but the self-guided one worked real well. I also got behind a group who had their own Israeli guide who knew everything about the place, so I heard some good information that way too! The best part of the day for me was getting into Warren’s Shaft (an important and famous archeological site I’ve seen pictures of and read about for years), which is the new way to get to the beginning of Hezekiah’s Tunnel, seeing the beginning of the tunnel itself (I’m going to walk through it again--when the weather warms up!), and walking around the recently expanded site of the Pool of Siloam--much bigger and more impressive than the previous location. On the way home, I stopped in a little falafel stand in the Jewish Quarter and ordered my first “sawarma” for a late lunch. Delicious--and big! It’s like a Greek gyros, with more stuff loaded into the pita bread.

This week I did a lot of moving, plastering, and painting. Based on who is coming to work at BFP at any given time, people get shuffled around from apartment to apartment (not always by their choice--in fact, I have to move to a different place next weekend). Guess who handles major maintenance projects before people change locations, and guess who moves the heavier pieces of luggage and furniture for people: home repair, of course! I sure didn’t need aerobics or pushups or jogging this week; I walked up and down stairs and lifted more heavy items than I have in years. It took more out of me than I realized; I am still really tired from all of the energy I expended this week. However, I do appreciate this kind of daily work for a change. It’s refreshing my spirit as well as my body!

This is it for now. I hope you’ve found my comments and informational tidbits interesting, and even educational. Til next time: Shabbat shalom! And “erev tov” (good evening)--Dan