Full Day (Tandem) Biking (with Mutasaim)

     Today was our second full day in Jerusalem and it was filled with excitement! As soon as we all finished breakfast, we went upstairs to one of the halls where we met with Abraham, an Israeli who teaches Arabic at one of the local colleges. He talked about past wars, current wars, and wars he believes will come in the future. He talked about the symbolic locations around the city (such as The Wailing Wall) and told us how upset he is that people come from all over the world to Jerusalem to connect with God. Because in reality God's Holy Spirit lives within us and the best way we can connect with him is through relationships. It's sad that so many of the places here have turned into idol worship more than reminders of what God has done for His people. After meeting with Abraham, we began our full day bike tour. We stopped at the Jerusalem War Cemetery and learned about why the people buried their ended up their. As we cycled through a Jewish neighborhood, a woman dropped a green apple that rolled out into the street (I thought it was a tennis ball at first). Mutasaim (the guide that I was riding the tandem bike with) and I were going uphill so we were not really able to stop or slow down ended up running over the apple, slicing it almost perfectly in half.

     We rode all the way from our hostel to The Mount of Olives, where we had a gorgeous view of the city of Jerusalem. But before arriving their, we stopped for coffee (according to CHi-um the coffee shop we went to is the 3rd best coffe in Israel). Once at the Mount of Olives, we saw people who had a white donkey and a camel that other tourist were paying money to ride and get their pictures taken with the animals. As we were leaving Mutasaim started to take the lead, but we accidentally headed in the wrong direction. I was glad to be with a Palestinian Arab who grew up in that town and was able to speak in Aramaic with the locals to help us find our way to where we were supposed to be. We stopped for falafels at a restaurant where Mutasaim was good family friends with the owners.

     As we were waiting for our food, school was getting out and the street quickly flooded with children and cars. It was so packed we just had to stand still with hardly any moving room. Many kids came running up to us asking us all kinds of questions and wanting to take our bikes. It got so bad that the restaurant owner came outside and was yelling at the kids to leave us alone. After about ten minutes or so, the street cleared out again and we got our falafels. We went to a nearby park-type area where we ate our lunch. Another restaurant owner came over and sold us drinks. He sat down and talked with us during lunch. He said that he has been to the U.S. 23 times and visited 44 states (Washington being one of them). A couple school girls came up and were asking Megan for her watch, she told them that she needed it but have them the two friendship bracelets she had been wearing (that her boyfriend, David, had made for her). The girls were so happy! The oldest one kissed Megan on the check and both of them could not stop smiling.

     After lunch, we headed back in the direction of the hostel. We stopped at the wall that is meant to keep Palestinians in the West Bank out of Israel. While stopped their, a bunch of upper elementary aged boys came up wanting to steal our bikes. When we left, all of them followed us for quite some distance. Mutasaim was talking to a lot of them along the way. They were wondering where all of us were from, and funny enough they believed that Mutasaim was Arab, but did not believe that we was actually from the area. Along the way, some kids sitting on balconies threw food and first-sized rocks at us. Luckily nothing hit any of us. One of the kids riding past even pushed Fekkes causing him to loose balance and nearly fall off his bike.

     After a long distance uphill the kids ended up turning around and going home, racing each other back downhill on their bikes. We later stopped at an Orthodox Church in Gethsemane that was built in a cave. Mykaela was exhausted and broke down in tears saying that she hated this so much and just wanted to go home. I think partially of it was being out of shape, partially lack of sleep, and partially being that time of the month (although, I could be completely wrong). We headed towards the Jaffa Gate and part way their she got a ride back to our hostel in a Taxi. The rest of us all cycled back to our hostel. Along the way, Mutasaim ran into some co-workers and all of them were asking if we were a couple (since we're 2.5yrs apart and were riding a tandem bike together). We eventually made it back to our hostel racing down the last downhill section and biking in the lane of traffic headed in the opposite direction, where Angela nearly got hit by a car, and raced up the final hill to our hostel.

     We put our bikes downstairs in the room where we were storing them and then had a bit of downtime. Later, we met together in David Hall for today's debrief, reading of Psalms (122 & 123), and discussed the itinerary plans for tomorrow. We then ate dinner, in a weird side room (because their was a Bar Mitzvah going on in the main eating area). That was pretty much our day today and I am so excited to see what adventures await us tomorrow!