He was up at 6:40, right after Carly closed the door. We all got ready to go and were driving at 7:40. We read the Cars book and a few chapters of Hilo 3 in the car. Otherwise, he was rather obsessed with treats.
Got to Sabeel in north Jerusalem just after 9. They all went in to meet Omar and stayed for 10 minutes or so. We were talking about getting the families together sometime and Omar joked that his daughter could teach August how to throw stones. Funniest thing I’ve heard.
Omar and I met for about a half hour, developing a plan for continuing the project we’re working on. Carly, Cherie, Chuck, and August drove down and parked near the Educational Bookshop and had an early lunch, getting sandwiches there. They bought an activity book for August, with mazes, word searches, etc. in it and borrowed a pencil. August caught on to the activities pretty quickly and was soon doing mazes on his own. Carly ordered a sandwich for me. When I was done I took a bus down there and met them. I bought a couple books on learning Arabic (level 1 and a phrasebook) and a copy of The Way to the Spring for Chuck and Cherie.
We then walked over to the Garden Tomb, one site that some claim is the possible location of Jesus’s crucification and tomb. I sat and ate my sandwich, then walked around and caught up with them. I spotted them down below and called to them. When I came down to where they were he was saying “Do you have the feeling someone’s watching us?”
We first walked towards the Temple Mount. Omar had told us it opened at 12:30 to 1:30, and so had something I had read online. We found out that you enter over by the Western Wall and it was open an hour later – they had switched to the summer hours – so we walked back towards the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. We stopped at a bathroom at 12:30 then kept walking. We first went to a 4th century Greek Orthodox Church. We took a quick look inside, then sat on a bench outside. I went back and looked in as they were chanting and the others came over to listen. I held August, and a priest gave August a little charm thing.
We then found the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Busy at the entrance, so Carly stayed out to people watch and read. When August realized Carly wasn’t with us he wanted to go back out to her. We went out, but then I convinced him to go back inside. We walked around, first up to the Calvary Chapel, then around the much emptier parts of the church, until we ended up by the tomb of Jesus. Did not, of course, join the huge line of pilgrims waiting to go in. Instead, we talked a bit about domes. Then found out that Chuck and Cherie were already back out with Carly so we headed out.
We then made our way to the Western Wall. Entered and looked around, then made our way to the line for the Temple Mount complex. Looked long, but it moved pretty quickly. Looked at the mosque, then sat and read the guidebook. August also asked us about what country we were in. Told him it was complicated. Caught up to the rest as they sat on the stairs below the Temple Mount. August needed a bathroom, so we spent most of the rest of our time up there looking for a bathroom. Finally, Carly found a bathroom just down from one of the Muslim-only gates and was allowed to go down. I walked around for a minute more, then Chuck and I were waiting for the three of them at 2:30 when security started rather forcefully making us leave. We were able to wait by the west gate though until they came back from the bathroom.
From there we worked our way back west, past the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and to the shop where we had bought the wall hanging we have in the living room. Along the way August spotted the snow globes. After we had left the church the first time and were hurrying to the Western Wall, August had spotted snow globes “like mama has in her classroom”. He then got really sad when we hadn’t stopped to look at them. Carly later spotted another shop that had snow globes and he dismissively said they were different. Well on the way back he now spotted the exact same shop and was really excited. We looked at them, and Cherie said she’d buy him one. He chose one with a windmill in it. After an uncomfortable bargaining session, Cherie got it for 40 shekels.
Also, while we were walking and I was carrying August his job had been to look back and make sure that the other three were all with us. He did that quite well. I then gave him a second job: finding a fresh juice place. He liked doing that as well. We found a place and ordered two drinks. When I asked the guy how much it was he said 20 shekels. Then, when he saw I had pulled two 20 shekel notes out of my pocket he suddenly said it was 20 each. We ended up paying the extra, but at least the juice (pomegranate and orange mix) was really good. And August got to actually watch the pressing this time.
We found the shop and Chuck and Cherie found a wall hanging similar to ours. Much nicer interaction with the shopkeeper. We then headed north and Carly led us through backstreets and back to the Damascus Gate. As we were walking he asked me “What does ‘academy’ mean?” Wasn’t sure where he learned that word. he was then being imaginative and talking for a long time about sounds he was hearing as we walked. He finally decided the sounds were coming from the sky. Then, he was counting everything in the universe. And he asked “What does ‘for future reference’ mean?” Something he’s heard from me.
We walked to the east and then back up to the area where the Educational Bookshop is. We found the little Abu Ali restaurant that Omar had recommended. Nothing fancy, but it was perfect. We ate an early dinner of falafel, hummus, and salad. Took the rest home for dinner. As we walked back to the car he told me “You’re very, very super strong.”
We were driving close to 4:45. On the way home Cherie was calling him “Peanut boy” as he ate all her peanuts. At some point I sang the “Problem solved” song from Peg + Cat. We talked about how we haven’t watched that show in quite awhile. He said “Well it’s good we have that stuck in our head.” Did some iPad art and watched some Sarah and Duck. He ate pretty much all the food we had left for him: apple, peanut butter sandwich, etc. I had Carly drive 444 home so I could use the iNakba app and point out the remains of the Palestinian villages along the way.
We were home by 6:30. Played with some Duplos, then he wanted to find mama. Found her outside. He was then getting sleepy and he joked “I need some coffee.” He then climbed behind a pillow and said “I’ll just go in here one second…I’m not sleepy; I’m wide awake.” He ate stir fry for dinner. And he asked “What’s humanity mean?” Another one I’m not sure where he heard it. We tried to Skype with my parents, but they had chipmunk voices in the first call. When we hung up it gave me the stars for feedback and I accidentally touched the 1 star instead of letting him do it. We tried again, but he just wanted me to hang up. Carly took him up stairs and he went straight to sleep in just his clothes, about 7:50.
At some point during the day he gave a good “Oh, Opa” after Chuck had said a joke.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre:
Western Wall:
Temple Mount:
