Friday, July 15, 2022

JULY 15, 2002

Paul and Patty Barker arrived this week. They are the new service couple here and will work on humanitarian projects, in addition to hosting tours. Paul and Jim were at Stanford at the same time. We went to the Tel Aviv airport to pick them up. It seems like months since we arrived in Israel but it has only been three weeks. Before going to the airport, we did a little grocery shopping at Baladi’s. We are getting better at knowing where things are and what to get. A young worker, Mohammed, saw that we were struggling to figure out what some items really were (pictures are deceiving!) and offered to help. He became our personal shopper! They are very nice in that market. The hard part is navigating shopping carts in the very narrow aisles with tons of people around. 

             

Happy Birthday to Deanne! #64! How did that happen? This is the most exotic place I’ve been on my birthday, for sure. It was a quiet day, though, being the Sabbath. Marvel and Mark Earnshaw brought over cupcakes and balloons which was really nice.
                                
We drove to Ascension Café on the Mount of Olives for shawarma. Sami, our friendly taxi driver, had taken us by there last week. The shawarmas were great and the price was about the same as by the Shuk. This café is within walking distance to the Center as well. Yeah! On our outing, we also stopped at the Mount of Olive Bazaar where we had met Rami last week. He was more than happy to have us bring "fresh meat" (Paul and Patty) to the store.

Jim had an appointment with Fadi Suidan, the CEO at the YMCA. He was the nicest man and SO eager to hear and see Jim play the carillon. It is the loveliest YMCA we’ve ever seen and has a 50-room hotel as part of the building. It was built in 1932 and has that 1930’s art-deco charm.  Fadi, a Palestinian Greek Catholic, seems very eager to bring back the true mission of the YMCA and reach out to those in need. He has only been CEO for three months. We discussed having Jim come on Sundays and play the carillon for an hour. This has always been a part of the Center's outreach for years. Ten students can come with us each Sunday.

          
  
President Biden was in Jerusalem July 13-14 and stayed at the King David Hotel, which is right across from the YMCA Tower. Fadi asked Jim to come every day while the President was there and play music on the carillon, especially American patriotic music. He thought it would benefit the U.S. staffers and workers at the King David Hotel. Well, we were able to get to the YMCA on Wednesday, but there was no way to get past the trucks, police, and blockades on Thursday. Friday, President Biden came to the Augusta Victoria Hospital which is just outside of the BYU Center's gate. There were police, barricades, huge buses blocking the roads, news reporters, hovering helicopters--everywhere. We tried to walk around to the other side of the hospital, but it was even tighter on that side. 

  

snipers on the roof!

 news cameras

 

The Jerusalem Center is always referred to as the Mormon University!

We also discovered the Mamilla Mall not far from the King David Hotel. It is the fanciest mall in Jerusalem that we have seen thus far. Across the street from the mall is the Jaffa Gate which we hadn't visited yet. We are learning new things every day!

                 

And yes, there are TONS of olive trees in Jerusalem!

                                                     

1 comment:

  1. What a surprise! Please give our love and respect to Paul and Patty. They are wonderful people and long-time friends.

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