Jerusalem.. The Place Where It All Started

Well for the first time in over a month I actually woke up and left my apartment while the sun was still shining. Today was destined to be a wonderful day. Why you ask? Today is the day that I head to Jerusalem on a sightseeing venture with Noelle Quinn, my assistant coach Noa Ricanti, Edwige Lawson-Wade and her sister. This day was deemed to be an adventure from the moment we hit the road. All five of us decided to pile in my Mazda 6 (which was the biggest car of all of us) and set out towards Jerusalem, which was only 35 to 40 minutes away from Ramla. Well me are on our merry little way when my car starts to act strange! We all glance at each other like did you hear that? Needless to say we keep going never hesitating to check out the noises, so about 10 minutes before our scheduled arrival in Jerusalem, the car decides that its gonna make the noises louder and not pick up speed at all! Luckily we are near an exit off the highway and make it to a safe destination before the care just completely quits on us. We call the rental car company and they tell us wait 20 to 25 minutes and we will have you another car! As we wait on the arrival of our replacement car we decide to walk the streets and see some of the sights in the village that we were in, we didn't have to go far. On the side of the road there was a stand that was selling some bread and hummus (Israeli dip), we venture over and check things out when we realize they are actually cooking something over there. The Israeli people are very resourcefully, they have made a metal barrel in to some sort of barbecue pit and place a round pan over the top to cook one of the local delicacies. We were amazed by the popularity of this style of cooking because we all know that if we say this in America we would think that something was wrong and never give the food a try. So after we are done exploring we notice that twenty five minutes come and gone and still no sign of a car, after an hour of patiently waiting the tow truck with another car arrives. We all cheer for the new car until we get it off of the tow truck and realize that its a Hundai Accent. Lets see we have 5 people in the car 2 of which are 6' and over and 2 which at 5'9" or 5'10" and a short person in the back! Lets talk about a tight squeeze, Noelle and my knees are in the dashboard while the others are practically sitting on top of each other. All that doesnt matter at that point because we were just glad to have a car to continue our journey up the road to Jerusalem! That joy all ended when we got on the highway and realized that this car is not so great after all because it has no pickup! We were getting passed by all the old people on the road driving 60mph, so that made a 10 minute drive more like 25 minutes.

Ahhh we made it to Jerusalem finally and I have my camera in hand all ready to snap a picture of everything! The first thing we see after getting out of the car is this building with writing all over it. I know what you are thinking, its just graffiti, we see it everyday in the states but actually it was a building that had been up for a hundred years and when it was taken apart the first time the builders wanted to make sure that every stone was put back into its exact place as before so they numbered every single brick! Can you imagine how long that took to put it back together again? Next stop was inside the walls of the Old City, we are making our way through the crowded streets trying to make our way to the next stop, but we cant quite make it there in a timely manner because every shop owner along the way tries to drag you into his store to have you purchase any and everything within his store! Geez can I please see the sights before I start spending my money on things that I don't even know the meaning of? Whew, I make it out without purchasing anything, I'm one of the few survivors that can actually say that. Next stop the area where Jesus met his mother for the last time, where his body was brought after being taken off the cross and bathed, and also the cave where his body lies. You want to talk about a chilling experience, well this is it! As we enter this area, in the front entrance was the place where the people brought Jesus after being taken down from the cross to be bathed. Noelle, Edwige and myself had the opportunity to do what some many others wish they could do and that was to place our hands on the very place that Jesus laid his head for the last time. Behind the place where they bathed Jesus, there was a mural of his last moments before his burial! Its so amazing to actually see these events in one picture. Next step was to view the place where Jesus met his mother for the last time, the area was beautiful, everything was a shiny gold and just a marvelous sight to see.. Now to the what everyone comes to Jerusalem for, thats the place where Jesus' body was laid to rest! It was an experience that you cant describe what emotions are going through your body as you enter the cave where his tomb is and actually get to kneel and pray before his body.

As I sit here and try to describe the sights and emotions that I was experiencing, I feel them going through my body all over again! All in all this was my favorite trip in all my years of playing professionally overseas. I KNOW that Ill NEVER forget this trip ever in my life! If you get the chance you should come experience and gain the knowledge that I have from visiting Jerusalem.