Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Life in a Gated Community

It's 5:17 a.m. in Jerusalem, the beginning of my second full day here. I slept much better last night and realize that I am such a creature of habits, which probably will come as no surprise to anyone who lives with or has lived with me. When my routines become established I am so much more of a "happy camper." So yesterday I couldn't sleep past 3, but last night Marty and I sat on the roof sharing a bottle of wine and talking about our day after a delicious meal. (Chris needed exercise and went for a swim at the Y; different routines I guess for different folks! ) I was in bed by 10, and slept pretty much through until 5. I got up this morning and made a fresh pot of french-pressed coffee with the freshly-ground beans I bought from a small market yesterday. (Did I mention that yesterday morning I had to resort to instant granules of something that only faintly resembled coffee mixed in with hot water?) Today I am sitting at the computer sipping coffee that could have come from Peet's or Starbucks and catching up on Facebook and blogging. A great way to begin what will be a full day today.

No one else "in the house" seems to be up yet. I like the group we are with, half of whom are seminarians from Virginia Seminary, an Episcopal seminary in Alexandria, VA. I think it is so smart to do this as they are doing: to begin ordained life with an experience like this by building it into the curriculum as a "Jan term." Eight of our sixteen are from VTS and another two or three are seminarians elsewhere. They range in ages as most seminarians these days aren't in their twenties but Marty and Chris and I are the seasoned ordained vets. As I've noted before, wise men. There are real advantages I see in doing this in seminary because it makes it all so real but I'm glad for doing it at this time in my own ministry, with something like twenty years of ordained life behind me and hopefully another twenty in front of me. A mid-point, perhaps.

The college is, as also noted previously, on a "campus" (compound?) with a school and the cathedral. It is open and quite lovely to walk the grounds and very peaceful. But that is deceptive and it is still clear that we do live, quite literally, in a "gated" community. When our cab brought us here we needed to buzz in to announce our presence so the gate could be opened. There is 24/7 security. Our's is not, of course, the only gated community. Everywhere we drove yesterday is within itself a secure "compound." Once on the grounds, like on an urban college campus, one also needs to be admitted to each building.

It's strange to try to describe this in words: Marty and I talked about it last night where even on the roof as you look out you see such gates and fences and barbed wire. It's a reminder of where we are and yet while feeling "safe" would be an overstatement, I don't feel in danger really either. I think like in any city one needs to be smart. But walking around yesterday what struck me is that in spite of the gates and wire there is also a degree of normalcy here: kids walking to school, people going about their business. The closest it comes to any other life-experience I've had is my time in Nicaragua in the early 1990s. I think our media kind of teaches us to be afraid of this part of the world and Central America and other places as "violent"--and to some extent the same holds for our own inner cities as well. And I'm not saying there isn't good reason for some healthy dose of fear that leads to caution. But in the midst of it all what one feels is that people do fall into routines, that people are people. And the fact is that bad stuff can happen anywhere in the world; if we've learned anything at all we know that.

So I'm not anxious, I guess that is what I'm trying to say. I don't feel like I'm in danger which is not to say that I am planning to go out while it's still dark here and start roaming into neighborhoods I don't know on my own. But on the other hand that is true in Worcester as well. So I'm sipping coffee in my little gated community, waiting for the rest in the house to begin to stir, waiting for breakfast which yesterday included eggs and hummus and pita and olives and yogurt and fresh tomatoes and cukes and fruit. Some of life's best things! Routine, normal stuff.

Today we will explore the old city, which has four quarters: Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and Armenian...I think that's right. (Needing to pour that second cup of coffee!) As Stephen said yesterday, "quarters" as in living quarters,not even fourths. Armenians have apparently been here a long time. So yesterday we took a panoramic view of this great city; today we explore it neighborhood by neighborhood with a chance to reflect tonight. I'll perhaps have something more interesting or profound to share tonight when our full day comes to an end.

No comments:

Post a Comment