Finally, it was Sunday and we were to have an hour or two free in the Old City to shop. Because of the bombing that is going on between Israel and the Gaza Strip, the Christian and Muslim quarters of the City were closed for shopping - like a protest. And the city was FULL of soldiers, I mean FULL. They all were about 20 years old and had machine guns hanging over their backs. I saw at least 8 platoons (I think that's what you call a group of 12-15 soldiers) in and around the city as we went in to go shopping. The Jewish quarter was still open and that's where everybody else went to shop, but not I. I wanted to buy Christian stuff (a new home communion set and a stole from Jerusalem) and I wanted to buy it from Christians and so I went by myself to the Christian quarter to see if I could find any shops open. It was deserted. I mean TOTALLY. The streets which are really like covered cobblestoned alleys, were completely shut up, like wide lockers and no one was in them except I turned one corner and saw two soldiers keeping watch. Eventually I got into the center of the Christian quarter and there was one street vendor - a young boy really - who was open and I bought a little sesame candy-type brick from him. And then I found one shop where the owner was doing repairs inside and I went in and had a long talk with him about the situation and the two-state solution and why he doesn't emigrate and all sorts of stuff. His name was George Maizer and he was really nice, if a bit frustrated and angry about how he is treated as an Arab and on behalf of his predominantly Muslim friends. Here are shots of soldiers and the empty, empty streets and George and me in his shop.
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