Worshipping at the Western Wall

Today has been amazing. We began with our first day of classes. We had Old Testament first. My professor is a man named Richard Draper. He has written many books related to the scriptures. The discussion was so interesting! (Right - for lunch we had the option of getting these meat patties. I didn't know what to do with it, so I put it in a pita and lovingly called it an Israeli burger. Though maybe it would have been better to call it a Jerusalem Burger because the chef may have been Palestinian, and I wouldn't want to offend anyone and start a war). We began with the Creation and went up to the Fall. We talked about agency and requirements for agency and how the Garden of Eden created that agency. It was very interesting because I had never thought about it like that before.
After two hours of that class, we then had ANE (Ancient Near Eastern Studies) which talks about the geography, history, and civilization of ancient times in the Near East. That was also very interesting.
After lunch, we had a little time. I walked around the grounds taking pictures (I've posted pictures of the center here). When I was done with that, I decided to do some homework. I sat outside on my balcony and while I was studying, the Muslim prayer call began. I took a video, though mostly for the sound. I'd post it here, but it is too long. That's ok, the video is boring and the sun was bright. Later I want to convert it into a sound file. It was very relaxing for some reason, to sit in the sun and listen to the call.
Then we took a field trip. We walked into Old Jerusalem and went to the Western Wall (also referred to as the Wailing Wall). I didn't take pictures, of course, because that would be disrespectful. Today, Shabbat began, and the Jews go there to worship at the beginning of their Sabbath. It was amazing to be there and see all these people celebrating Shabbat and praying to God. The men and women go on separate sides, separated by a wall. I went down to the wall and touched it. I sent up a little prayer while I was there. After that, I spied on everyone around me. It was really interesting. People write prayers on paper and stick it in cracks in the wall. I saw tons stuck in the crevices. People also were reading from the Torah and bobbing. Some seemed to be singing quietly to themselves. Others sang aloud and danced. I joined in the dancing; it was great. I really felt like I was a part of it. The Jews welcome in the Sabbath in a very different way than Christians, but I don't think that is a bad thing. I could really feel how devoted these people are, how much they love God, and how much faith they have that He hears their prayers.
After that, leaving was a trick. When you have 80 people in a group, it is hard to keep track. I don't know how many times we had to walk in a single file line and be counted. I felt like a sheep. Eventually we determined that everyone was there and we headed back to the center. We had a long walk, but it was nice to see parts of the city we hadn't yet seen. We were really close to the Russian Orthodox Cathedral. We also saw tombs all along the hill.
We had dinner and now free time. Tomorrow, we have church. I wonder how it will feel to have Sabbath on a Saturday. I guess it will feel the same. Then back to classes on Sunday!