In Summer, Autumn, Winter, and Spring

Whenever someone asks me, "What is your favorite place that you visited in Israel?", I always answer, "The Shuk". "Shuk" means "street market" in Hebrew. I love going to the Shuk. The Shuk is always full of life and bustling with people. It is a very exciting place to visit in Jerusalem. There are the most people in the Shuk on Friday morning. This is because the Shuk closes early on Friday because of Shabbat and everyone needs to buy extra food ahead of time. Here is a picture of one of the emptier streets in the Shuk: Almost every type of food is sold in the Shuk: meat, vegetables, fruit, bread, grains, rice, spices, dessert, candy, and packaged food. The most colorful and attractive shops of the Shuk sell candy. We don't buy candy, but it looks very tempting. The smaller candy sells at 3 or 4 for 10 shekels. 1 dollar equals 3.67 shekels, so 10 shekels equals 2.73 dollars. Cookies are also sold at the Shuk. They are mo...

The Old City of Jerusalem is a fascinating place to visit in Israel. There is too much to write about in the Old City of Jerusalem than can be contained in one blog post. In this blog post, I will just be writing about the interesting bits & pieces of the Old City of Jerusalem. Jerusalem lies in the center of 3 continents of the world: Europe, Asia, and Africa. The Old City of Jerusalem lies at the very heart of Jerusalem, the center of the center of the world. Let's begin our journey at the most impressive part of the Old City - the city walls. The city walls of the Old City of Jerusalem were very important in ancient times. The walls of the Old city are 5 to 15 meters tall, and stretch for approximately 4.5 km. The wall is also 3 meters thick (10 feet) at its base. Even to the modern eye, Jerusalem's walls are very impressive! Think about how the people of the ancient times would see the walls! Walls provided a sense of protection to a city. Wi...

"Ha Kotel" means "The Wall" in Hebrew. The Western Wall, also known a s  the Wailing Wall, is the most holy place for Jews all over the world. So, what's so special about the Western Wall? The Western Wall was part of the wall that surrounded the walls of the temple. The Western Wall is the closest surviving wall to the Most Holy place. People from all over the world pray at the Western Wall. The Western Wall is also known as "The Wailing Wall" because many people weep because the temple is destroyed and because God's people have not returned to Him. Before you enter the Western Wall, you must go through security check first. The Western Wall is very safe! After security check, you descend down the stairs to the Wall. A sign welcomes you at the right. It says, "Welcome to the Western Wall, a remnant of the Temple". Psalm 112:6-7 is written on the sign in Hebrew and English. The Western Wall is a...

Many, many years ago, on a special day in a special month in a special year, a special, chubby 8-pound baby was born.  She had a special name: Grace. This Grace had an older sister who was 18 months old. Then Grace grew and grew. This is Grace when she was 1 years old: When Grace was 18 months old, she had a new baby sister. She was a big sister now. It wasn't so easy being a big sister. Then, she had her 2nd birthday. 6 months after that, a baby brother came along. Grace was 2 and a half years old. Grace loved her baby brother. Grace kept on growing. She was now 3 and a half. This picture was taken at the museum: Then Grace turned 4. Then 5. Grace's older sister would often take Grace and her siblings on adventures. Then Grace turned 6. This birthday was celebrated in Fuzhou, China. Grace was growing so fast! Then Grace turned 7. For this birthday, she had a special chocolate ice cream cake from DQ: ...