Itinerarium Annae

Maundy Thursday

2009-07-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

Today was a painful day, mostly because I just didn't feel well when I got up - stiff, sore, lethargic - I suppose a day in the desert really does "take it out of you." So today's walking and another dry lecture didn't really help the cause. Conversations with my pilgrim friends about iced tea, massages, pedicures, and other comforts of home became signs that we're beginning to long for home.

While I have taken with a grain of salt much of the lore that has been shared with us at each of the sites we have visited, today required more salt than usual, as we visited two different locations of the Upper Room, the site of The Last Supper. Our first stop was at St. Mark's - a Syrian Orthodox convent, claiming to be the first Christian church. We listened to a VERY animated nun named Justina, who told fascinating tales and even sang to us in various languages. Their version of the upper room was actually a "lower" one - below ground as if in a basement, underneath their small sanctuary. As with many ancient/archaeological sites, later generations have built on top of older remains, so to get to the "upper" room we had to go down. We weren't allowed to use our cameras inside, so here are a couple pics from the outside...

We then visited a second possible location of the Last Supper - which felt almost like a walk way/pass thru. Here's one of the two identical doors through which we passed:

Views inside the room:

After lunch at another monastery/hostel type place (sorry - I'm not on my A game today - didn't write down the name and didn't take any photos, but I recall there being a Lutheran connection...), we visited St. Peter in Gallicantu, the location of Caiaphus' house, where Christ was imprisoned.

Actually, this was a pretty powerful site to behold. In the photo above you can see how the church is built on top of the ruins, and on the back side are ruins of the steps leading down into the prison cells, as you can see in these photos:

We spent some time in quiet reflection at this location, walking through the ruins. I'm sure it's by design that there was an actual rooster crowing close by, but powerful nonetheless. Some of the places we have visited required much imagination to picture the events claimed to have happened, but not so here. There were many spots here where Peter could have been warming himself by a fire, and the rocky ruins were unmistakably those of a prison.

We were back at the college by 3:30, and Caitlin and I crashed, taking long, dream-laden naps until dinner time. Tonight's lecture was given by Xavier, a Communications Advisor for the PLO. Our lecture was nearly an hour late getting started because of the hold up at a check point... a typical event for most Palestinians.

Xavier gave a well organized power point presentation, outlining the Palestinian requirements for negotiations:

1. Statehood with control of their own borders and air space.

2. Israeli withdrawal from East Jerusalem - no solution that deprives them of Jerusalem will be accepted.

3. Rights for refugees - rights of return, restitution, and compensation.

He also gave us some basic statistics:

*There are 1.5 million refugees living in Gaza, 90% of them living on international aid.

*The Palestinian Authority controls less than 3% of the land.

*There are over 120 settlements in Palestinian areas. And it's not just about houses - also the infrastructure that consolidates them into the Israeli structure.

*86% of the wall being built is built on Palestinian land, almost double of what the Green line designates.

*Roads built, connecting settlements to Israel are built on Palestinian lands, but Palestinians are not allowed to use them.

*The Israeli government gives financial incentives to motivate people to move to settlements, and the current Israeli Foreign Minister is a settler in Bethlehem.

It is not a stretch for me to believe the things he told us about the impact of the Wall and checkpoints on the Palestinian economy, since I've seen the difficulties of movement with my own eyes. 35% of their economy is tourism - Christians coming to the Holy Land for pilgrimage - but with over 600 checkpoints, it's nearly impossible for Palestinians to move goods or provide services. He said that Israel even controls what kind of food aid can be transported into Gaza - like allowing rice to be brought in but not pasta - which increases the feelings of oppression. Xavier also told us heart wrenching stories about couples living in different towns wanting to get married, but can't live together because neither can get a permit to live in the other's town.

The state of Israel is indeed complicated, but I agree that building in settlements must stop so that conditions for establishing trust and resuming negotiations can emerge. Balance of political realities and international law is certainly needed...

After Xavier's presentation, a group of us went over to the cathedral's pilgrim guesthouse for drinks and conversation - it was a very cool evening, requiring a sweater to sit outside. Blessed relief from the heat, especially since the air conditioning at the college quit working.

Masada, Qumran, and The Dead Sea

2009-07-29T09:51:00.001-07:00

We were up early and on the bus at 8am for the trek to the Dead Sea area. Our first stop was at Masada, a fortress built by Herod the Great as a place of protection for his family. On his way to Rome, Herod left his family there. After he defeated his enemies and was declared king with Roman support, he returned to Masada with Roman soldiers to retrieve his family. They were still living, in spite of the lack of supplies, so Herod saw this as a good place of protection and built one of his seven fortresses here between 37 and 31 BC.

In the first Jewish War against the Roman Empire, Jewish extremists called the Sicarii overtook the fortress at Masada, and after the destruction of the Temple, many Jewish rebels fled to Masada. Josephus recorded a famous account of the siege against Masada by the Romans, where the Romans surrounded Masada below with multiple camps and built a rampart up to the wall of the fortress. They finished the rampart in 73, but when they breached the wall, they discovered that the Jewish community there had set the store rooms ablaze and committed mass suicide, rather than be taken prisoner or killed by Roman hands. This story was told to Josephus by two women who hid with their children in a cistern and escaped after the siege. Every man killed his own family, then the men made a lottery, selecting 10 to kill all the men, and then 1 to kill the remaining 9 and then himself.

I hope these photos give some idea of the harshness of this landscape. Not only is it steep and rocky, but the temperatures here are oppressive - 42 degrees today, and I don't mean Fahrenheit!

The snake path - the winding path for walking up the mountain to Masada at the top:

Ruins at the top:

There is nothing like being in the desert to remind you how important water is. Nassir, our guide says that when Jerusalem receives flash floods, the water rushes down through the Judean Desert to the Dead Sea. You can see the effects of these flash floods, with all the gorges cut out in the land by rushing water. I bet these floods are a sight to behold, and of course very dangerous. But the inhabitants of Masada took advantage of these floods by carving small aqueducts in the mountain rock leading to cisterns to collect this rushing water for later use.

View from the top:

Our next stop was Qumran, the site of approximately 300 caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. The combination of the dry weather and the jars in which they were stored is what helped preserve these fragile documents. These scrolls contained books of the Bible as well as texts describing their traditions on how the Essenes lived together.

After lunch in Jericho, we made the short drive to a swimming area along the Dead Sea. It's best only to swim in designated areas because sink holes are prevalent and very dangerous. We even experienced a small taste of them in the swimming area, sometimes sinking into the mud up to our knees!

Views of the Sea:

Here's the Ahava facility we passed along the way - great Dead Sea skin care products!

Me - floating in the Dead Sea. Did you know that the Dead Sea is 35% salt, as compared with other oceans/seas that average only 3%??? Now that's salty!! The Dead Sea is also below "sea level" and is the lowest place on earth...

Here's Justin doing a little light reading...

Shrine of the Book, Chagall Windows

2009-07-28T13:36:00.001-07:00

Thank goodness for Tuesday morning off. This gave me a little time for catching up on my blog and typing up my lecture notes while I can still decipher them!

In the afternoon we visited a synagogue inside a hospital which contains famous Chagall stained glass windows. What amazing stories told in pictures and colors. There are twelve of them - one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Below are snapshots of a few, and then a video clip of all of them...

Reflection of the windows

Ever have occasions where you feel like you're passing through alternate universes? The trip to this synagogue was a bit like that - we boarded the bus, drove from East Jerusalem to West, were dropped off at a shopping mall, which we walked through to get to the hospital that's connected to it (very strange to see patients in wheelchairs and hospital gowns in the mall!), down a winding hospital hallway, then up the elevator to a reception area outside the synagogue, and then finally inside. And we left the way we came in...what a surreal hour and a half!

Our next stop was to the Shrine of the Book, a museum dedicated to articles found at Qumran. Outside the museum was a large scale model of the ancient city of Jerusalem, including a rendering of the Temple.

We weren't allowed to take photos inside, but I cheated and sneaked a couple pics without flash...

This is looking up at a display of the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah.

The Aleppo Codex, written in Tiberias, 10th c.

Tonight we had a Jewish speaker who discussed with us Jewish perspectives on Jerusalem and the state of Israel. Of course the level of complexity is high, and he was quite fascinating to hear. Our speaker was adamant that Israel is not in religious conflict, but that the conflict is a national one with strong religious overtones. Yet the view of many is that the project of Israel is to be a Jewish state, so incorporating Palestinians (in their view) defeats the purpose of the Jewish state. He also said, though, that occupying another people (the Palestinians) is good for neither party, corroding the moral fiber of society.

Whatever the views or goals, I personally have struggled with the things I have seen and learned about how the Muslims and Christians are treated - containment via concrete walls topped with razor wire and electric fences (which our speaker preferred to call a "separation barrier"), restricting water supply to Gaza and the West Bank, denying passage in and/or out of Gaza, controlling even what kinds of food and humanitarian aid can be transported in... isolation and oppression... calling this difficult circumstances is an understatement!

One comment from our speaker continues to stick in my mind: "bad peace is better than a good war." Maybe we should be careful what we label as peace.

Hiphop in Jerusalem

2009-07-27T22:44:00.001-07:00

After a shower, nap, and dinner, we met up with Justin's seminary friend Carmen (who's working on an archaeological dig), and attended a hip hop concert across the street at King's Cave. Hip hop in arabic - fascinating!

Pre-concert, with the moon above

Patrick and Caitlin to my left:

Justin and Carmen to my right:

Since the concert was only about an hour long, we walked down the hill to the American Colony Hotel for drinks. And afterwards, we finished the night at our favorite spot - the rooftop...

Back in the Old City

2009-07-27T07:26:00.001-07:00

On Monday morning we were back in the Old City - this time visiting the Temple Mount. Unfortunately because of past controversies and violence, we weren't allowed to wear any religious insignia like crosses or carry in our Bibles, and we were not allowed to go inside. This is the first time in my life I was restricted from expressing my faith - not that I've been prone to preaching on hostile street corners, but I'll have to say it bristled this freedom-loving American girl to be told that she couldn't go in if I had a cross or Bible in my possession. And on the other side of the coin, this caused me to wonder just how much I would risk for the sake of my beliefs. Would I have been as courageous as the early Christians who were persecuted and martyred because of their belief in Christ? Probably not. How blessed I am that I have not been put to that kind of test...

While we couldn't go inside, I did try taking some photos through the crack in the door!

This dome was built by the Muslims in 691 and was gold plated in the 1990s by Kind Hussein of Jordan as a gift. Walking around here sparks my imagination to think about how grand the Temple Mount must have been in the time of Jesus.

Unfortunately, an ugly part of our Christian history is when the Crusaders in 1099 tried to take back the Temple Mount and murdered everyone there - Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike - because they couldn't tell anyone apart...

We then walked through the Muslim Quarter to St. Stephen's Gate (Lions Gate) and then to St. Ann's Church. In addition to the tradition of Mary being born here, Bethsaida - the pool for healing - where Jesus healed the lame man - is located here.

The Gate

Outside the church

Inside the church - which had great acoustics. Caitlin, Maida, and I sang a few stanzas of Jesus I Adore Thee for the group.

Downstairs

The Front Door

Ruins of the baths and a byzantine church

We had lunch at Ecce Homo monastery, which had great views of the Old City from their rooftop.

In the afternoon we went to the Western Wall and the Southern Steps - seeing the ruins of the old Roman road along the wall, and where stones were thrown down from the wall gave me some idea of what the destruction of the Temple must have been like. These stones are huge!

On our walk back to St. George's, we stopped half way for minty lemonade (of course!)

Jericho and the Desert

2009-07-26T08:37:00.002-07:00

Sunday morning we packed up to leave Pilgerhaus and wind our way back to Jerusalem. On our way we stopped at Mt. Tabor, the site where tradition according to Eusebius holds that Jesus' transfiguration took place. As Nassir our guide said, some say that the Transfiguration took place on Mt. Hermon. I agree with Dean Patrick's wise observation: "holy places move." Certainly seems that way! While visiting Tabor, I had flashbacks to Montenegro and the winding bus ride up the mountain - it was the same here.

The view from the top was fantastic of course.

My rainbow that showed up in my picture at the mountain monastery in Montenegro showed up again here at the church atop Tabor...

The outdoor chapel where we had Sunday eucharist:

And just as Jesus left this mountain after his transfiguration and headed to Jerusalem, so we did likewise. We drove through the Jordan River Valley, stopped in Jericho for lunch (oppressively hot!) and saw the Mountain of Temptation from a distance. And for full effect of desert sun and heat, we stopped in the middle of the desert at a place with fantastic views, down to the Dead Sea when looking to the right, and up to the Mount of Olives when looking to the left. These photos just don't capture the eery beauty of the desert. I am certainly in awe of the faith of the desert fathers and mothers who lived in solitude in this kind of place...

A break at a watering hole - colorful flowers and a coca cola!

After a much needed nap and dinner back at the college, our little group walked down to see the wailing wall at night:

Happy Birthday to Me, on the Sea of Galilee

2009-07-26T08:37:00.001-07:00

Today, Saturday, is my birthday! What an exciting place to be today! To make the most of the day, Caitlin and I got up at 5:30 and hurried down to the waterside to watch the sunrise. We ran into a family of rock badgers on our way...

It was so peaceful watching the sun come up over the mountains, through the low-lying clouds and finally pierce through the top.

After sunrise, Caitlin and I went back to our room to get ready for the day. Fortunately the air conditioning was working great in the dining room, so we got a little relief from our stuffy, sticky room. Turns out that it's more than the key card that makes a closed circuit for the A/C to work - you also have to check the windows to make sure they're latched properly. Who knew?? Oh well. Tonight we'll make sure everything's tight and take it down to ice box level!

Our first visit of the day was to Mt. Beatitudes, the supposed location of the Sermon on the Mount, followed by a stop in Nazareth.

In Capernaum we stopped at the site of St. Peter's house where Jesus stayed and performed many miracles.

Ruins of the house

The church built over the ruins. Look closely and you can see through the floor down into the house. I couldn't help but imagine those on the rooftop in Jesus' time, lowering down the man on the mat...

Ruins of a synagogue next to the church.

We then drove to Tabgha Benedictine Monastery and had eucharist in this outdoor chapel:

I liked this window above the door inside the church:

After eucharist we had a little free time, so I walked over and sat next to the "Feed My Sheep" statue, watching and listening to the French Catholic eucharist going on nearby. While I don't understand the language, I do understand the rhythm and movement of the liturgy as well as the music - the passing of the peace, bowing at the sanctus, folded hands receiving bread...music and movement - universal languages in worship...they say that 85% of communication is non-verbal and only 15% is actual words used. I believe that!

We stopped for lunch and had another treat - fresh tilapia from the Sea of Galilee. Once I got past it looking back at me, I think it's just about the best fresh fish I've ever had!

After lunch we went to the shore and took a boat ride across the sea to Tiberias, followed by a stop in the worst tourist trap I've ever been in. Since the site of Jesus' baptsim is inside a military compound, the government set up this site for tourists to visit for baptisms - it's not even the Jordan river! It was super hot and the water was disgusting. Not only is the water disgusting, but they have camera crews taking video so that when you walk out, you see yourself on a TV screen, in attempts to lure you to buy a DVD of your experience there - ick factor very high!

The crew in the back of the bus - Patrick, Justin, me and Caitlin.

We finally made it back to Pilgerhaus, changed back into our swimsuits and headed out for one last swim in the Galilee. The water was especially refreshing after such a hot day, where even my elbows were sweating!

After dinner and a less-than-stimulating lecture, we finally made it back out to the patio, where we had drinks, smoked some hooka with Joseph (no worries, Mom - it's just flavored tobacco), and played a few rounds of cards.

Dining Room

Joseph setting up the hubbly bubbly...

So to sum up my birthday in Galilee - awesome!

Going to Galilee

2009-07-23T23:23:00.000-07:00

Today we began our drive to Galilee, and on the way Nassir, our guide, gave us a history lesson on Israel, starting from Moses looking across at the Holy Land, up to 1948. Thanks, Prof. Owens, for all those Thursday night OT1 lectures - once again, I am an informed pilgrim!

We had an early breakfast and made the drive up to Caesarea, where we saw amazing ruins of one of Herod's temples, the amphitheatre where an important discovery confirming our Biblical story was found during excavation - a stone with Pontius Pilate inscribed on it. Caesarea is also the place where Paul was under house arrest (recall also in Acts where Paul participated in his defense at a Roman hearing in Caesarea).

Possible location of Paul's hearing

Herod's swimming pool

We went to the Roman aqueducts for lunch...

...and Nazareth in the afternoon. There we saw churches on sites where the annunciation supposedly took place.

We made our final stop of the day at the Sea of Galilee, where we'll be staying for the next two nights, and the place where I'll spend my birthday - the Pilgerhaus, a monastery/hostel type place. It is quite nice, almost resort-like and very peaceful. Definitely a place I could come back to!

My roommate Caitlin and I made a quick business of checking into our room , changing into our swimsuits and heading down to the water. It's gorgeous! The only challenges were getting past the boulders and rocky beach to the water, but once we got past them, the fresh water was surprisingly cool and a welcomed relief after spending a hot, sandy day along the Mediterranean. We swam around for nearly an hour, humming hymns and thinking - funny how being IN the Sea of Galilee causes you to think of hymns about Galilee! Justin joined us about the time we had climbed out of the water, so we spent some time just sitting, watching the change of colors during sunset.

Dinner at 7 - in an air conditioned room - yay! And afterwards we had a group reflection followed by compline - not very pleasant. I am not confident that our SSJE leader has a handle on his role as trip chaplain. Our reflection felt more like required group therapy at a rehab facility. But afterwards Caitlin, Patrick, Justin and I met up for a rematch game of Spades - the Sewanee team against the PKs again. It was an odd game, with scores often in the negative numbers from our over-eager betting! We were also joined this evening by Joseph, the owner of Pilgerhaus and a joy to talk to. He is a native Palestinian who spent some time in the States working for Johnny Cash. He told us great stories of his time with Johnny, the places he's been, the people he's met, as well as perspective on his country - both its history and current events.

The only downside to my time in Galilee so far, is that I'm having a hard time with swollen feet, on which ice packs and ibuprofen don't seem to have any effect. I suppose the combination of heat, sun, walking, and sea level combine for a puffy ankle experience - ugh!

In the Footsteps of Mary and Elizabeth

2009-07-23T07:06:00.000-07:00

Today's pilgrimage started at the Church of the Visitation in Ein Kerem which means "the spring of the vineyard" and is located southwest of Jerusalem. And from the gate of this church we could look out at the hills of Judah. Tradition holds that this is where Mary came to stay with her cousin Elizabeth during their pregnancies. I love the statue of them - and behind them are plaques of the Magnificat in different languages - beautiful!

Our next stop was at the Church of John the Baptist, which marks the location of his birth. The plaques along the wall here contain the Song of Zechariah.

An icon of John the Baptist

This is the side chapel built on the cave where John the Baptist was supposedly born.

Our next visit was to Bethlehem and the Shepherds Fields. I made a video panning across the fields and capturing birds chirping and the wind in the trees, but my computer is too full of photos to transfer it into a format I can post here. Come back later and I'll have it added after I get home and move my photos to my external drive. In the meanwhile, here are a couple pictures...

Door of the chapel in a cave nearby.

Ruins of a Byzantine monastery being excavated.

Another church up the hill.

We then had lunch at an outdoor restaurant that served traditional Middle Eastern food - lots of salads...

After lunch we visited the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where we could touch the stone said to be the location of where Jesus was born. As we approached the outside of the church, we happened upon a funeral procession, with the men carrying the open casket out of the church grounds and onto the street. This was an important reminder to those of us visiting sites, that even though the Christians in Israel are less than 2% of the population, these places are indeed living churches, providing for the pastoral needs and rites of their congregations. The church itself, as with many of the places we have visited, have had numerous churches built and destroyed and rebuilt again. And often, the location is shared among various Christian traditions - like the Armenians and the Greeks and the Roman Catholics.

We went into the caves below the church which are where St. Jerome lived and worked in the 4th c., translating the Bible into Latin. (Latin Vulgate)

Exploring the Muslim Quarter

2009-07-22T13:37:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday, we were divided up into buddy groups and pilgrim families - my buddy group of three is paired up with another buddy group of 2, making our family of 5 - Patrick from Houston, and Maida from Canada are my buddies, and Patrick and Billy from the Bahamas together make our family. The purpose of these families is to look out for each other throughout the course and for today, to create small groups that can manage today's assignment a little better than a whole group of 35. Each family was assigned a particular quarter in the city to explore, and ours was the Muslim Quarter.

We decided to start first with a walk on the ramparts from Damascus Gate, exiting at St. Stephen's Gate, and then walked up the first part of the Via Dolorosa.

More views from the ramparts

We found a cafe at a crossroads across from the Austrian hostel and ordered lunch, made complete with minty lemonade for everyone!

Lamb shish-kabobs - yum!

This was a great spot for people watching, and we even wondered out loud about others who might have been sitting along this same busy street the day that Jesus came through, carrying his cross...

After dinner, Patrick, Caitlin my roommate, and Justin (a fellow Sewanee grad) met up in the library for a round of Spades. The Sewanee team beat the PKs - woo hoo! Something tells me there'll be a rematch!

Our First Official Day of Pilgrimage

2009-07-22T12:36:00.001-07:00

Today was our first day of pilgrimage - we started with morning eucharist at the cathedral at 7:30, followed by breakfast and the morning lecture. Our speaker borrowed designations/titles for Jerusalem from Karen Armstrong's work to structure his overview lecture - Jerusalem as: Salem, City of David, Zion, Antioch in Judea, Aelia Capitolina, "Anastasis," Al Quds, and Capital. This was helpful in placing the time and people influencing this Holy City.

After the morning lecture, we boarded the bus for our driving tour of he city. We stopped at the House of Abraham, run by French Catholic nuns, for a tasty lunch (they're French, afterall!) and a view of the city from their rooftop. This oriented us well to the walled city and surrounding areas, like the Kidron Valley, the Garden of Gethsemane, various churches and mosques that mark significant locations.

The House of Abraham

View from the rooftop

We then drove to the Mount of Olives, where we could feel and see the dramatic change in climate and landscape - definitely desert on the other side! Out to the far right on this hazy day, we could see the Dead Sea. To the left, note the winding line - that's the dividing wall called the "separation barrier" that the Israeli's are building through the West Bank.

And this was our first day - starting off light, which is good, because there are many long, fun-filled days ahead...

Walking the Ramparts

2009-07-20T11:13:00.001-07:00

This morning after breakfast I set out on my own again in the Old City. My first order of business was to buy a hat. The sun around here requires more than just sunscreen! I found one in the Christian Quarter and properly haggled on the price and paid 32 sheckels - the equivalent of $8!

After buying my hat I promptly made my way to Jaffa Gate so that I could walk the ramparts and get a bird's eye view of the city.

The Wailing Wall

I made it back to St. George's around 4, stopping first at St. George's Bazaar right outside the cathedral gate. This is the gift shop Rick mentioned to me as a good place to go, and to be sure and greet Abraham, the shopkeeper, for him. What a delightful man. He offered me a seat (he could tell I looked beat) and we sat and chatted a few minutes as other shoppers wandered in. I promised to come back to do some serious shopping before the two weeks are up.

After a shower and a nap, I was half way prepared to meet and greet my fellow pilgrims after evensong at the reception at the college. There are 35 of us - 18 from the Bahamas, a couple from New Zealand, several priests and seminarians from the States, a couple priests from England and a seminarian from Canada. What a fantastic mixed bag of Anglicans!

Sunday at St. George's

2009-07-19T07:48:00.000-07:00

I woke up early again on Sunday morning, so I went to breakfast and then decided to get a couple hours of sun on the rooftop deck before church. I've been reading a book included on the reading list for this course - The Shadow of the Galilean by Gerd Theissen, which is a book about the quest of the historical Jesus in narrative form. It has been a great read, so I took it with me to the rooftop.

Some flowers on my walk to church

After church, Farrell and I had lunch with Fr. Bill, a priest at the cathedral and old friend of Fr. Wright's. In fact, I first met Fr. Bill while visiting Fr. Wright at the hospital in the spring of 2008. Our serendipitous meeting that Sunday morning planted the seed for my coming to St. George's for a course. I love it when dreams become reality!

We had lunch at the Legacy Hotel, where I discovered a fantastic refreshing beverage - lemonade with mint blended in...yummy! Definitely working on getting a copy of this recipe so I can make this back home...

We also took some pictures from the restaurant balcony since the view was so nice. You can see St. George's in the background.

I made it back to my room around three and crashed. Two hours later I woke up, walked to a little grocery store to pick up some dinner, and then waited up for the arrival of my roommate, Caitlin. I learned that she would be arriving around midnight and thought it best to stay up so that she wouldn't have to walk into a room with a sleeping stranger. Once she arrived we said our quick hellos and then went to bed.

Walking the Streets of the Old City

2009-07-18T14:47:00.000-07:00

Nothing like jet lag to get you up early in the morning! My first morning in Jerusalem I was awake at 5:30. I eventually got up, showered, and went down to the Pilgrim Guesthouse for breakfast. The nice man at the front desk pointed out some sites on the Jerusalem map to get me started on my wanderings for the day. On my way to the Old City, Episcoworld proved itself once again - this time I ran into Farrel, a fellow seminarian at General. We chatted for a couple minutes and went our separate ways, knowing that we would touch bases with each other at Sunday services at the cathedral...

How surreal it is to walk the streets of Old Jerusalem! So many shops and new smells and foreign languages swirling all about! And the heat of the day is pretty intense, but I didn't let that stop me from exploring. I stopped for lunch at a cafe in the Christian Quarter - a chicken sandwich, Israeli style... grilled chicken in a pita with cucumbers and tomatoes and a yummy sauce.

Damascus Gate, where I entered the Old City

After lunch I found the Church of the Resurrection (Holy Sepulchre as the Crusaders called it). Here are a few photos from my first visit. I'll talk more about it in a later post when we visit as a group...

After visiting the church, I walked back to St. George's - the heat and jet lag weighing heavy. I took a nap, and then ordered in dinner again. Bedtime at 9, in hopes to catch up on sleep, but woke up at midnight, so I wandered around inside the college, discovering the rooftop garden and cozy nooks in the library, places I bet I spend a fair amount of time in the coming days!

Arriving in Jerusalem

2009-07-17T10:23:00.000-07:00

Traveling El Al, the Israeli airline, was an experience right from the moment I walked to departures checkin. After being interrogated by two different people, I was then taken behind a screen, where all my bags were hand searched and I was questioned again. I expected some of this, but come on - do I really look like an enemy of the state??? And I was still amazed that in 2009 a woman traveling alone would be so baffling to some.

The good side of this experience was that because of the time taken up in questioning me and searching my bags, I was personally escorted past the general security lines to the gate area, and then even escorted onto the plane - fabulous!!

Once I got on the plane, though, adventure continued to unfold. I was assigned a middle seat between a Jewish man who spoke no English and his teen-aged daughter. They wanted to sit together, but wanted me to take the window seat. 11 hours in the window seat is a quick route to disaster in my book! We had to wait till nearly everyone was on the plane before the cabin crew could re-seat us, and fortunately I was given an aisle seat.

I certainly felt like a foreigner on this flight - directions were spoken in Hebrew first, and was the predominant language I heard from the passengers around me. Those who ordered kosher meals received theirs first, so I waited while most others around me ate. Morning prayers at around 4am were also interesting, as many of the men pulled out their prayer shawls and stood to read Torah, complete with their distinctive and constant bowing.

We finally arrived in Tel Aviv, and I was exhausted. There was just no sleeping on the plane for me, as is often the case. The seats were more narrow on this plane than usual and my legs were hurting in spite of multiple doses of ibuprofen. Fortunately there were no hassles in checking my passport at customs, so I collected my bags and found the cab/bus to drive me to Jerusalem. After about an hour's drive I arrived at St. George's and was greeted by a familiar accent . . . Barbara, the Warden, is from Virginia!

I arrived at St. George's around 4:30 local time, so I unpacked and then laid down for a few minutes' rest, and then changed clothes for evensong at the Cathedral. The bells rang, but no one was there, so I scrounged up a Bible and BCP and did my own evening prayer.

I was surprised how much cooler it was once the sun started going down. And there was a nice breeze, so I walked around the St. George's precincts a bit, snapping a few photos. I felt instantly at home when I saw the Boone Porter and Diosova plaques in the garden...

The night guard helped me order a Greek salad for dinner and fix a cup of tea. By 9:15 I was in bed for the night, but hardly slept since the mattress is just about the hardest mattress I've ever slept on - even worse than the one in Belgrade! Hopefully I'll adjust as the week bears on.

The Cathedral

In the garden

Olive tree

Grapes!

Cathedral Cats

Last Leg of My Journey - Jerusalem

2009-07-15T14:22:00.001-07:00

Thursday has finally arrived! I finished re-packing my bags, made a quick trip to TJ Max for an extra pair of comfy walking shoes, and kept my appointment with Marcos for a much needed haircut. I was sad to learn that this was my last haircut with him, as he's moving back to Panama to care for his elderly mother. Fortunately Harry his partner will be back in September, and Marcos gave him instructions on how to cut my hair, so at least I have somewhere to go this fall!

Anyway, my journey to Jerusalem began with a cab ride to JFK with a delightful cabbie - we got off to a rocky start at the gas station where he an another cab pinned a pedestrian between their two cabs - yikes! Fortunately no one was seriously hurt. We talked a little about the incident, and then moved on to other topics. Once he learned who I was and where I was going, he had all kinds of questions to "test" me, as he says. I thought it was interesting when he mentioned that in his line of work he rarely looks at people, and mostly pays attention to voices. He said he could hear something different in my voice that said I was open to questions on matters of faith. We talked about heaven and hell and judgment, why we are believers, death and dying, his love and concern for his grandkids, and so on (it was rush hour in NYC - we had lots of time!)

What a great way to start this trip. Aren't we all pilgrims, bumping into each other along the way, sharing a few questions or a few thoughts, exchanging smiles and handshakes, and then going on our separate ways? But then how separate are they when we often seek to discover the things we have in common when meeting new people? I really wish I were better at remembering names, because I've already forgotten my cab driver's name. But we shook hands and smiled at each other, changed a bit by our hour long experience together on a random Thursday afternoon rush hour...

Summer on the Close

2009-07-14T19:35:00.001-07:00

Monday morning Annie and I got up early, packed our bags and headed to the airport - LAX for her, Orange County for me. Arriving in NYC at a decent hour, I was able to make it to the Close and walk around a bit. But three hours' difference going west to east made it more difficult to get to bed at a decent hour, and the cumulative effect of crossing so many time zones caught up with me on Tuesday - I ended up taking two naps! Or maybe it was the comfort of being in familiar territory that made it easier to sleep...

At any rate, it's great to be on the Close for a few days, catching up with friends and preparing for the final leg of my summer pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Professor Owens was in his office, so I stopped by for some pointers on Hebrew (I can learn Hebrew in a day, right????) and shared a few stories from my travels. I had dinner one night with Kiel Walter, the saintly soul who took on the responsibility of keeping my finicky cat, Callie. She's doing just fine in my absence, and is even allowing K.W. to hold her and pet her (this is no small miracle!) On Wednesday afternoonShelley flew back in from Florence where she was visiting with Ed, so we grabbed an early dinner together and chatted about our travels since Serbia.

And the Close is looking really beautiful this summer - must have been all that June rain!

General Convention

2009-07-07T19:33:00.000-07:00

Annie and I are officially at convention for the purposes of working in the seminary and Tutu center booths and to help with the GTS Thursday night reception and Saturday night dinner. But we also had some flex time to see the happenings of Convention.

Here's the entrance to the exhibit hall

Inside the Hall

Annie and I at the Tutu Center Booth

GTS authors on display

The House of Deputies in Session

The House of Bishops in Session

Annie helping out in a children's ed workshop

California Here I Come

2009-07-07T03:37:00.000-07:00

It's great being back in NYC! There's just no place like home, with familiar sights, sounds, and smells. On Monday I walked over to 8th Ave for lunch and a desperately needed pedicure. But that was about all the time I had for fun because there was laundry and re-packing to be done.

On the cab ride to LaGuardia

Since I'm still jet lagged, I woke up at 5:30 on Tuesday morning and couldn't get back to sleep. So I got up, made some coffee, updated my blog and finished packing for General Convention. A short cab ride to LaGuardia at noon got me there in plenty of time to check in for my 2pm flight. Things were looking great - we boarded on time and pulled out of the gate on time, but we were then delayed an hour for supposed bad weather to the West. This caused me to miss my connecting flight in Minneapolis, so I was stuck there for the night - ugh! So I took the shuttle to Mall of America for dinner...I can now say I've officially been there, but I didn't bother with a t-shirt. I wasn't really that impressed.

Getting up for a 5:30 flight is making my jetlag worse! Not to mention that I had to fly east to Detroit to then fly west to Orange County - the airline hub system is often counter-intuitive. So the last leg of my flight was 4 1/2 hours, and I arrived in sunny California at 10:30am local time.

Here's a view of the Rockies from the plane - can you believe this is my first trip to CA??

After collecting my baggage, it was Supershuttle to the rescue! They had a van waiting, so I paid the ten bucks for a ride and got to the hotel in only 15 minutes. The only downside was that I couldn't check in till 3. Fortunately I ran into Billy, General's admissions director, so we stored our luggage and walked to the convention center. It's great to see so many familiar faces...Convention is like one big family reunion!

The Anaheim Convention Center

Here's pics of Annie and me...

Some Things I Love About Being Home

2009-07-06T06:56:00.000-07:00

Air Conditioning.

Hot showers that aren't handheld.

Toilets you can sit on.

Brewed coffee with half & half.

Real washing machines and dryers.

The Empire State Building dressed in red, white, and blue to greet me on the drive from the airport.

Belgrade to London to NYC

2009-07-05T23:02:00.001-07:00

Sunday morning started early with Shelley's wake up call at 4am. I was awake to see her off, but then couldn't get back to sleep, especially since the pre-dawn light was beginning to come into the room. So a very early start to a very long day! I showered, packed, went downstairs for breakfast, and checked my travel details online. We got to the airport in plenty of time (a miracle, since we did nothing else "on time" on this trip!). The flight was blessedly uneventful, and since my fellow pilgrims and I had booked different return flights, after arriving in London we said our goodbyes, and I made my way to BA's Terminal 5.

Henrietta graciously volunteered to keep my duffle bag of books at her place in London and then bring it to Heathrow for me. We met up at departures, repacked both bags to make sure each was under 23kg (I can't believe this worked out and I didn't get charged a fee!), checked them and myself in, and then stopped in an Italian restaurant for a late lunch. It was great fun seeing Henrietta one last time before leaving.

Of course things were going too smoothly! When I entered the security line I was told that my 6:10 flight had been cancelled. And thus the fun begins. After standing in two different lines, British Air transferred me to a Virgin Atlantic flight at 8:35. Seven hours of flying after being up since 4am Serbian time became grueling. But I managed to get a couple hours of sleep and made it back to the Close at 12:30am EDT (which was 6:30am Serbian time) for a grand total of 23 1/2 traveling hours door to door. Since I've sublet my apartment for the summer, my dear friend Candice let me stay at her place while she's away. Lucky for me she just moved into the apartment across the hall, so I had easy access to switch out suitcase items! Thanks, Candice - it's great to be only one door away from home!

July 4th in Serbia

2009-07-04T22:37:00.001-07:00

Today, July 4th, is our last full day of pilgrimage in Serbia, and we began the day as usual with prayers on the bus, praying for our nation and for the people of the monasteries we have visited and for all in monastic life. Our first stop of the day was at Manasija Monastery, also known as Resava, a monastery with grandiose fortification and built in the Morava style.

After this visit, we began making our way back toward Belgrade, stopping for a really nice lunch - here's Fr. Djokan, once again, translating everyone's lunch order...

Shelley - this pic is for you...remember what we were thinking???

We stopped in the town of Topola, and saw the Mausoleum church of St. George, which contains a family crypt of the Serbian Royal family Karadjordjevic - these pictures don't do justice to the beautiful mosaics.

There was also a film crew that wanted to interview Fr. Wright, Fr. Djokan, and Zorka (a world lit professor and well known Serbian author) for a program/report on our joint pilgrimage. Fr. Wright spoke with ecumenical eloquence, as always!

Then it was back on the bus for our final drive back to Belgrade - and rainbows appeared again. A double one this time!

Fr. Djokan and Zorka having fun on the bus...

We made a quick stop at the St. Sava Cathedral under construction so that Fr. Wright could see it (since he was not with us on the first day we visited), but it was already closed. But at least he and Ljuba had a photo op out front!

For our last night together, we were treated to dinner at a traditional Serbian restaurant, complete with live music and our own gift giving.

A grand time was had by everyone, which put us back at the hotel late. This was toughest on Shelley, who had to get up at 4am for her 7am flight to Rome, but what a great way for us to end our time together, sharing a meal, gifts, and festive music.

An Overnight Stay

2009-07-04T22:36:00.001-07:00

After our visit at Monastery Gradac, we made the drive to our final destination for the evening, and this time it wasn't to a hotel, but Monastery Studenica which had guest housing - what a treat! Here we are at dinner in the refectory.

Fr. Djokan treated us to some monastery wine - yum!

Shelly's and my room:

The view from our balcony on Friday morning:

The front of the guest housing:

The church:

Again, we couldn't take pictures inside, but here's a view through the door:

But I was willing to risk getting caught for this photo - St. Anna and Mary. You can see the name inscribed to the right of her head:

After departing from Studenica, we drove to Monastery Zica, built in the early 13th c., and the location of the crowning of almost all Serbian kings.

We then went to lunch at another scenic restaurant along the Ibar River. Check out these Serbian burgers Fr. Wright and Fr. Clayton had for lunch - definitely more burger than bun!

After lunch we stopped at Monastery Ljubostinja, a female monastery dating 15th c., and important for its monuments in the Morava school. Unfortunately we couldn't take pics even on the grounds, but here's one of the church from afar.

And a picture next to these lilies before we knew we weren't allowed.

The nuns at this monastery also make wine, so for the equivalent of about $7, I've brought home a bottle of red to share with Rick, Ed, and Shelley when we get together for dinner on the Close to talk about our summers abroad...

Next we stopped at a newer monastery, but vespers had already started. We were able to walk around the grounds at least. Here we are waiting outside the gate:

Back to Serbia, Visiting Gradac

2009-07-01T23:24:00.000-07:00

By Thursday the long days and long bus rides are starting to wear on me. I was really tired this morning and had a headache, and we had just as many sites to see today as previous days. In the morning alone we had two monasteries and a church to see. We left the town of Old Ras (where we spent the night) and started for the first monastery. There are many Muslims in this area - here's a picture of one of the mosques and its minaret (tower). This was the first time I've visited a town that had more minarets than church towers...

Our first monastery stop was at an impromptu add, and I didn't write down the name (sorry!) Here are a couple pics of the outside. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside...

We made the short drive to St. Peter's church, but I decided to stay on the bus to nurse my headache. We then stopped at Monastery Djurdjevi Stopovi (they're really starting to run together at this point!) At any rate, here are a few snapshots...

A side chapel:

Inside the chapel:

After lunch we visited the most amazing monastery of the trip - Monastery Gradac. I know I've talked a lot about "favorites," but this one I will never forget because of the nuns who live there. There was a special energy and joy that emanated from this place, and I was surprised that nearly all the nuns were young women. Please visit their website - they are amazing. (Please check back here later - I don't have the exact address with me at this moment.) And if you are looking for a place to purchase icons, please support these young women in their very fine artistry and ministry!

The church at this monastery is called the Church of the Theotokos (Our Lady) and was built as a mausoleum for Queen Helen of Anjou, wife of King Uros I. While we weren't allowed to take photos inside this monastery, I couldn't help myself and sneaked in a couple. The light, brightness, and feminine energy in the space was wonderful! The frescoes included women and children, much different from the stern looking men found in most of the other places we visited.

This is a little boy singing his prayers with gusto...

The nuns' residence:

A mother cat with her playful kitten on the grounds:

In the Mountains of Montenegro

2009-07-01T00:50:00.000-07:00

I know yesterday I said that we visited my favorite monastery so far, but today topped yesterday! Even though we got off to a bad start with no water at the hotel, we began a winding adventure up a mountain to the Monastery of Ostrog, high up in the rock of Ostroska Greda. This monastery was founded in the 17th c. by Bishop Vasilije, Metropolitan of Herzegovina, who died at Ostrog, buried here, and later sainted and proclaimed a miracle worker. We saw the reliquary in which his body is enshrined and kept in the cave church at the monastery. We learned from our travel notes that this monastery is the meeting place of all three confessions: the Orthodox, the Catholics and the Muslims, because it is believed that the enshrined body of St. Basil of Ostrog makes miracles work. It is said that praying by his body, many have been cured, and many pilgrims today continue to come here, seeking healing.

It's hard capturing the dramatic view from the bus window - but we often felt, as we wound our way up the mountain, that we could fall right off the edge of the earth!

How's this for a winding road?? Even though we had to switch to a smaller bus halfway up, the bus still had to inch forward and back up at each curve...

And here we are getting on our smaller bus...

And when traffic came the other direction, someone had to back up to a wider spot in the road so the other could pass!

And finally, the entrance to the monastery.

This monastery is literally carved into the side of the rock - AMAZING!!

Notice the rainbow in the bottom of this next picture. This was probably a trick of the camera lens, but I like the notion of a rainbow greeting us right as we walked through the gate into the monastery...

Legend has it that this grapevine growing out of the rock sprung up at the exact place where St. Basil of Ostrog is said to have died.

After our visit, we wound our way half way back down the mountain and stopped at the bishop's and monks' residence, where we were warmly greeted by one of the monks. We waited for a while, hoping to meet the bishop, but he was not able to join us. Their hospitality, though, was most gracious. Take a look at the table of food!

Words of greeting and thanks were offered on both sides, and Fr. Wright was even presented with an icon as a gift from the monastery and the bishop. We were all given books from their gift shop (and they were even in English!)

The GTS crew - Fr. Wright, Shelley, and me...

And a few more shots of the mountains as we drove away from Ostrog...

It was a long drive across Montenegro and back into Serbia, but we finally arrived at the Hotel Atlas. We had yet another late dinner, but thank God for a clean, modern room and a shower with good water pressure - especially wonderful since the morning started with no water! Here's the view the next morning from our hotel window.

Travel Tip #236

2009-07-01T00:49:00.000-07:00

This morning was a great illustration of just how difficult it can be living in a former Communist country. We awoke this morning to no water in the hotel, and at breakfast we learned it wasn't just the hotel, but the entire city. They also had no idea when water service would be back up and running, expecting it to be out for days.

But here's where the travel tip comes in. I rolled my eyes and chuckled when Mom included little boxes of individually wrapped handi-wipes with the electricity adapter she sent me before I left the country. I packed a few of them in my suitcase, and boy, did they come in handy this particular morning! So my newest travel tip is when traveling abroad, take along some packets of handi-wipes. You never know when you might need them.

Ahh, the perpetual wisdom of mothers...thanks, Mom! Shelley and I were a little cleaner today than we would have been otherwise!

Heading to Montenegro

2009-06-30T00:16:00.006-07:00

After a short night's rest, we ate breakfast and were back on the bus by 9am. Each morning we start our bus ride with morning prayers and a reflection offered by Fr. Djokan and/or Fr. Wright. On this particular morning, Fr. Wright offered reflections on what it means to be a pilgrim, an exile temporarily in residence on earth. As Bede tells us, there is a linking of heaven and earth by means of pilgrimage. Our proper home is heaven, and that's what we're heading toward in this life. We live in the present - it is our baptismal privilege to be pilgrims in our own time and be one with the saints who have gone before us on our journey to heaven, but it is looking to the future which is the nature of our pilgrimage. Seeing evidence of such strong faith from centuries ago in the holy places we are visiting as well as the traditions continued among the monks, nuns, and even my fellow pilgrims, remind me of the richness of diversity in the humanity God has created and deepen my own faith in the one God we all worship...

Our first stop of this Tuesday morning was at Monastery Mileseva, founded between 1234 and 1236 by the Serbian King Vladislav. It is situated in the Mileseva river valley, and is one of the most important Serbian spiritual centers - in 1235 Vladislav moved the relics of his uncle, St. Sava, here. Here is a photo of the river from the bus window - across the river is Bosnia...

Inside the monastery...

St. Sava on the wall to the left...

St. Michael the Archangel - the original one often seen in icon reprints...WOW!

A beautiful icon in the monastery museum...

And vestments...

More monastery hospitality - Turkish coffee and something like doughnuts, but not quite (and I can't remember what they're called). And it was sitting around this table that Fr. Wright answered our questions about the icon of the three-handed Mother of God. Learning about the history and legends of such things in their proper context makes them much more memorable!

When we started this pilgrimage I really had no concept of what I would be seeing - in the churches, in the culture, and in the landscape. After our visit at Mileseva we got back on the road, heading toward the border of Montenegro. I didn't realize how mountainous Serbia and Montenegro are. The further we drove, the more dramatic they became. Here are some more photos from the bus window:

Right before crossing the border into Montenegro, we stopped at a roadside cafe for lunch. One reason we did this was because of money challenges. Serbia uses Dinars and Montenegro uses Euros - and none of us had Euros! And holding true to our pattern, we were at lunch twice as long as we had planned. Here is a picture of those yummy tomatoes and cucumbers I mentioned earlier:

Here's a picture of me facing the road behind us - beautiful mountains in the background!

A rainstorm started brewing so we scurried back on the bus to begin our border crossing. The border is interesting - first we crossed the Serbian border, and then a mile or two we stop for the Montenegran border guards. I wonder what that land in between is called??? It was hailing by the time we got to the first guard station:

Here's the border guard on the bus stamping our passports that we were exiting Serbia - one of my more pleasant border crossing experiences...

And a few minutes later getting them stamped for arrival in Montenegro (not as friendly as the last guy)...

But the concern for swine flu reaches even the mountains of Montenegro! Here's a survey they gave all of us:

And the mountains just kept getting higher and higher...

Our second monastery of the day was also along a river - Monastery Moraca and you guessed it - on the River Moraca. This church was built in 1252 by Stefan Nemana, and legend has it that the special yellow stone with which it was built came from a far away place called Tusine, and the local people made a line tens of kilometers long to carry the stone from hand to hand to Moraca.

Inside the monastery - absolutely gorgeous, and I think my favorite so far...

This is the only remaining fresco from the originals, before destruction by the Turks. This is also a familiar icon of Elijah often replicated...

Fortunately we arrived at our hotel a little earlier, but still late - this time we had dinner at about 10pm... this is making for very weary travel, but driving through the mountains is unpredictable, and the weather caused us some delay.

First Day in the Mountains of Serbia

2009-06-30T00:16:00.005-07:00

Today, Monday, we boarded our new, more comfortable and spacious bus. Fortunately, I was able to have two seats to myself so that I could spread out! We also met up with our new bus driver for the week - Yousef. Yousef doesn't speak English, but you can tell by his constant smile and the sparkle in his eyes that he is not only a masterful driver (which the pictures later will show) but also a kind and generous man.

We first drove to Valjevo, where we stopped for a mid morning coffee break. It was sprinkling, but you can still see how charming the streets and cafes are. This section of town is known as "Tesnjar."

Our first monastery visit was in Lelic (sounds like Lehlich), the "Serbian Jerusalem." This is the town where St. Nikolai was born, and where he built the monastery in which he is buried.

Here we are inside the monastery. Fr. Djokan translated for the priest, who gave us some history on St. Nikolai and the monastery in Lelic. The inside is a holy feast for the eyes - beautiful frescoes and icons everywhere! The casket contains the relics of St. Nikolai...

After visiting the monastery, we stopped in the gift shop, where we found lots of goodies for reasonable prices. I bought a few icons, some monastery-made honey, prayer bracelets, and two votive holders. I'm betting I don't buy many books this week - most of them are in Serbian!

Our next stop of the morning was at Monastery Celije, built in the 13th century, and is currently a women's monastery. Here's a pic walking up to the gate:

The waters from this well are said to be healing waters - of course I drank a cup!

The drizzle finally stopped and the sun came out while we were there. Here's a pic of Shelley with the nuns' residence in the background.

Shelley and I wandered out on our own, mainly to find the restroom, but the nun hosting our group shepherded us back into this building with the rest of our group. It was clear she didn't like us being outside by ourselves, once everyone else was inside...

Here's a shot of the nun telling us about the monastery:

Here we are inside, where the nuns put together a hospitality table for us - Turkish coffee and water and nibbles - yum!

After we said goodbye to the nuns at Celije, we made our way down the road a bit to a place along the river for lunch. I had grilled chicken and Sropska, which is a Serbian salad of cucumbers, tomatoes and white cheese. Absolutely delicious! What a great surprise for me to have delicious home-grown tomatoes so far from home and so early in the summer! I couldn't get enough of this and ate it nearly everyday for lunch...

Fr. Wright and Louise at lunch:

A coffee break, two monasteries, and lunch - I'm sure you can guess that this took longer than noontime. In fact, this group is a bit like herding cats...we've started nothing on time, and everything we stop for takes twice as long as the time budgeted. My recollection is that we wrapped up lunch around 3:30 or 4. But we still had another bus ride to yet another monastery before we were done for the day. And this is where we began to realize just how skillful Yousef is - check out this road in the mountains. There were portions not yet paved, and they were quite curvy!

Our last stop was at a newer monastery, St. Nikolai in Soko City, Ljubovija. It is currently used primarily as a retreat center, and the story behind this monastery is that the land at this location was scheduled to be used for a toxic waste dump. A bishop in Germany bought many acres of this land and created this monastery to prevent the toxic dumping. What a beautiful gift!

After our visit here, we made the long drive through the mountains to our hotel for the night - Villa Romantika - on Mt. Zlatibor, 4000 ft. above sea level. It was almost 11pm by the time we got there - ugh! But the hotel staff had dinner waiting for us when we arrived, so we dropped off our bags and headed right down. It was at dinner that Shelley and I discovered that today was Fr. Wright's 45th anniversary of his ordination - congratulations, Fr. Wright! So glad to have shared an adventurous day with you on your anniversary!

Phew - how's that for a full day???

Time in Belgrade

2009-06-30T00:16:00.003-07:00

"In the footsteps of St. Nikolai Velimirovic" - this is the name given to this Serbian Orthodox/Anglican joint pilgrimage to holy places in Serbia and Montenegro. My fellow pilgrims on this trip are mostly Serbian Orthodox, but there are a half dozen of us Episcopalians and even a Universalist! Most of both groups hail from New York City. St. Nikolai was a modern day saint of the Serbian Orthodox Church and a friend of Anglicans. In fact, he was known to have said that (at least in his lifetime) he didn't see any essential articles of faith that divided Anglican from Serbian Orthodox, and that the only thing lacking was a true union of hearts - and Nikolai believed this was possible. He became the first non-Anglican to preach in St. Paul's London - quite an honor.

St. Nikolai was a bishop in Zitscha and Ocrid, and was imprisoned in Dachau during WWII, where he offered great comfort to his fellow prisoners, identifying the ways in which he found evidence of God, even at Dachau. He was included in the prisoners liberated from concentration camps by American troops in 1945, and was brought to the US by the troops. He died in the US in 1956, and his remains were taken to his birthplace in Lelich, a monastery he had built in his hometown before WWII. He was sainted in 2003. This pilgrimage will take us to many of the places St. Nikolai lived or served or visited, giving us time to reflect on his life's work and strengthen the bonds of friendship between Anglican and Orthodox along the way...

Sunday morning we went to the cathedral in Belgrade for church. I found it disconcerting to be a half hour late for church, but so it is in this culture. As this was my first time attending an orthodox service, I realized that half hour was blessed relief - Orthodox services are quite long and everyone stands...women on the left and men on the right. I was captivated by the music of the choir and the chanting of the priests - absolutely beautiful and transporting!

In the hotel lobby before walking to church

On the walk through town, headed to the cathedral

After church a rainstorm delayed our walking tour of the city, so we sat in a cafe and then back in the cathedral to wait it out. Here are some photos I took while we waited.

Our three Episcopal priests on pilgrimage.

Turkish coffee - yum!

Inside the cathedral

After the rain stopped, we made a visit to St. Sava, a new Serbian Orthodox temple named for the first Serbian archbishop, that's still under construction, but once completed it will be the largest in existence.

We had a late lunch at a floating restaurant on a boat on the Danube, and then visited Belgrade Fortress, which contains old Roman walls known to be the outermost edge of the Roman Empire. There are two chapels situated within the fortress which we also visited. The first chapel - St. Petka - contains a well with healing waters. We met the priest there, Vladimir, who is also a professor in the school of theology in Belgrade and a former classmate of Fr. Djokan, the priest in St. Sava Cathedral in NYC and leader for our pilgrimage. Fr. Vladimir was a most gracious host, welcoming us, telling us about the history of the chapel, and sharing with us his own ecumenical work and his particular like of Anglicans. He gave us his email and phone number so that we could contact him on Saturday when we return to Belgrade.

Belgrade Fortress from a distance

Ljuba, our guide (and fantastic art historian)

St. Petka

We eventually gathered at 8:30 for dinner at the hotel, and then Shelley and I promptly returned to our room for bed at a decent hour - we have to be on the bus, breakfast eaten and ready to go with luggage in hand at 7:30!

Shifting Gears - Going to Serbia

2009-06-30T00:16:00.001-07:00

Saturday morning Henrietta and I got up, had breakfast, and walked back into Oxford to the bus station - how nice of her to make the trek to see me off! It was an easy 45 minute ride to Heathrow (who knew!) I waited for the rest of my new travel group at the ticket counter as instructed, but no one showed up there. Not taking any chances, I went ahead and checked in for my flight, and wandered around Terminal 2 for a while. On one of my wanderings I ran into Fr. Wright - great to see another familiar face from home! We met up with the rest of our fellow pilgrims, and made the uneventful flight from London to Belgrade. What a thrill to see my fellow seminarian and dear friend Shelley - we are so looking forward to being roommates on this trip, spending time catching up and sharing this unique experience together.

Here we are at the airport...

We met our bus and tour guide and made our way into Belgrade to the Hotel Prag, where we stayed for the next two nights.

In the lobby

Leaving England

2009-06-30T00:13:00.000-07:00

I'm glad I have the courage to travel on my own - it really is quite fun, once I get past my own nerves! I've settled in well, gotten used to the different bank notes, learned how to order food at the local pub, and have figured out the train system well enough to get from place to place with transfers in between. I wish we had more opportunities in America for train travel - it's a relatively smooth ride and the window views are fantastic! But as I'm currently riding the train from Manchester to Oxford, it occurs to me that my 5 weeks in England are fast coming to an end. This time tomorrow I'll be on a plane to Belgrade. I'm looking forward to my next adventure, but I'm already beginning to miss England. Who knows - maybe someday I'll have a chance to come here for additional studies...

Blogging on the train and drinking tea.

After four hours on the train I met up again with Henrietta, stopped by a local pub to get dinner for her and my last pint of cider on my last night in England, and then walked around Oxford for the last time this trip. Henrietta and I have had so much fun together! Between the two of us we discussed all kinds of issues - personal, in the church, and the world. Give us another week or so and I bet we'd have everything all figured out! How grateful I am for new friends in different corners of the world.

Many thanks, Henrietta!!!

Visiting Chad & Mary Up North

2009-06-25T16:33:00.000-07:00

Monday morning Henrietta and I went back into town - first to purchase a new adapter, since I left my other one at her flat in London, then to visit more bookshops, and then finally board the train to Mirfield, about four hours' journey.

Mary and Tucker greeted me at the train station, and we took the bus together to the Community of the Resurrection, the monastery/seminary where they're staying this summer. The grounds are beautiful and peaceful, with grassy fields, a goldfish pond (which Tucker loves), apple and cherry trees, a vegetable garden and lots of roses.

Some shots on one of our evening walks...

What a treat to spend time with friends from back home in the Diocese of Southern Virginia! And since all the seminarians at Mirfield were gone for summer break, I think Chad & Mary & the kids were glad to see me, especially since there isn't much in Mirfield and basic tasks like grocery shopping aren't very easy. In fact, on Tuesday morning we made the trek into town for groceries - what a hike! It's downhill getting to the store, but all uphill all the way home... ugh! Hats off to Mary for keeping things going with two toddlers in tow!

On Wednesday we decided to do a day trip to Leeds for some sight seeing. Of course the kids love the bus and the train rides!

Waiting for the bus...

Here are some pics from the parish church we visited. Leeds parish has a great music tradition - both SS Wesley and Bairstow were former organists here.

Check out this pulpit - 16 feet high!

Afterwards we stopped in a Thai restaurant for lunch. Poor Tucker was past hungry and sleepy and went to meltdown mode, so we took turns pushing him in his stroller so that everybody could eat lunch. Here's a pic of the Krouse family at lunch...

On Thursday I volunteered to stay at home with the kids so that Chad & Mary could get away for the day. Tucker, Caroline and I had a fine time playing at the playground, walking around the monastery grounds to see the flowers and the orchards, and waving at the goldfish again. I got a well timed break in the afternoon for a couple hours while the kids took a nap, which gave me some time for blog updating! And before you know it, Friday came and I boarded the train back to Oxford for the night.

Thanks Chad, Mary, Caroline, & Tucks for a great visit!

A Perfect English Sunday Afternoon

2009-06-23T15:48:00.001-07:00

Sunday was a perfect English day - we drove through the countryside, stopping in Big Tew for lunch at a fantastic pub called Falkland Arms. I can't believe it took me this long to have a ploughman's platter!

Outside the Pub

Inside

Josslyn being goofy

Rose & Henrietta being goofy

Afterward we continued our drive, stopping for a few hours at Broughton Castle. We noticed a few funny-shaped boats on the moat around the castle - turns out they're called Coricles. Here are some pics of Josslyn trying one out...

The gardens were absolutely beautiful - the quintessential English garden, and my favorite so far.

We eventually made our way back to North Oxford, said goodbye to Rose and Josslyn and then decided to venture out for a walk in Oxford University Gardens and a bite to eat.

Scenes along our walk in the gardens:

Out and About in Oxford

2009-06-23T15:47:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we lounged around in the morning (again) and then made our way into town for afternoon shopping. We found a few bookstores (I know, like I need more used books - but they have such great deals!). We attended evensong at Christ Church Cathedral and met up with Henrietta's friend Rose and her daughter Josslyn, who joined us at the house for dinner.

Living room at Henrietta's house in Oxford

A street in Oxford

Inside St. Phillip's Bookstore

Lounging in London

2009-06-19T10:36:00.002-07:00

Thursday afternoon I traveled to London and then took the Underground to meet Henrietta. We planned our meeting at the French Institute because Henrietta needed to review a new movie called Je veux voir - I Want to See - with Catherine Deneuve. It was an odd movie, shooting scenes in Lebanon after the bombings in 2006. The director attended the screening and did a Q&A afterwards. I've decided Henrietta is my newest hero. You should have heard her debating with the director... brilliant (as they say here in England!)

After the movie we made our way back to Henrietta's apartment and crashed. Friday morning we lounged around, chit chatting and sipping coffee - just what the doctor ordered after an intense two weeks at Canterbury. And Henrietta has the most fabulous London flat - I love all her books and collectibles, which combine to make a most charming and cozy apartment.

In the afternoon Henrietta had to attend a few meetings, so I spent the afternoon relaxing and re-packing my bags to shift around the weight of all the books I've bought! When Henrietta returned, we walked down her street to eat Thai food (very tasty and really cheap!), then collected our bags to take the bus to Oxford for the weekend.

Leaving Canterbury

2009-06-19T10:36:00.001-07:00

I can't believe my time at Canterbury has come to an end. What a privilege it has been to be here, meeting fellow pilgrims, and making new friends from all over the world. Here are some "last" photos I'd like to share....

Maps showing where we all came from.

A view of my room

Our last day in class

Our last coffee break

Speeches at our last dinner together

Waiting for rides to the airport

My last look at the cathedral before I left - it made me cry...

Starting the Goodbyes

2009-06-19T10:34:00.000-07:00

In our acceptance letter to the Canterbury Scholars Program we were asked to bring with us a small gift that expresses who we are to exchange with another scholar at the end of the program. We did this as part of our dinner on Tuesday night so that those who had to travel a day early would be able to participate. After dinner, we took turns receiving a gift from our right and giving a gift to our left. Monique gave me a beautiful blue crocheted cross bookmark that she carried with her throughout her time in seminary and forward. I was honored to receive a gift so dear to her, and I look forward to carrying it with me during my final year in seminary. I gave my BCP with my name engraved on the front to Johanna. This was the prayer book I carried with me all those difficult days at my last job before coming to seminary. I was so glad to give it to Johanna, who had told me in previous conversation of the difficulty of getting books in her place in Africa.

Ed receiving a gift from India

The beginning of our gift exchange

My new bookmark

Johanna's new prayer book

An extra gift for me from Camaroon

To continue our celebration, a few of us made the trek to a different pub (instead of the Thomas Becket), but one that's also aptly named - Bishop's Finger. Here are a few shots of us having a pint and watching a rugby game.

I love it that we can knock on the cathedral gate and someone opens it for us!

Paying Homage to Richard Hooker

2009-06-19T10:33:00.000-07:00

I'm grateful to Fr. Wright and Prof. Mullin - I feel like such an in formed Anglican! Whether listening to a lecture on Anglican identity, or the life of Augustine, or the importance of Hooker's writings on ecclesiastical polity, there's not much that I'm hearing for the first time, either in Salisbury or Canterbury. Part of the excitement on this particular trip to England is how much of my work in the classroom is coming to life. I have enjoyed my assigned reading for CH 1, 2, and 3, but visiting the places where so much of my Anglican history has taken place brings it to life in a way books can only approximate.

Today we made a visit to Bishopsbourne, where Richard Hooker served as vicar, and also where he's buried. It was here that he wrote the final books of his Laws on Ecclesiastical Polity. We were joined at the end of our time there by several parishioners who participated in our evening prayers, led by several of our African scholars - our prayers and scripture readings were accompanied by joyful singing and dancing. I wonder if Hooker could possibly have imagined what the Anglican Communion would look like in the 21st century... there really is more that binds us than divides us.

The parish at Bishopsbourne

The church yard

Inside the church

More Beautiful Blooms (The Canterbury Edition)

2009-06-14T10:15:00.002-07:00

Still can't help myself - more flower pictures. It seems that nearly every bush is a flowering plant, too! I wish there were a way to capture how fantastic they smell!

Just skip if these bore you.

Walking the Canterbury Trail

2009-06-14T10:14:00.003-07:00

On Saturday morning we skipped Matins, ate an early breakfast, picked up sack lunches and headed out for our walk on the Canterbury Trail. Here we are in the lobby, checking out the map for our route.

Our first stop was at Richborough, the fort where St. Augustine most likely came ashore on his mission from Rome.

I'm sitting in the ruins of a baptismal font at Richborough.

After visiting Richborough, the bus drove us back inland a few miles, to a car park seven miles out from Canterbury. It was here that we began our walk in the footsteps of Augustine along the Canterbury Trail. We had a gorgeous day for our walk, especially considering that it had been cold and gray for several days previous!

Beautiful trees!

Stopping for a quick pic in a pasture with my friend Waiwai

The American seminarians on the home stretch...

(Jason, me, Patrick, Elyse, & David)

A Candlelit Pilgrimage

2009-06-14T10:14:00.001-07:00

I am humbled by the power of the Holy Spirit - she really knows what she's doing! Last night we had a candle lit pilgrimage in the cathedral...and it was just us Canterbury Scholars. It was dark and quiet and beautiful and holy. I was a little disappointed at first because I had previously asked if I could stay in the cathedral after the vigil to do some reading. Ed said that he would lock me in and come back to get me, but was later told that he couldn't do that. But that's ok, because one of the women from Africa wanted to have a private conversation with me. We had both been in the laundry room the night before, and she later told me that she came back to talk but I had already gone.

The vigil was quite moving. Toward the end we moved from the Chapel of Martyrs in Our Own Time (seen below)

to Trinity Chapel, which is at the top of the cathedral. This is where the shrine to Thomas Becket was before Henry had it destroyed. Now it is open space, with a single candle sitting on the floor.

We encircled it and offered prayers, each in our own native language. Of course this moved me to tears! As we walked back to the Lodge after our vigil, my friend from Africa grabbed me and hugged me, thanking me for my tears. We ended up sitting in her room for over an hour, sharing very personal stories. And as we talked, we came to recognize the deep bonds of affection that have been established between us forever. We know we will see each other again one day - and all this was far better than me sitting in Canterbury alone for my own private reading! If I had stayed in the cathedral, I would have missed our conversation. Like I say - the Holy Spirit really knows what she's doing!

Bell Harry

2009-06-14T10:12:00.001-07:00

Wednesday proved to be a heavy and intense day - we started with Bible Study in All Saints Chapel, a remote, upstairs side chapel in the cathedral... one of those rooms that most visitors don't see.

The door that leads upstairs to All Saints chapel

The tough part of the day was the morning's teaching session on authority and cultural context in the church. While I appreciated hearing the complexities of the African culture, having to listen to a discussion on polygamy and how the church in Africa is handling it sucked the energy right out of me. I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the notion that it is still acceptable in many parts of the world for women to be treated as property, and only useful for the whims of men. And from their perspective, they had a hard time wrapping their minds around the notion of me as a priest, unmarried and without children. And when one of them pushed the point to remarry my ex and have kids, I reminded him that God has called me to ministry same as him, and that that's my priority right now...

After lunch, we received yet another "insider's tour" - this time up the spiral stair case to the top of Bell Harry tower. We got a great view out across the city of Canterbury.

The door leading into the tower

The treadmill part way up that was used to hoist the stones to build the tower.

(and it still works!)

The view from the top

Looking down at the Lodge at my room

Afterwards, Monique from Jamaica and I decided to check out a couple of the local used bookstores. Professor Owens gave me another good idea - read TS Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral while sitting in the cathedral, so I've been looking for a copy, and today was my lucky day! The bookshop whose proceeds go toward assistance for the homeless had an old hardback copy. We will have a candle lit vigil on Friday night, so maybe I can read it then.

We ended the evening as intensely as we began. We viewed the movie Andrei Rublev, about the Russian icon painter of the same name. This was my first time seeing this movie, and is definitely on my repeat list. I'm betting it's also a great precursor to my upcoming pilgrimage with the Serbian Orthodox later this month....

Around the Precincts

2009-06-14T10:10:00.003-07:00

Here are some photos from around the precincts.

The cathedral at dusk

The cathedral at night

The Lodge entrance at night

The view coming out of the gift shop

Behind the Lodge

The Cloisters

Ruins from the old monastery

An old Roman wall behind the cathedral

Inside the Cathedral

2009-06-14T10:10:00.001-07:00

If I've taken one, I've taken hundreds of photos of the cathedral! Here are some shots of the inside....

The Quire

The high altar.

Side view of the high altar.

After evensong one evening.

The nave

Looking up at the ceiling in Bell Harry Tower.

The vestry and side aisle.

Trinity chapel - former location of the Thomas Becket shrine.

The chapter house.

Window dedicated to St. Anselm

Chapel altar dedicated to Thomas Becket.

Other side altars.

Canterbury Council & More Small Episco-world

2009-06-14T10:06:00.001-07:00

Tuesday was a light day, with Bible study in the morning with Josiah and the afternoon free. But glorious Episco-world popped up again! While I was walking through the Quire to take a seat for evensong, I crossed paths right in the middle with Dean Sam Lloyd of the National Cathedral in Washington! I know him as Chaplain Lloyd, as he was the chaplain during my years at Sewanee. It turns out that he and his wife were visiting with Dean Robert, and so they also joined us for our second dinner at the Dean's house. Also present were members of the Canterbury Council, a body that, as the Dean describes, is part advisory, part consultative, and part ambassadorial to and for the cathedral. I ended up sitting next to a lovely man named Derrick, a member of the Council and a local politician and member of the Labor party, who sadly just lost his position in the latest election, after 9 years of service. We had a great time chatting about Canterbury and the Anglican Communion, along with politics in his country and mine.

A few of us wrapped up our evening with a pilgrimage to the alternative Thomas Becket shrine - Thomas Becket Pub, that is! Here are a few photos of the place - notice the dried hopps hanging from the ceiling, contributing to the cozy atmosphere. I'm not a beer fan, but the cider sure is tasty!

Elyse from Chicago, Patrick from Rhode Island, Ann from Canada, and me.

Meeting the Archbishop - WOW!

2009-06-14T10:04:00.002-07:00

Monday morning we boarded the bus at 8am and set out for London. Our first stop was back at the Anglican Communion Office on Tavistock Crescent. I'm beginning to feel like this is home away from home, as this was my third visit there in two weeks! It was great to see Ann once again, and her hospitality was fantastic, as always. The Secretary General, Kenneth Kearon, even made a special trip in from Ireland to spend time with us talking about the role of the ACO.

Ann serving up coffee and tea.

Taking a break from our meeting.

The Secretary General

After noonday prayers in the chapel followed by lunch, we re-boarded the bus for the drive to Lambeth Palace. How exciting!!!!! What a privilege for us to spend time with Rowan, our Archbishop. He met with us for over an hour, and joined us for afternoon tea. I am awed by his intelligence and humility, and was glad to find him so approachable. When I introduced myself, he remembered with fondness his past visit to General Seminary. While expressing how excited my fellow Episcopalians and I are to have him attend General convention, we each acknowledged these challenging times in our church. But I reiterated again how grateful we are for his presence among us....

Ed knocking on the door to the gate at Lambeth Palace.

In the foyer of the palace.

Lambeth china - beautiful.

In the room where we had our meeting and tea with the Archbishop.

The hallway we walked down.

A sitting room.

The ABC & me!

The women of the Canterbury Scholars Program in the chapel at Lambeth.

Outside the palace.

And back out the door we came in...

Have I mentioned lately how much I love being an Anglican???