Around Jerusalem

That morning, we were pretty scared. We knew that the boys knew about us. We knew about them. We couldn't tell Mr. Vivian, because he would have suggested we go home. So, we put on a brave face and went on the tour around Jerusalem. We went to the Dome of the Rock which smelled awful, because there were beautiful rugs inside, and everybody had to take their shoes off before going inside. You haven't lived until you smell all those sweaty feet. We then went to the Wailing Wall. We were told not to take pictures, since it was the Jewish Sabbath. There were armed soldiers making sure. I did anyway. It was a theme that continued throughout the trip. Take pictures of things you aren't supposed to. We went to Golgotha and the Garden Tomb. It was a very sacred place. We went to the place where the Last Supper was supposed to have been. We went inside the walled city of Jerusalem and saw many religious sites. All the while, there were two kids following our group, trying to sell us rolls of mints. Their selling technique was "1 for a quarter or 2 for 25 cents". They didn't have a concept of American money. We went for the "2 for 25 cents". As it turned out, the Arab boys had gotten these kids to follow us around. While the boys ran their store, the kids were keeping tabs on us. When we got back to the hotel for lunch, we ran into Sam, Omar and Sam. We were told that they would not hurt us, as long as we were on tour or inside our hotel, but if we ventured out by ourselves, we will be killed. They were serious. Dead serious. Mr. Vivian wanted us to continue on our tour that afternoon back to the Old City of Jerusalem. The 4 girls and I said we weren't feeling well and were going to stay at the hotel. So, we did. I went across the street to a drug store to get some Alka-Seltzer. The stress was making my stomach upset. I got to talking to an old Arab man and was asking him about the three boys. He told me that those boys were "crazy", and we were to stay away from them. The old man was very wise. I got back to the hotel. The girls wanted to go to a beauty salon near the hotel to get their hair done. I told them that it would be a bad idea, but they insisted. We couldn't go out the front door of the hotel, so we went through the service entrance. The beauty shop was behind the hotel and across a side street. We ran across the street and into the shop. The women there were very sympathetic to our plight and told us we were safe there. We stayed there for a couple of hours, until the word got out in the neighborhood that we were there. The boys showed up and stood outside the shop, waiting for us to come out. We were prisoners in the shop. The women called the police and disbursed the boys, and we ran back to the hotel. There are many fears in life. The fear for your life may be the biggest. That night at supper, the man from the consulate came back. We told him what had happened. Mr. Vivian was shocked, to say the least. The official said that we would be protected. The boys knew that they couldn't come into the hotel, so they stood out of our windows and taunted us from the street. What had we gotten ourselves into?