I don’t know if there’s ever a “normal” in this country, but the firing has ceased and so has NaNoWriMo. It was my first attempt and I managed 35,044 words.
I didn’t “win”, but I wrote every day and I now have the first draft of a novel I can work with.
In addition, I met some lovely people in Jerusalem who were also doing NaNo.
So I enjoyed the experience and, whatever they say, I feel I’ve won!
This morning, I kept the Internet off so that it wouldn’t disturb me as I wrote. Then I turned it on despite knowing what I’d find. The usual tweets about writing, books, plumbing, birthdays, etc. are interspersed with serious and worrying tweets about things that are going on not a million miles from here. Facebook is just the same.
I can never get my head round this. I can’t concentrate on the usual everyday discussions when I know what else is happening. I’ll probably turn the Internet off again soon. When the background music gets too loud, it’s better to work without it.
Before I turn it off, I want to say something about NaNoWriMo write-ins, of which there have been two so far in Jerusalem.
The first was held in a central café. About eleven people attended, although three of those sat in a different part of the café and didn’t find the others until they left! It wasn’t particularly comfortable balancing our laptops on the little tables, there were not enough electric sockets and we were bothered by cigarette smoke that wafted in from outside. But it was great to meet other writers, discuss our novel-writing progress and write together.
For the second write-in, I invited participants to my house. Only three others came, but again we had a very rewarding time, writing much more than we would have done alone.
I would definitely recommend this activity to anyone who is wondering about joining a write-in. Writing is often a lonely activity. Sometimes that’s good, other times it’s good to get together.
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I had planned a trip to the zoo with my friend, Marallyn. Sadly, that hasn’t worked out yet. However, I found some photos hubby took years ago when the children were small.
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The Tisch Family Zoological Gardens started out in 1940 as the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo. The current location has been open since 1993 and stretches over 62 beautifully landscaped acres.
With this post, I come to the end of the A-Z Challenge. It has been fun but exhausting! I hope those of you who found me through it will come back. Sometimes I blog about Jerusalem. Other times I blog about writing, or social anxiety, or bullying, or anything else I feel like talking about.
I can’t do better than to quote from the website:
As the Jewish people’s living memorial to the Holocaust, Yad Vashem safeguards the memory of the past and imparts its meaning for future generations. Established in 1953, as the world center for documentation, research, education and commemoration of the Holocaust, Yad Vashem is today a dynamic and vital place of intergenerational and international encounter.
I have to admit I had a bit of trouble with X. Until I discovered Xanadu.
Xanadu, or Shangdu, isn’t actually in Jerusalem. It’s not even anywhere near Jerusalem. It’s in Inner Mongolia, China.
But… there’s a link. Marco Polo, the Venetian explorer (or should that be x-plorer?) is alleged to have made a journey from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to Xanadu.
So what?
Good question. I don’t have an answer. I suppose in the 13th century it would have been a fairly difficult journey.
Anyway, it gives me an X word and an opportunity to post a couple of pictures of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Two places today. I couldn’t leave either of them out.
The Western Wall (or Wailing Wall) is the holiest site in Judaism. It is a remnant of the ancient wall that surrounded the Second Temple, and is known to have been a site for prayer and pilgrimage since the 4th century.
The windmill in the Mishkenot Sha’ananim neighbourhood was built in 1857 by the British Jewish philanthropist, Sir Moses Montefiore. Unfortunately, Sir Moses and friends failed to take local conditions into account. The mill was hardly used, mainly because there was not enough wind on most days. Now (or at least until recently) it houses displays showing the achievements of Sir Moses Montefiore.
The windmill is currently undergoing renovation. Apparently they’re turning it back into a working mill.
Fortunately, we have an older photo.
The Via Dolorosa is a street in the Old City of Jerusalem, believed to be the path that Jesus walked on the way to his crucifixion. Its name means “Way of Grief” or “Way of Suffering”. The route is traversed by many processions throughout the year and particularly at Easter.
The Hebrew University opened in 1925. From 1948, the Mount Scopus campus was cut off from West Jerusalem and another campus was built in Givat Ram. Now both are used by the 22,000 students.
Very close to Jaffa Gate is the Tower of David, a citadel built over 2,000 years ago, destroyed and rebuilt four times. It is now a museum with exhibits depicting the four thousand years of Jerusalem’s history. Sound-and-light performances are held there, as well as other cultural events.
There are many similarities between the Arabic and Hebrew languages. One of them is the word for market. Hebrew: shuk, Arabic: souq.
Miriam Drori, Author