Jerusalem smells of forest fire in the later part of the day, punctuated by the calls to prayer from the minarets that dot the hillsides. Some neighborhoods lack basic municipal services such as trash pickup, so they incinerate their rubbish, perfuming the air with ash.

The students arrive on Sunday, and I think I’m mostly done with the first few lectures I have to give. Whether I’ll be able to teach students about model-view-controller is an entirely different story (even the Java documentation on listeners is patronizing).

On Friday we went on a tour run by Ir Amim.  While bussing from point to point, I met a good friend of a distant cousin (small social circle/world/tribe/something).

Political issues aside, I endeavor to remain optimistic about the future of this gorgeous city.

A bit of beauty on a hazy day.