6 days of quarantine are behind us and minimal quarantine symptoms are the result - apart from the fact that we have started ironing and that we miss our old water heater, we are doing great.
Day 1 - Fri, 09/03/2021:
After having arrived the day before, we slept in (as we did the following days). A full fridge awaited us, so that we had breakfast, which of course consisted of toasted bread with hummus. Bread must be defined here first: As a German one thinks perhaps of delicious farmer's bread or at least of a pastry made of wholemeal. Not here! The "bread" consists of pure wheat flour and basically tastes like nothing. Luckily, we have a sandwich maker in our kitchen that adds some toasty flavor. The hummus, which is staple #1 here, rounded out our first meal nicely. After we were satiated (with Philipp already showing first signs of meat deprivation), Yacoub - our facility manager - the provost and the cantor Michael came by to check on us. Due to our now already completely shifted daily rhythm, we took a nap at 5 p.m.. It was interrupted by Barbara, who energetically knocked on the door and called out, "Hello??? Anyone at home? Yallah, shoes on!" Actually, this was sweetly meant, because she wanted to show us our terrace and thus give us the opportunity to get some fresh air. That's also when we learned that we were legally allowed in the courtyard and on our terrace from about 2:00 p.m., since the workers would all be out by then. Otherwise, we already experienced the first sounds of Jerusalem by listening to the muezzin that day. When we wanted to go to sleep around 12 a.m. (Philipp was already in bed), Lea accidentally cut off the electricity. In our hallway near the bathrooms is the switch for the boiler, which Lea thought was a normal light switch and therefore pressed it unsuspectingly. The power was gone and two confused but laughing volunteers were left, who then had to stumble in the dark through their not yet so well known apartment.
Day 2 - Sat, 09/04/2021:
Saturday morning, first thing in the morning our luggage was brought to us by Michael, which had found its way to us only now due to the closures in the old town. It was gratefully received and immediately put away. Then Yacoub supplied us with electricity again. Afterwards, sports were on the agenda - at least for Lea and Andrea, since Philipp was not quite fit yet. After a quick and very cold shower (the boiler didn't work and was only replaced on Tuesday, so unfortunately we could only do the dishes with cold water for four days), we sat on the sofa in the living room for ages and chilled. Around 3pm we sat outside in the courtyard and enjoyed the sun, which by the way sets here already at 7pm. In the evening we heard the Church of the Holy Sepulchre ringing for the first time, which sounds really funny. Our evening program always includes watching a movie or a series together before going to bed around midnight.
Day 3 - Sun, 09/05/2021:
Sunday started for us with religious sounds: We were awakened by the bells of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and by Michael's organ playing in the service of the Church of the Redeemer. This service starts at 10:30 a.m., which is really early for us at the moment. After the service was over, we asked Yacoub for bread supplies, this time explicitly ordering pita. Micha then asked quite anxiously, "But you still have hummus, right???" The poor guy seemed very afraid that we might run out of hummus in quarantine. We calmed him down and said that we really just needed new bread. Nevertheless, Monday morning we got a whole kilo of hummus in a box that looks like an ice cream box. The rest of the day we actually just worked on our blog and took a little walk to our terrace.
Day 4 - Mon, 09/06/2021:
On Monday we got up pretty late as usual and put our finished blog online. After breakfast Lea and Andrea did a workout again and took a shower (still with cold water, but you get used to it surprisingly fast). In the meantime it was almost 2 p.m. again and the next thing on the agenda was our terrace; it had to be brought up to scratch again after a one and a half year break. When that was done, we already cooked our dinner (rice from a 5 kilo bag with vegetables). Meanwhile Philipp finally got some meat -
the poor guy really enjoyed it after three days of vegetarian food. This day was also the beginning of Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year), which - apart from the sound of shofars - we didn't really notice thanks to our quarantine. Nevertheless, for the sake of the feeling, we wished each other "Shana Tova!" ("Happy New Year!"). After one episode of the new season Money Heist, the fourth day of quarantine was over and we went to bed.
Day 5 - Tue, 09/07/2021:
The second day of Rosh Hashana was all about boilers goodbye! At 10 am we had to brush our teeth quickly, because afterwards we had no water for a short time so that Yacoub could replace our boiler. Our old boiler was extremely rusty and no longer usable. On this occasion Yacoub also informed us about the schedule for the next two days - the second PCR test was on the agenda and in case of a negative result also the introduction week. After this event, the bathroom was pretty dirty, so before filming the planned room tour, we had to clean it first. The bathroom cleaned, the rooms tidied up and the roomtour finished (you can find it here) Philipp wanted to iron his shirts. Micha calls this a "typical quarantine phenomenon". Lea and Andrea also took the opportunity to iron their blouses. That was the perfect end of quarantine day 5.
Day 6 - Wed, 09/08/2021:
Already we have reached the last full day of our quarantine. At quarter past eight, Yacoub was waiting for us at the reception so that we could go with him to the PCR test at Auguste Victoria. Accordingly, we had to get up early, which was very unusual. Nevertheless, we were really happy to finally get out of our dark basement apartment and out into the alleys of Jerusalem. As for the rest of the day, we can't say what we'll be d
oing at this point because we are currently writing this blog post (12:30p.m.).
To put it in a nutshell, we can definitely say that these days in the apartment have actually done us quite well and helped us get used to the new situation. Unfortunately, we probably won't have as much time to take care of the blog in the future - but we'll still keep you updated as much as possible. See you then!