Israel: 2

Ok other interesting events in no particular order...

We went to the Mount of Olives (where Jesus preached a lot). The view was amazing. John (our leader) read a few Scripture passages. Meanwhile, there were 4 young kids squaking around. They tried to take a few branches from the olive tree and sell them to us, I found that particularly amusing. Then, as we were sitting there, they would scream and kick this stupid soccer ball all around, threatening to hit us with it. We were all distracted and extremely annoyed. Our guide, Shlomo, finally stood up, started babbling (in a not nice way) to them in Hebrew. They still wouldn't stop so he finally just took their soccer ball and threw it down the hill. The one kid went to get it and found it after about 10 minutes but at least we had some peace.

We also went to the Dome of the Rock. It is absolutley gorgeous. The true size and details of it can't be caught in pictures, it has to be a personal experience. I was attempting to read the arabic calligraphy all around the top. I got some of it and the rest were just lines and dots put in seemingly random places. It was pretty though. We had to be in "modest dress" (meaning knees and shoulders covered) so I had put on capris pants and this white shirt that covered my shoulders and upper arm mostly (it had a slit in the sleeve so you could see a strip of my upper arm *gasp*) but the people there really didn't like that. Just going through the main gate the guard started babbling at me and pointing at my shirt. I put on John's jacket but later took it off figuring it was the top of my shirt (it had a small keyhole) so I could just hold the jacket in front of me. It was later that I discovered the true problem as we headed over to the Wailing Wall and I had this female guard practically scream at me. I put the jacket on and felt like an idiot as I walked around with this bright yellow, sports team jacket that was about 4 sizes too big. We had a small talk about the history of the wall and were told we could have like a half hour to walk around. Mom and I started looking around and started down towards the wall. We were talking and not paying attention to where we were going. We started heading down when a man stepped in front of us and was kindly talking to us in Hebrew. We looked at him like a couple of idiots then looked further down to realize we were going into the men's section by accident. We apologized and hurried out of there. As we were heading towards the women's section all these limos, police cars, and media people gathered in the open square. The Japanese minister was coming to the wall. All these Japanese people were yelling and my mom seemed fascinated to see someone famous. I just said, yeah we've all seen him before, know who he is, yadda yadda, lets go.

We went into a small town where we went to a very very old sinagogue (prolly just spelled that horribly wrong, sry) The inside was decorated with all these paintings and murals on the ceiling. We also saw the Torah scroll (no we didn't touch it). Afterwards we were given time to walk around and go shopping in the many small shops that line the allyways. They had basically anything you could imagine. My mom bought a painting for us and another small painting for the friends that had been watching our dogs. I went to the shop next door (a very ritzy art gallery) and saw some of the most beautiful paintings outside of a major museum. Of course the smallest one was several thousand dollars but they were amazing. Needless to say, I didn't get anything there.

Speaking of shopping, mom and I went shopping at Jaffa gate. It is much the same as the last place with all the shops. We were roped into coming into a small jewelry store. His products were amazing and we considered buying something. However he was too expensive and mom said she would only spen 100 dollars. He was asking almost 500 for 3 necklaces and a small charm. Mom told him no and we started to leave. Finally he yelled to us that we could have all of it for 100 but mom said no. She was annoyed at all of his pestering and bargaining and it was no longer worth our time. We continued down the ally, trying to get around the masses, and all these people were calling to us to come to their shop. This one guy was leaning against the wall and as he saw me he shouted out "oh you are coming to see me! how nice!" I told him no thanks and kept walking so he shouted back, "thats ok! you come see me later!" We walked further on at my request and saw another shop with a young guy (maybe 15?) mopping the floors. We went in and he spoke next to no English and was a bit clumsy. I wasn't impressed with that but then the actual owner came in and the boy looked more than just a little thankeful. He showed us his jewelry (which was quite nice) and my mom agreed on a charm. We continued to look and he kept pulling out other pieces for us to see. He had the best prices I have ever seen. He didn't push us to buy anything, just showed us what he had. He even had his assistant make us some mint tea so we all sat around drinking tea and looking at jewelry. My mom bought my sister a gold charm for 75 that could have easily gone for about 200 dollars. We both ordered a gold thumb ring. Mine has my name in Hebrew and my mom's says Yeshua. She also ordered another ring and a necklace pendant. He was telling us that he is glad we have come to his shop because he has excellent products and the best prices. (very true) He was certified and all of his things came with receipts of authenticity. We were there for over 2 hours. As we were packing up to leave I had earlier commented on a small pendant that had the Jerusalem cross on it. He then took 2 of them and just handed one to each of us. Mom said we really coultn't afford them but he said that was ok, it was a gift. We thanked him and started to head out. Then he handed us 3 really pretty fans, one for me, my mom, and my Gramma, all for free. He also gave my mom and I a Jersalem mug each. He said that he may not make as much as another dealer at one time but his customers always return to him and (hopefully) bring other friends along. He was very nice and I would always go back to him.

Israel: 1

So I am now back from Israel where I spent 2 weeks. I had such an amazing time, I can't really explain in words. I did so many things that there is no way I could possibly write everything. Instead, I will give a general overview and some highlights. Maybe at a later date I will write in depth on some things, for now, I think I'm just too lazy. :)

The food was excellent. Morning, noon, and night there were always fresh veggies and fruit. Some things that I wouldn't expect to be breakfast items (such as cole slaws, potato salads, and hummus) were there every morning, no matter where we were. There was always fresh baked bread, amazing desserts (it's amazing I didn't gain 100 pounds), fish (not a big fan but I heard it was good) and lots of meats and random sides. One thing you won't find anywhere is pork. Pork is not eaten in Jewish customs. I had a few people complaining about the lack of bacon anywhere...I wanted to hit them...stupid Americans. So even though I had my fair share of food, we walked everywhere from about 8 in the morning to 7 at night. Granted, we had to have bus rides to many places but we walked at least a few miles every day, up hills, down hills, rocky and smooth paths, you name it, we walked it. So I at least burned off every calorie I ate every day.

One place we visited was Masada. It is an old Israeli fort that about 300 people were hiding in from the Romans. The Romans waited outisde for 3 years without being able to get in. Masada is at the top of this huge mountainous hill near the Dead Sea. After 3 years the people realized that their fate was sealed and they were going to fall to the Romans. They decided rather than watching as everyone was killed in horrific manners or taken into slavery that they would have a mass suicide. The fathers had to kill their wives and children by slitting their throats (they die immediatly so no pain) and then the men would do the same thing to each other until they were down to one and he would have to commit suicide. They did this and then the Romans came crashing in only to find a town of dead bodies. For as sad as the ordeal is I think it was the best curse on the Romans. They wait for 3 years all for nothing.

There is a steep path going up towards Masada which is somewhere between a half mile and a mile. It is practically straight up as the path winds backwards and forwards. Now, we were there early, around 8 maybe 9. It was already close to 100 degrees but still not in the heat of the day. I was on the bus looking at the small ants that were people climbing on the path. My mom was all excited and said I should go with the small group of people brave enough to climb it. I said I really didn't want to but she kept pushing so I went ahead. I had this huge bottle of water with me so I figured I'd be ok othere than my butt/legs killing me when I arrived at the top. There were 6 of us that started out. I got about halfway to the top (probably a little less) and was exhausted, roasting, and feeling quite sick. I tried to drink small sips of water to keep myself hydrated but it certainly wasn't helping. I got a little further up and told the group I had to stop for a while cuz I thought I was going to be sick. I told them to go ahead but they waited with me. Finally, one of the ladies, Amy, said we should just go down together. The thought of admitting defeat, especially after I had walked so far, was practically out of the question. I told her no that we were half way. She looked up and said not quite. Thats when I looked up and saw the path continuing onwards from where I had thought it ended. Thats when I said I couldn't do it and we started heading back down. I still felt sick the whole way and couldn't even drink anything. Finally, we were rounding one of the last bends towards the bottom and Amy said something about eating and I just lost it. I walked off the path and threw up all the water I had been drinking. Thankfully, I had eaten a very light breakfast and so it was only the water. That makes it only the 5th time I have ever thrown up in my life. I was rather embarrassed and apologized to Amy but she didn't mind. Suddenly I felt a lot better and figured if I only could have done that sooner I could have kept walking. Oh well. We took the cable car up to the top just about the same time as the other walkers arrived.

Now I realize I really need a new chapter of this will ramble on forever...