Dead Sea and Jerusalem part 2

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Hi Everyone--
Sorry if my lack of daily entries has concerned some of you especially in light of the continuing violence in Gaza and now rockets are arriving from Lebanon in the north. I have been in Jerusalem since Sunday night and am no where near any of the violence. I am doing much less touristy stuff and a lot more visiting to the programs I will be advising my students of. Our group continues to be advised of the security situation which did result in a change to our schedule today. We were supposed to go to the City of David today but instead went to the Israel museum due to increased check points getting in there. The official word is that the hassle was not worth it. Apparently they are expecting a lot of people to go into Old Jerusalem today to pray at sundown which is the beginning of the Sabbath and concerns have been raised around security.

Our schedule also changed yesterday after a rocket hit the town which houses the program we were going to visit just before the trip started. The good news is that we were able to get into the Dead Sea. I did this last Sunday with my tour but it was fun taking pictures which I will upload onto this blog. I am also uploading a picture of “Little Jerusalem”, a mini replica of Old Jerusalem which is absolutely incredible to see in person. We also saw some of the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Israel Museum.

I am currently in my hotel room following a visit to the market. This is an open air market where fruit, vegetables, meat, bread and candies are sold for the Sabbath dinner tonight. This is also an incredible experience. A few of us ate in a southern Russian restaurant with our guide whose grandmother emigrated from Iraq. One thing about this trip that has been so incredibly interesting is learning about places where Jews have lived. I was most familiar with European Jews but they have come from all over the Middle East and Africa as well.

Tomorrow we are taking a walking tour of new Jerusalem and then relaxing for the Sabbath. Sunday morning we have a two hour meeting to process our trip. We then catch our individual flights late Sunday evening. My flight leaves at 11 PM local time and I am expected back in Atlanta at 6AM Monday morning.

I may not make another entry into this blog until I return home. Please do not worry. I will be home soon and continue to feel very safe. Ann

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